A Sunday afternoon stroll

A short shopping session in Plymouth for some items for our forthcoming Norwegian trip and then off to Dartmoor for a Sunday afternoon walk. It seems ages since we've been on the moor and it was a treat to get out and into the landscape again. Just three miles but a walk that took us through an area replete in 5 millennia of human history, from 3000BC to today. All that and a stop in a pub at the end. What could be better? Walking, talking, thinking, living: our adventure our way.

Our starting point was the Scout Hut at Gutter Tor. Although not that far from the honeypot of Burrator Reservoir, it is a lonely part of the moor and has an alluring isolated feeling. One of its attractions, really. Our route was quite straightforward and relatively easy as we didn't feel like being adventurous and walk 'off piste' when it was so wet underfoot. We headed due east along the track to the Eylesbarrow Tin Mine but turned south before we got that far to go across Ditswworthy Warren, through Drizzle Combe, down to Ditsworthy Warren House, thence back between Gutter Tor and Gutter Mire to our starting point.

The open moor looking west-ish towards Sheepstor on the left, with Sharpitor to the right. Fairly typical terrain for our walk and typically overcast skies.

Every now and again in this part of the moor you'll come across a granite pillar such as this, with PCWW 1917 cut into one side. It's a Plymouth City Water Works marker, delineating the catchment area for the nearby Burrator Reservoir. I've read that there are 30 or so of these and some people make a habit of 'bagging' them. Not quite as exciting as trig point bagging, methinks.

The iconic resident of the moor, the Dartmoor pony, but I don't think that this one is a pure bred. It doesn't look stocky enough to me but what do I know? Do these ponies sense a connection here with their equine ancestors?  Probably nay.

Although we did not walk as far as the main complex of the old Eylesbarrow tin mine, we did pass the erstwhile smelter building. What can be seen in this photograph is the granite-covered flue that lead to a smoke stack at the end of the run. The flue took away the fumes and smoke from a smelter and a blast furnace, which worked with the assistance of a water wheel powered bellows. 

Some more structures around the smelter area. I wondered whether these columns carried a launder at one time, possibly taking water from the leat that fed the water wheel already mentioned. The old miners toiled hard in almost unimaginable conditions, whilst we moan when we lose a data connection or our new Gore-Tex boots rub. We have very little to complain about really, do we? Not when standing here with an open mind.

A leat with a mysterious purpose. Mysterious in the sense that we couldn't figure out where it was going as there didn't seem to be any discernible industrial activity on its route.

No, not another PCWW marker. Not too sure what this is there for but, given the effort involved in erecting it, there must have been some purpose. In the background is Drizzle Combe Down with its Bronze Age stone rows and circles. Look carefully and you should be able to make out three upright stones. These mark the extremities of double rows of shorter stones, which are some of the longest on Dartmoor. This present stone doesn't seem to line-up with these in any way so is unlikely to be connected.

Look carefully at the hillside and you can make out an oblong structure. This is an artificial 'pillow mound' or 'bury' built to provide easy burrowing for rabbits. From mediaeval times, rabbits were 'farmed' in warrens for their meat and fur. The advantage of using marginal land on Dartmoor is that the rabbits were kept well away from cropped fields and they could also be kept in reasonable control by natural features such as rivers, streams and ditches.

This is the 'back garden' of Ditsworthy Warren House, showing one of the two dog kennels incorporated into the stone walls. I'm pretty sure that they were more comfortable for the dogs than they might appear at first glance - out of the wind, dry and probably quite warm. I wouldn't feel sorry for the occupants, which would have been hardy working farm dogs not pampered pets.

Ditsworthy Warren House, where the warriner lived. Next to the main house is the barn where the rabbit carcasses were stored. The house, dating from around 1800, ceased to be be used for its original function at around the time of WW2 and is nowadays used by the MOD as sshelter for troops on exercises on the moor. It has a reputation for being a disturbed location and rumours say that someone or something paces here, restless and relentless.

Around these parts, it can be quite difficult to make out the original landscape due to the hundreds of years of metal-ore seeking activities. Here's a typical 'valley' produced by tin streaming, possibly dating from the middle-ages. Just imagine, if you will, that all of the excavations were done by pick and shovel, or their medieval equivalents.



Lots of snowdrops around now and these were in the graveyard of the church at Meavy. Sadly, the church was closed but the pub next door was open. A drink and a bag of roast beef crisps - we know how to live on the edge.





And this will be the last time that I'll start and end a walk cursing my GPS and ranting about getting a new one. I am and it should be with me in time for our next walk. Toys for the boys? Oh yes but they are very useful