Six walkers, six miles and six tors

What a glorious day for a walk on Dartmoor. Blue skies, not too warm and very few people around. It was certainly one of those days to relish. And relish it we did as we completed our very own Six Tors Challenge.

We started at the infamous Pork Hill car park on the Tavistock to Princeton road = a car park with extensive views towards Plymouth Sound and the added bonus of the near-resident Willy’s ice-cream van. The route was straightforward: up Cox Tor, across to White Tor, via Stephen’s Grave, then Roos Tor and the three Staple Tors - Great, Middle and Little. Just under 6 1/2 miles in glorious weather. Not an easy walk but not overly strenuous: a good moderate grade for this one.

Cross the road from the car park and you are immediately heading up Cox Tor. It must be one of the most easily accessible tors on Dartmoor and can get quite busy’in season’. But not today. We’ve driven passed it so many times but can’t remember the last time we walked up it.

Stonechat on the way up.

Cox Tor is crowned with a trig point (hooray) with the flush bracket number  3449. For those interested (probably only me!}, it’s a tertiary point. Meaning it is one that fills in the gaps between relevant secondary points, which, in turn, fill in the gaps between relevant primary locations. Fascinating stuff to a select band of nerds who I’m proud to admit to being part of. Keen eyes will notice a circular object at the base of the pillar. It was an empty coconut shell. Someone’s packed lunch?

What are these mysterious bumps on the side of White Tor. 'Thufurs' that's what. And they are defined as ‘A special form of cryoturbation is represented by earth hummocks or thufur, they are vegetated oval mounds with heights of 30 to 50 cm. Earth hummocks develop because of local patchy freezing of pore-water in the active layer, yet no pure ice core forms but a small proportion of the soil freezes. This core of frozen ground causes moisture migration towards it, concurrently causing a small scaled displacement of soil material in the same direction. Frost heaving leads to the development of a small mound, and as the freeze/thaw processes re-occur many times, this displacement is amplified.’  So that's clear, then?

Looking towards White Tor over a landscape that has seen many changes. There's evidence of tin streaming, a farm (Wedlake) mentioned in the Doomsday Book, a Bronze Age settlement, Iron Age hut circles and the remains of a Neolithic hill fort. Plus a number of ancient trackways and field boundaries. And we walked through it all.

By the side of a track from Pater Tavy lies a stone marking Stephen’s Grave. It is on a more modern plinth with a simple letter S inscribed on it.  George Stephens was a youth of Peter Tavy who took his own life, about three hundred years ago. because of the unfaithfulness of the girl to whom he was betrothed.  He was buried in the usual barbarous manner for a suicide - outside of the parish boundary. But the legend has it that, at the moment he was being laid to rest, some linen that was hanging out to bleach at Higher Godsworthy was caught up in the air in a freak gust of wind and was never seen again.

Try as I might, and believe me I have tried, I never get a decent photograph of a Skylark, especially one in flight. Today was no exception but I did get a shot of one on the ground with a worm in its mouth.

Dartmoor ponies on White Tor, which is made of a rock called gabbro. Look closely and you’ll see that they are far more angular than the normal granite and don’t show the crystalline quartz inclusions that you get with quartz.

The army firing range flag on White Tor warning us the the Willsworthy Range was  being used. We occasionally  heard the crump of a large gun. Around this boulder can be seen lots of smaller rocks that made up the walls of the hill fort. As well as being part of the construction, some authorities think they could also have been used as handy missiles.

Lunch stop. Right foot pointing to where we came from (Cox Tor) and the left pointing to where we were heading (Roos Tor).

Roos Tor, and many other tors, suffered badly at the hands of the stone cutters. So much so, that in the mid 1800s the Duke of Bedford erected a series of protective markers stones around the tor inside which stone was not to be taken. There were fourteen in number each consisting of a bisected circle which were carved into natural rocks. It has been suggested that the original markers were put in place about 1847 and were then replaced around 1890 with a series of more substantial stones. Each stone being of dressed granite standing about one metre high with  the letter ‘B’ on the side facing away from the summit.

Although Roos Tor might not be considered one of the most ‘craggy’ of Dartmoor tors there are several rock climbs mapped around its outcrop. Here you can find; Laidback Jack, Outright Denial, Kanga, Mucky Groove and even Clenchy Bum Time to name but a few. And if you are interested in the latter, a climbing guide describes it thus: 'The obvious right-left trending layback crack on the short, South-facing wall just below the flagpole. Finish left of the overhanging rock'. 

Taking a relaxed stroll in the sun along the ridge between Roos Tor and Great Staple Tor.

Coming down the other side of Roos Tor, you come across, as you might expect, several of the 'Bedford' markers. You'll also come across this parish boundary stone. It marks the boundary between the Peter Tavy and Whitchurch parishes. There is a W cut into one side and a P cut into the opposite side of the stone.

Taking a rest after reaching Great Staple Tor.

Great Staple Tor is a mass of granite stacks and outcrops, with an impressive variety of shapes and height to the rock formations. As you might expect, it is a popular place to visit (but deserted when we were there) and also to climb. Apparently, it was originally called Great Steeple Tor but some surveyors misread the map they were using and Great Staple Tor it was logged as. It is the highest of the three Staple Tors on this particular ridge.

Middle Staple Tor with the confluence of the Tamar and Tavy in the distance. Look closely and the pillars of the Tamar Road Bridge can be made out.

The last of our six tors - Little Staple Tor. Not particularly impressive from this angle.............

...........and only marginally more from below. No granite stacks and really just a scattering of rocks (clitters). But the view from it is worth scrambling up for.