Dartmoor Walk: Merrivale and King's Tor Circular

A familiar route for this walk but this time with a deviation to Foggintor Quarry as we haven't been there for a while. We had the added attraction of refreshments at the end at the Dartmoor Inn in Merrivale - highly recommended for a visit.

We started just down from the Dartmoor Inn at Merrivale. Across the road, we picked up the track through Long Ash Wood, passing Daveytown and got back onto moorland at Criptor. From there it was up to the quarries and across the moor to the stone rows at Merrivale. It’s always worth checking that they are still there! The distance was about 6.5 miles and I’d grade it moderate.

A barely decipherable old Parish boundary stone next to the River Walkham, which is the actual boundary.  Walkhampton can be made out on the right but Whitchurch, on the left, requires some imagination. Its chamfered shape might suggest that its original position was somewhere else, maybe at a mid-point on the parapet of the old bridge?

The mossy track into Long Ash Woods, once upon a time a fairly important route for quarry workers at Merrivale. That’s Nora in the bottom right, doing what dogs do best - sniffing around.

If it’s possible to have a favourite gate, this is mine. It always strikes me as a transition point between the Domain of the Ents and the world of the mortals.

Through the gate and into the fringes of Long Ash Woods. Lots of stunted oaks and moss covered granite boulders. There is something very comforting about this type of scenery.

Foggintor Quarry is surprisingly beautiful. I never used to think of quarries as being scenic, but having now explored a few in the area, I have definitely changed my mind. The steep jagged cliff walls are dramatic and the water inside offers a perfect reflection on a calm day. However, it is the silence that strikes me the most. You could almost hear a pin drop! The silence was only broken when we spoke, at which point the sound reverberated around the quarry.

Looking towards one of the abandoned mine buildings, with Kings Tor to the left and, in order, Middle Staple Tor, Great Staple Tor and Roos Tor to the right.

A crown of clouds over King's Tor.

The same trio of tors as before - Middle Staple Tor, Great Staple Tor and Roos Tor. And we've walked them all. Maybe it's time we did them again.

It was that time of year when swaling was in full swing. For those who don't know, swaling is the practice of controlled burning of moorland vegetation, like heather and gorse, to improve grazing for animals and to manage vegetation. It's a traditional but controversial land management technique, used on Dartmoor and other areas. It happens before ground nesting birds start laying their eggs. The land looks scorched after its done but it really doesn't take long for it to green up again. 

Merrivale Down is rich with prehistory and, being close to the road, is possibly the most accessible on Dartmoor. Its most prominent features are two double stone rows running east to west, each consisting of more than 150 stones, mostly under a metre high.
The northern double row is 182 metres long, with an average width between the rows of 1 metre. The second row runs roughly parallel with the first but is longer, stretching 263 metres across the moor. It has terminal stones blocking each end. Near the middle of this row, a ring of stones marks the kerb of a small cairn. This feature may mark the burial of an important person but it isn't known whether it is earlier or later in date than the stone rows.

Looking across the stone row towards Great Mis Tor, with another dramatic 'sky'.

In the distance, must be 20 miles away, the silvery strip of the sea can be made out. This would be the stretch just the other side of the Plymouth Breakwater.