A circular walk in the snow from Mary Tavy

We are leading a U3A walk on Thursday and, given the atrocious weather recently, it made sense to walk the route and check that it was still accessible. We've done this one before and it bears repeating. It starts and ends outside the church at Mary Tavy and takes in moorland and a very pleasant walk along a leat. Just over 6 miles and today it had the added thrill of hail and snow!

The route for those who profess an interest in seeing it.

I think they were looking at the view

Not too many panoramic views today.

Gorse and snow - yellow and white.

And in the distance, the tors of North Dartmoor. Although you can't see them, there were a few soldiers running around the army firing range.

A flurry of snow on the lane to Creason Farm.

The River Tavy at Hill Bridge, deceptively calm as these are the head-waters above the fish weir. Further downstream, the torrent is reinstated.

Also at the weir is a take-off for this attractive leat. It dates from the 1830s and runs for about a mile into a reservoir which served a number of the mines in the Mary Tavy area. Nowadays the reservoir is used for a local hydroelectricity scheme. The leat bank affords a very pleasant (and level) walk and a close up view of where the leat was chiselled out of pure granite. Quite an engineering feat.

I've been up and down this lane to and from the leat several times and today I learnt it's called Horndon Clam Lane. Why? Because it leads down to the River Tavy where once there was a wooden bridge or, in the vernacular, clam.

The tower of Mary Tavy church in the haze.