Dartmoor Walk from Fernworthy

It seems like ages since we've been up the moors and yesterday took us to a part we'd never walked before. Our starting point was the car park at the top of the Fernworthy Reservoir and from there onto an area that few seem to visit. A robust 9 miler under our belt which, if I'm honest, was quite heavy going in some places. But a great day out with spectacular views and lots to see. Enjoy the virtual perambulation.

Our route, with its elevation profile.

Through the towering conifers of Fernworthy Plantation and....

...out onto the open moorland. Looking vaguely north-east at this point.

Our first target was Grey Wethers with its two almost completely symmetrical Neolithic stone circles, seen here looking back on the way up to Sittaford Tor. What was the purpose of the circles? No one knows but 'ceremonial' seems to be the most often cited function. I had to fiddle with the contrast on this one to make the stones stand out; in the process I've somewhat bleached the colour out of the grass.

The path looks fairly innocuous but don't be fooled. It was tough going in parts as there were lots of tussocks and a barely discernible track in many places.

Lots of English stonecrop (Sedum anglicum) on the rocks and walls. It's amazing what it will grow on and adds a splash of colour to the grey of the stone.

Oi! What are you looking at?

Dotted here and there in the bogs was the bright yellow Bog asphodel (Narthecium ossifragum) It was once thought to be the cause of brittle bone in cattle grazing on it, hence the name ossifragum, meaning ‘weak bone’. In fact, the cause is lack of calcium in bog plants as a whole. This plant has been used as a cheap substitute for saffron and as a dye.

It doesn't look much but this is probably one of the most important Neolithic sites in Northern Europe. Buried underneath this mound, and placed in the chamber in the centre, were the funerary remains of a person (presumed female by the nature of the artifacts found). The excavation was unique in that the entire cyst was removed intact and dismantled under laboratory conditions. Look up 'White Horse Hill Cyst' if you want more information and pictures of the jewellery and beads recovered.

Walking across the peat bogs on Dartmoor is not easy: just think how much more difficult it is if you are on a horse hunting. To make it easier for local hunts to seek their prey and transport across the bogs more generally, Frank Phillpotts decided to dig 'peat passes' to make transit easier.  He got men to dig through the peat to the bedrock beneath to give a firm base for travellers and users. There are about 12 around the moor but were never intended to form a cohesive network, rather they dealt with local difficulties.

Why was this fish sign placed on top of a wall at a ruined farmhouse in a desolate place? Orienteering? Harriers? I've no idea.

This is the impressive trackway leading to the ruins of Teignhead Farm. Dating from the early 1800s, it was inhabited until the 1960s. A lonely, inhospitable place to try and make a living. Originally, this farm was one of the 'new takes' designed to reclaim some of the moorland and bring it under more productive cultivation. Some of the 'new takes' still exist as working farms but many of them failed and are now ruins.

The clapper bridge spanning the Upper Teign and part of the original access to Teignhead Farm. The massive granite slabs must have been quarried locally and, from the way the edges dovetail with each other, it looks as if they came from the same block.

Not that common so it was  a pleasure to find the basal rosette of the round-leaved or common sundew (Drosera rotundifolia). It's a carnivorous plant and if you look closely you can make out the insect-trapping sticky hairs on the leaves.