Thursday Walk: 3rd October 2024: Lowery Cross, Ingra Tor and Sharpitor Circular

 The sun was shining and it was a perfect day for this walk. The route was a near repeat of one we'd done earlier in the year and it was a case of "back by special request".  Now this is the way to spend a day. It had all that was essential for a good walk, or so an article in the Guardian claimed - something to see, somewhere to pee and somewhere for tea! Simple pleasures.

We started at Lowery Cross, just to the north of Burrator Reservoir, and then followed the old railway track up to Ingra Tor. From there, we headed up to Leeden Tor, skirted a bog to get to Black Tor and dropped down to the Devonport Leat by the Raddick Hill cascade. After about half a mile along the leat, we ascended the ridge between Sharpitor and Leather Tor and walked down through a plantation back to the start. My GPS gave 7.2 miles and I was happy with that. Not a hard walk but it had its moments.

A short distance from our starting point and looking across the Walkham/Tavy/Tamar valleys towards Kit Hill in the distance. Walkhampton church lies to the right in splendid isolation from the eponymous village.

A good example of recycling/upcycling/repurposing. What to do with a piece of old railway line? Make a fence post, that's what.

Originally opened in 1823 as a horse drawn mineral railway, this line ran from Princetown to Yelverton, and onwards to a wharf on the River Plym. It was converted to steam in the 1850s and was closed to traffic about 100 years later. Nowadays it's used as a very popular walking/cycling route and offers a gentle introduction to moorland walking, although, as ever with this part of the world, it's best not to take anything for granted as the conditions can change dramatically very quickly.

There were four intermediate stations (Dousland, Burrator and Sheepstor Halt, Ingra Tor Halt and King Tor Halt) between Princetown and Yelverton - all of which are long gone but all of which have remnants that can be traced if you know where to look. And what made a halt, a halt? The train only stopped if you stuck your hand out or told the guard that you wanted to alight there. We followed the line only as far as Ingra Tor Halt. A tea stop, a quick poke around the old quarry to admire the crane bases and then it was off up the side of the tor.

Ingra Tor, from the southern side, as we started the steady climb up to Leeden Tor. And the black bits on the side of the image is what you get when your lens hood falls apart. But it was a job that was quick to fix with the application of a little Evostick. Until the next time, that is, as it's about the fifth time that I've managed to break the hood. So much for permanent repairs!

Looking roughly westward, with, from left to right, Sharpitor, Leather Tor and Sheeps Tor. We were heading towards the ridge between Sharpitor and Leather Tor.

The Devonport Leat as it cascades down Raddick Hill. It is carried over the River Meavy by a metal aqueduct (replacing the original wooden launder). Quite recently, the powers that be decided that walking across the aqueduct was a dangerous process, so they've installed an ugly safety fence. Quite unnecessary to my mind. A great spot for a sunny lunch.

Looking back over the fading bracken towards Black Tor. A nice formation of clouds to frame the image.

The Devonport Leat curving towards the Stanlake Plantation. The granite sidewalls are obviously impressing Dora the Dog, who is probably thinking "how do I get back to the other side?".

, Leather Tor is a fin of rock rising steeply from the surrounding landscape and is great for a scramble. It's not one of the highest spots on Dartmoor but it has some impressive drops from its granite stacks. A poem from G.M. Potter, written in 1935, describes the tor's majesty well:

"Grim watchman of the Moor, so stark and still,
Like some great warrior, hewn out in stone
By heathen hands, with all the ancient skill
Of an old sun god, seated on his throne!

Thy form the ever changing mists surround
With pale robes swiftly turned to fairy gold
By hidden glories; and the winds around
Thy head wild tales of wonderment unfold.

We live and die; thou standest sentinel
Of life and death, a sphinx-like monument,
Pointing to heaven with a mute farewell
For days that pass, with joy and sorrow blent."

The views from the Leather Tor ridge are as dramatic as they are unexpected. We've not been up here before and it's a unique view of Burrator Reservoir. Look closely and you'll notice the silver sliver of Plymouth Sound in the distance and just a hint of the light reflecting the River Tamar to the right.

Views like this feed the spirits. Mindfulness, anyone?