Dartmoor Way Circular Walk 3 - Neadon to Water via Manaton, Sharpitor, and Hunter’s Tor (10.3 miles)

My kids are never going to forgive me for this one. 

Buoyed up by our previous two successes, and getting a bit slapdash in my estimation of distance (and completely ignoring the contour lines), I allowed myself to get carried away with how many other landmarks we could include in our walk and came up with a figure-of-eight route that was considerably longer and steeper than I had intended. 

If you are a more responsible parent than I am, I would suggest turning west from Water to follow the lanes back to Manaton. That would probably come in at around 4 miles. 

Parking by the church in Manaton (opposite a nice little cake stall, though we didn’t investigate it this time), we cut through the churchyard and out onto the footpath up to Manaton Rocks. This is a very satisfying scrambly bit with fabulous views from the top. 

After that, we kept on the public footpaths to get up to Langstone. When we did this bit (in April), it was VERY boggy in places, but there were a couple of streams to wash off our boots, and then some grassy fields to brush off the worst of it. Once on the Dartmoor Way, it was as simple as usual to follow it through very atmospheric woodland dripping with moss and heaving with wildlife. Birds were spotted, caterpillars admired, plants identified, and there was generally a lot to keep the interest up.  

At Water, we left the DW and followed the footpath (which at times seemed to be having a love affair with a stream) into Lustleigh Cleave. The boys were very entertained by the footbridge, which gave two options: the new bridge and the old. The old one looked like this and Ben felt I was being deeply unreasonable not letting him try it. 

There followed a very steep, winding bit of path that was seriously challenging. When we got to the Sharpitor Nut Crackers we weren’t even entirely sure that was what it was (worth Googling it beforehand so you recognise it) and we were too out of puff to care very much, though the nearby hut circles were a good rest-and-snack spot. Once up past it, though, we got onto the ridge and what felt like the first bit of proper Dartmoor we’d seen so far. The views were spectacular and the walk to Hunter’s Tor was probably my favourite part of the day. 

At Hunter’s Tor, we sat down for a snack and took in the view. We had a friend with us (who is considerably better at maps than I am) and she and I eyed the sinking sun with some apprehension. We headed steeply downhill towards Peck Farm, then along a good track to Foxworthy. 

After that, things got complicated. We had planned to follow the path through the woods to a river crossing that seemed to be clearly shown on the OS map. However, after following all the right signposts, the track suddenly fizzled out. It was far too late in the day to risk getting lost, so we doubled back and crossed at Foxworthy Bridge, appreciating the evening light. 

At this point, if you had time, there are various paths that would make a nice return to Manaton. We were a bit shaken by the disappearing path and apprehensive about the boys’ reserves of energy, so we opted for the safer road route. This bit was a trudge, steeply uphill and seemingly endless. I was deeply grateful for adult company as we shared the boys between us, holding their hands, distracting them with conversation, and offering endless encouragement. Daniel and Adam spent the final couple of miles trying to guess how far we had walked and deciding what penalty I should pay for torturing them in this way. 

We finally got back to the cars at 8.30pm, as the last of the light faded. Final bets on distance were placed, and we checked our route tracker apps to discover that we had walked a little over 10 miles, with a total ascent of 2,481 feet. All three boys, including 3 year old Ben, had walked every step by themselves. 

Funnily enough, Ben passed out within a minute of us setting off for home. He slept for the whole 40 minute journey and then woke up, happily demolished a large plate of fish fingers, chips and peas (DH had timed it perfectly to go on the table the second we got back), and went back to sleep. The older two demanded payment of 800 Robux each (£7.99) and banned me from taking them on any new walks for a week, though declared that known routes were fine as they would know what I was getting them into. I thought they let me off rather lightly! 

A week or two later I was discussing the possibility of a 6-mile walk with them. They both assumed looks of lofty disdain and declared “That’s nothing. We’ve walked TEN miles!” I think they were almost as proud of themselves as I was of them. 

Having a rest on a cosy rock

Dartmoor Way Circular Walk 2 - North Bovey to Neadon (4 miles)

If you enjoy Geocaching, this triangular walk is definitely for you. There are at least ten caches on the route itself, and you could easily increase that number if you wanted to take the odd detour. We only found a handful but would happily go back and do the rest. 

North Bovey offers plenty of parking*, both around the green and a few metres down the lane in a little car park. From there you start off on familiar ground, down the lane to the stepping stones again. 

Thanks to the profusion of purple badges, the route is pretty straightforward. There is a fair bit of road walking but hardly any traffic, so it’s not a bad walk if you have small people. 

The first side of the triangle is pretty flat. If you want to stop for a picnic, do it along here, as there aren’t many places for the rest of the way. The other two sides are very steep (up and down; this is Devon, after all!), and don’t offer much shade on a sunny day, but you get great views of Hunter’s Tor from Longland. Looking for Geocaches is a good way of breaking this up, although we had got into our stride by this point and decided not to bother. 

Hunter’s Tor in the background

The final stretch from Aller Mill is really beautiful, and there are nice picnic spots by the river just after Ridgnor, about five minutes before you get back to the car. If you’re feeling flush, you could also pop into the Ring Of Bells Inn before going home. 

*Assessment of parking is based on weekdays during term time. It may well be packed in grockle season!

Dartmoor Way Circular Walk 1 - Moretonhampstead to North Bovey (5 miles)

Our randomly-picked start point on the Dartmoor Way was Moretonhampstead. This had the advantage of a decent car park with public loos, and in non-Covid times you could celebrate the end of the walk with a pub meal. 

Just a short walk up the road from the car park, we spotted our first one of these. 

A beautiful little path leads down to the Wadley Brook, and then you go uphill through some fields. At the very top of the big hill is a bench with a great view, perfect for a picnic or coffee stop. 

Most of this section is through fields, coming out onto a quiet lane just before North Bovey. We did run into a problem just before when the path was blocked by a live electric fence, but a bit of an undignified crouch and slither got us all past safely, if a little ruffled. 

North Bovey is a great find. The village green gave us somewhere to rest in the shade and have a snack (or lunch), and the Ring Of Bells Inn looked nice if you can afford £8 for a sandwich. Heading downhill, spotting the purple badges at reassuring intervals, we got to the stepping stones. Allow lots of time for playing here before carrying on! 

Not far down the track, we left the DW and turned left up a well-signposted footpath. This bit was on the steep side but very pretty and well marked, so you would be hard-pressed to get lost. At Narramore Farm, bear in mind that you have to go through the gateway to the farm and then almost immediately turn left to cross the fence by a stile. 

Speaking of stiles, be prepared. There are approximately 6,748 of them. We started off trying to help Ben over them and soon realised (after he ended up dangling by one hand and an ankle, hooting with laughter) that he was best left to himself. His developing technique turned out to be quite effective, if a bit like a Thelwell pony cartoon. 

The end of the walk is a long uphill slog along a road but there were hardly any cars so it wasn’t particularly tricky with the children, and there were plenty of cows to wave at. 

Back in Moretonhampstead, we celebrated with special chocolates. I need to get a supply of them as it was generally agreed that this should become a tradition for the end of every DW walk.  

Well, That Escalated Quickly

A few weeks ago, I was looking for a new walk to do with the boys. As I rummaged through a box full of walk books (which needed unpacking anyway, now our building work is finished), I stumbled upon this:

I’m not sure how long I’ve had it but vaguely remember wondering about doing it before we had children. Anyway, maps have a way of sucking you in (or is that just me?) and before long it had been decided that the boys and I were going to try to walk the whole thing in small sections. Adam pointed to a random place to determine where we would start (Moretonhampstead), and we agreed to do it clockwise. 

This was where things started to get interesting, as I cracked out the trusty OS map to work out how to make Moretonhampstead to North Bovey into a circular walk suitable for very short people. I hadn’t read a proper map for years, though a recent experience trying to follow an old walk book with minimal hand-sketched maps (and getting us a bit lost in the process) had already suggested to me that I should start using one again. 

I’ll do a separate post for each walk, so suffice it here to say that the first two went very well. The third was less straightforward, but that’s another story. 

Having got into the swing of this trail-walking business, Adam happened to come in when I was watching a tv programme about the Yorkshire Dales. He saw the amazing landscape footage and said in an awestruck voice “Oh Mummy! Can we go there? I bet there would be some great walks there!” Definitely my kid. In assuring him that yes, a holiday in Yorkshire could certainly be on the cards, I happened to mention Wainright’s Coast to Coast, which crosses the Lake District and the Yorkshire Dales on the way from the Irish Sea to the North Sea. He instantly declared that we should do it, this summer, in its entirety, “Camping along the way and carrying our stuff, because that would be more fun.” 

There followed some delicate negotiation as I broke it to him that backpacking the C2C with a 6 year old was not on my bucket list for 2021. However, we did agree that we could work towards it. 

About two weeks ago, I was saying to a couple of friends that I would love to do the whole of the Dartmoor Way in one go over a week. But, I said, staying at B&Bs each night. My backpacking days are behind me, I said. I’m too old for that now, I said. 

Hmm. 

Within an hour of the conversation with Adam, I had fallen down a rabbit hole of YouTube videos of completely normal people who were backpacking on Dartmoor, in Scotland, along the Coast to Coast, and numerous other paths. Half an hour after that, I was researching lightweight camping gear. 

The plan now is that Adam and I will go off for a couple of nights in June, taking our rucksacks on the bus to somewhere (possibly towards North Devon) and then walking a couple of miles to a campsite. Daniel and I will repeat the process after that (destination tbd), and then we might all go somewhere over a long weekend. One section of the Dartmoor Way looks like it would work particularly well as a 4-day through-hike, if we can find campsites. 

Or, on the other hand... this is Dartmoor, one of the few places in the country where wild camping is legal. 

I’m off to research trowels.