First camp in new tent

22-23 April 2021

Almost unbelievably, two consecutive days without any work or appointments coincided with sunny weather as well as with overnight camping being permitted on Dartmoor. The dry weather was possibly the greatest surprise – although this April has been incredibly rain free. I have been itching to try out my brand new Hilleberg Enan tent since receiving it at Christmas – it isn’t the same pitching it in the garden for practice and of course I actually wanted to sleep in it.

I was at the Princetown car park before 8am, having managed to drive on the B3157 through Dartmeet despite the road being closed for tree felling. That was fortunate since, having driven along the A38 and then turned off at Ashburton, it would have taken a very long time to take the other road through Postbridge (at least using any route that I know). The ticket machine obliged with a 2 day ticket – excellent value taking me right through from Thursday morning to 6pm on Saturday, although I was only staying until Friday afternoon. The much needed and long awaited haircut appointment was on Saturday morning.

My first objective was Hollow Tor, having not been there when I went close to it to bag Rundlestone Tor. Unfortunately the well trodden path past North Hessary is closed for work on the TV mast so I set out on the disused railway line path before quickly swinging west of north across open ground. Despite the quarries, the tor seems to be well preserved. I could see the army range flag flying on Great Mis, as I knew it would be and that was why I was heading south for the rest of my expedition.

My next objective was Foggintor where there is much evidence of old quarrying and a large lake plus warning notices at the centre of the quarry area. Swelltor, next on my list, was also an old quarry.

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I cut across country and then on to the old railway line and a path off it to make for Criptor. The spreadsheet says it is publicly accessible although the Tors of Dartmoor website (Tors of Dartmoor Database Result: Crip Tor (Ringwood)) says it is on private land. The website is correct so I couldn’t bag it and had to be satisfied with a photo from a distance. On my way to Leeden Tor I passed Ingra Tor so stopped briefly to look at the view. Leeden Tor is prominent on the landscape, as is Black Tor over the road and up the hill. I went to Black Tor one evening in summer 2019 when I was with a D of E group and we had special permission to camp north of the woodland around Burrator Reservoir.

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From Black Tor I headed south over the moor, passing some Dartmoor ponies with very young foals. This allowed me to bag Sharpitor, Leather Tor and Peek Hill in quick succession. There were a few other walkers on this part of the moor. I descended to a footpath passing through the Peek Hill plantation. I stopped for lunch in the wood, noting lots of ragged strands of old man’s beard on the tree branches.

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There was a pleasant well defined footpath which later merged with the cycle path from Princetown on the disused railway. I could see the Burrator reservoir below. I descended to the reservoir at the dam. Burra Tor was just beyond the stile at the far eastern end of the dam. Unlike a lot of the woodland tors, it is obvious and huge. There was unexpectedly a footpath through the wood and it seemed to go the right way so that I descended to the road just before arriving at the sign for Sheepstor village.

The centre of the village comprises the church and a Dartmoor Cross. However the village really is in the middle of the countryside. Across the road I spotted two young calves in a field, peering curiously but nervously through the bars of the gate, their mother watching them.

Soon I was off the road again on open moor heading towards Brisworthy. I stopped to look at the well preserved stone circle before heading up to Legis Tor. In the distance the view was very different to what had gone before – disused china clay workings of the far south west of the moor visible.

After Legis Tor, I had a crossing of the River Plym. I suspect that most days of the year this would be a foolhardy crossing, but water levels are low at the moment. Unfortunately not so low as to avoid getting wet boots and socks. I should have taken my socks off and crossed wearing boots alone on my feet. I stopped at the far side to remove footwear and wring out the excess water. Anyway the water looked clean so much better than wet feet from stepping in a deep bog.

I was on Trowlesworthy Warren. To reach the two tors, I had to cross a deep ditch. There were a few narrow stones forming “footbridges”. With my heavy rucksack and in the wind, I was concerned about overbalancing. The ditch was too wide to step across. Eventually I found a slightly wider bridge and was across. Both the Little and the Great Trowlesworthy Tors are impressively large. There were a couple of walkers there but by the time I arrived they had left in a different direction.

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From there, I crossed to Hen Tor, which was easy to find. My final tor of the day – Shavercombe, took longer to find as I headed for obvious cairns. The tor is slightly hidden by the lie of the land, on the side of the hill. A couple of helicopters were hovering over the Plym valley, which is broad at that point.

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I considered walking further as it was only just after 5pm. However I was tired. When I found a slightly sheltered area to camp next to Shavercombe Brook my mind was made up. It was very windy and I was fortunate to find somewhere a bit less exposed.

It was so easy to pitch the tent. It only has eight pegs. Soon I was brewing up and rehydrating my dinner. There was absolutely no-one else around. The evening colours were stunning as the light changed with the sun setting. The moon and stars made for an impressive backdrop. I enjoyed a comfortable although cold night.

Next morning the tent was easily taken down. I was on my way soon after 07:00am, using the brook as a “hand rail” before striking out to the trig point at 492m en route to Shell Top. It was an easy walk with reasonable conditions underfoot. From Shell Top, once more I saw the bright white disused clay workings.

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There was further easy walking to Penn Beacon and the second trig point of the day. Next I descended to Rook Tor. As mentioned in Tors of Dartmoor Database Result: Rook Tor this is little more than piles of clitter with a scattering of larger rocks.

My planned route actually left the moor at East Rook Gate and followed various small lanes to Harford Gate. However that looked like an awful lot of road walking so as a late change I cut across the moor, eventually following a boundary wall on a reasonable path not marked on the map. I crossed the Yealm and began to follow Ranny Brook. The going was hard and I soon realised that Sharp Tor and Three Barrows would be best left for another day. I cut the corner back towards the Yealm, which I followed to its source.

From Yealm Head, the ground was incredibly tussocky and it was hard to follow a straight line. I wiggled around everywhere with no feature on which to fix a bearing. In the distance, I spotted a large group of walkers, who seemed to be having heated discussions about their route. I was hopeful on a few occasions that I had reached the pair of Little Gnat’s Head Tor and Calveslake Tor but I had been walking the wrong way and it was just another cairn or prominent rock. Eventually when I went the right way, there was no mistaking the two tors. I was tired after ploughing through so much long vegetation so stopped for lunch at Little Gnat’s Head Tor. There was a fine view across the Plym Valley towards Higher and Lower Hartor Tors (already bagged).

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The Plym was easily crossed via stepping stones. Near Plym ford there were more people than I had seen for the entire walk. I took a path which degenerated to “nothing”. Two walkers carrying a tent (the only other backpackers I saw) asked if I was doing the Abbot’s Way – no I was just heading to Fox Tor. Fox Tor itself was easily seen from a distance. As I approached, I met two local women living in Holne and out for a half day walk from Princetown; we stopped and chatted, feeling privileged to get out on the moor again after the strict lockdown measures of early 2021.

Fox Tor in the bag, all that remained was to climb over Royal Hill then descend to the Dartmoor Way path to get back to my car in Princetown. I passed Childe’s Tomb, a prominent cross on its top.

On my weary legs, it was a long hard push to the summit of Royal Hill. False hope as I thought some cairns were the summit, but there was over half a kilometre of energy sapping tussock still to cross. After this, even the walk to Princetown seemed long and arduous! However eventually I reached the end of my tough walk, just having to drive home, happy but exhausted.