Holiday - Dartmoor Day 4

Dartmoor Holiday Day 4

Thursday 17th March

Today we planned to go climbing, we got all packed up and set off for Sheeps Tor.  We arrived just after a minibus of 6 had also not long arrived and had begun walking up the tor. It was a lovely clear day with blue skies, a little windy but Tim had read that that was going to die down as the morning went on.  We set of up the path and looked at the book to check out which climbs we were going to do.  

It was quite windy so tried to find a sheltered bit.  We thought Slab Route looked like it might be a bit less in the wind and a suitable route so we got kitted up.  The wind was increasing however and part of the way up the climb Tim decided it was far too blustery.  After coming back down he climbed up to the top using the descent route and rigged an abseil so he could retrieve the kit.  Tim was struggling on the top ad it was so windy.  When he came down we decided to pack up and find a different rock to climb on.

Back at the car we looked at the map and decided to go to the Dewerstone to see if that was any better.  We parked up and looked in the guide book for directions to the area best or us to go climbing.  There were a few multi pitch climbs so we were going to have to leave out kit at the bottom of the climbs so we only took with us the essentials.  After a short walk the Dewerstone appeared out of the trees.  There were a few other climbers there.  We located a suitable route up the rocks (Mucky Gully) and got ourselves ready.  We did the climb as 2 pitches.  It was a nice easy climb and a good learning experience for practising different skills.  Once we had got down we found a shorter climb (Agag's Slab) to round off the day. 

Back at the cottage we sorted some dinner and had a relaxing evening.

Tomorrow we are heading home via a tannery at Colyton as Tim wants some leather for handbell refurbishing.  It is a shame to go as we have had a great time and lovely weather.

Holiday - Dartmoor Day 3

Dartmoor Holiday Day 3

Wednesday 16th March

This morning Tim and I had arranged to go and see Ian in Okehampton, Ian has done a lot of work refurbishing Tim's handbells and locating bells to add into his set.  Tim had a few bells that were cracked and that he wasn't able to work with and thought Ian could make good use of them.  After seeing Ian we went for a walk through the park and by the river in Okehampton and then looped back round to the car.

Once back at the car we had a think about what else we wanted to do today.  We both felt quite tired so didn't fancy another walk.  I suggested to Tim that it might be a good time for him to have a cream tea if he fancied it so we stopped at Lydford Gorge on the way back to the cottage.  

We had a relaxing rest of the afternoon and evening.  We plan to go climbing tomorrow as the weather is looking good.

Holiday - Dartmoor Day 2

Dartmoor Holiday Day 2

Tuesday 15th March

This morning Tim and I went into Tavistock to shop for a few bits we had forgotten and that weren't supplied in the cottage and a pasty!  Tim had said he wanted to walk up to Widgery Cross on Bray Tor.  We got to the car park and set off walking about 11.00. We followed a track from the car park down to the river Lyd and crossed on the stepping stones.

While we were on our way up I found or first letterbox for the trip.

We continued our way up to Widgery Cross.  

The cross was erected by William Widgery to commemorate the Golden Jubilee of Queen Victoria in 1887. Widgery's Cross holds three distinctions amongst the realms of Dartmoor crosses, firstly it is the only cross constructed of blocks of granite as opposed to being hewn from a single slab. Secondly it is the most visible of the crosses as it can be seen from many places on the moor. Thirdly the cross is the tallest of the all the Dartmoor granite crosses which stand outside of a cemetery. The cross stands at an altitude of 452 metres.

We had a good view from the cross and decided to take a different route on our walk and go to Great Links Tor also.  It didn't look that far from Widgery Cross but it was further than I thought and higher!

From here we made our way down to Little Links Tor.

After stopping for a drink we decided to take the most direct route across to Arms Tor rather than climbing back on to the top of the ridge.  It was a bit boggy in places but not enough to make us change our route.

Up on Arms Tor we got the map out and planned the best route back to the car.  There was a settlement marked on the map near a footpath that we could make out in the grass and a ford marked over the river.

We got back to the car just after 4pm after a great walk and 8 letterboxes collected.

This evening we cooked dinner at the cottage and had a quiet evening.

Holiday - Dartmoor Day 1

Dartmoor Holiday Day 1

Monday 14th March

This morning Tim and I set off around 08.30 and set off to the Toby Carvery in Exeter for breakfast, we got there about 10.15.  After breakfast we headed for Hay Tor as we had planned to do some climbing before checking in to where we are staying.  We got to Hay Tor and our ourselves ready to walk out to it.  It was rather windy but as we got up to the part of the Tor we chose to climb on we were quite sheltered.  We kitted up and set off on the first route Zig Zag.  

The next route we did was called Bulging Wall.  Both routes had their challenges but were nice climbs.  There were lots of people around hiking and dog walking.  One man stopped with us for quite a while chatting and asking about climbing.  We left there about 4 and made our way to Monkstone where we are staying.  We stayed here about 2 years ago and liked it so much we wanted to come back.  Like last time there was a cream tea waiting for us!

We settled in and had a cozy evening in front of the fire!!