First walk on Dartmoor for a few weeks and an area I haven’t been to before and too be honest not one I’ll rush back to. The area around Foxtor Mires is excellent, although not to be messed with as it is horrendously boggy. However once on Ter Hill the ground is heavy going and very same, same, especially across to Skir Hill and Down Ridge. The views to central and northern Dartmoor are brilliant throughout though. I enjoyed the part around Swincombe Farm and the return over the side of Royal Hill gave me a chance to view my outward walk route. Spring is around the corner and hopefully the rains of the winter will become a distant memory soon.
| Start – Whiteworks |
| Route – Foxtor Mires – Goldsmiths Cross – Fox Tor – Childe’s Tomb – Mount Misery Cross – Terrill Posts – Ter Hill – Skir Hill – Skir Ford Cross – Down Ridge – Swincombe Bridge – Swincombe Farm – Royal Hill – Whiteworks |
| Distance – 8 miles Start time – 9.50am Time taken – 5hr 15mins Highest Point – Skir Hill 487m |
| Weather – A bit of sun, mainly cloudy but cold |
treksandtors 
That looks a lot like our moors – tors an’ all (Yorkshire Dales) but we only have the one cross up there. I love the crosses everywhere but am not sure about that terrain in between! At least our bogs aren’t potentially fatal – just a nuisance. We do have mine shafts up there though 😮
Carol.
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It looks very bleak up there over the winter with the grass turning a very dull light yellow colour. Makes the moors difficult to photograph as all the layers blend in! Foxtor Mire is pretty famous round these parts, very, very boggy and where the Hounds of the Baskervilles are based I believe (called Grimpen Mire in the book). The crosses are fantastic and testament to the old Abbots ways that would have crossed over Dartmoor between the priorys. Thankfully mine shafts aren’t too prevalent up on Dartmoor!
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It looks very bleak up there over the winter with the grass turning a very dull light yellow colour. Makes the moors difficult to photograph as all the layers blend in! Foxtor Mire is pretty famous round these parts, very, very boggy and where the Hounds of the Baskervilles are based I believe (called Grimpen Mire in the book). The crosses are fantastic and testament to the old Abbots ways that would have crossed over Dartmoor between the priorys. Thankfully mine shafts aren’t too prevalent up on Dartmoor!
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Thanks for putting this up – looks like just the walk I’ve been searching for and an old favourite of mine. Haven’t done it for a few years but I used to call it the ‘cross to cross’ walk as you can walk from Childe’s tomb to the next cross on the horizon all the way until it gets a bit vague on Down Ridge just before Hexworthy and lunch at the Forrest Inn. And it’s shorter on the way back than on the way there (which I always think is a positive).
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Glad you like it, you could also add in Nun’s Cross (Siwards Cross) as well if you fancy adding a bit more to the walk. Hope the weather is good for you
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Fox Tor Mires, one of my favorite walks but it can be trickey. I’ve walked many times for the past four decades, first using an 1897 map my great grand dad drew up back in the day. I used his old hand written map to find that old path years ago for the first time. Not many use that crossing that comes out just about at Goldsmith’s Cross. My cousin a longtime Dartmoor farmer was always a bit freaked out when I made that crossing. He told of some of his cows wandering off in the mire and getting stuck. All they could do, he said, was push them under. Made my wife blanche a bit when he told the tale right after she made her first crossing with me. She’s vowed to never do it again. The mires are ok in drier weather, gets crazy during rainy times. Your photos are breaking back memories for me, thanks Larry
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Glad you enjoyed the photos Larry. I had a go at the path on the OS maps that goes across towards Goldsmiths cross. Never again, I ended up in a right pickle. Had to back out and head up to the Devonport leat and then around. That will always be my way from now on!!
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Despite all the fearful remarks about the mire, in which I wandered only a couple of days ago, it is, like most of Dartmoor not at all eerie, or at least it is very pleasant and peaceful on a warm summer’s afternoon. Even in rain and darkness I don’t find it eerie, and it is just about common-sense avoidance of getting lost, and not going out into the mists
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There is a path on the path through the mire but its not for me. The better path is around the rim from Whiteworks to Fox Tor itself
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