I’ve driven past this area quite a few times and always continued on towards Okehampton Camp or Meldon Reservoir, however this time I stopped and took in a walk. This area is kind of sandwiched in between, Great Links Tor and the many great tors around it, to the south, and Yes Tor and High Willhays to the east. As a result it is kind of neglected as a walking destination, this is a mistake, Sourton Tor is a brilliant place as is the area around the West Okement river. The route was a bit unorthodox, however it allowed me to get to 6 new summits in a nice loop around the Meldon Reservoir.
| Start – Sourton parking |
| Route – East Tor – Sourton Tor – Shelstone Tor – West Okement river – Homerton Hill – Longstone Hill – Meldon Dam – South Down – Water Works – Sourton parking |
| Distance – 7 miles Start time – 1.20pm Time taken – 4hrs Highest Point – Sourton Tor 440 metres |
| Weather – Sunny at times, cloudy at times, still in a T-shirt in October |
© Crown copyright 2016 Ordnance Survey FL 2016 SF
A signpost on the granite way, its a short walk along here from the village to my starting point
Sourton Tor as I cross the cattle grid onto the moor
I’m first heading under Sourton Tor and round to East Tor
Whilst searching for East Tor I saw about 4 or 5 of these deer, one fox and a massive buzzard
The lower part of East Tor just over the fence, a patchwork of West Devon fields beyond
The lower part of the tor below as I stand on the hedge line and look north west
Plenty of blue sky as I walk past the upper parts of East Tor and onto Sourton Tor
From certain angles this looks like a witch with a crooked nose
Fine views all the way past Brent Tor to Kit Hill from the top of Sourton Tor
Great Links Tor peeping over the lower slopes of Branscombes Loaf
Meldon Reservoir (I’ll be round there later), with Yes Tor over to the right
A fair bit of zoom picks out Kit Hill
I was going to head up to Branscombe’s Loaf and then come down to Shelstone Tor but I felt the walk I ended up with was enough. I contoured around under Branscombe’s Loaf instead with Shelstone Tor dead ahead
Fantastic views along the West Okement from Shelstone Tor, Black Tor on the left with Black-a-tor Copse below
Vellake Corner is down that way in the valley, I could have headed that way to cross the river, however I set out just upstream from the trees below Shelstone Tor and found an easy couple of rocks to hop across
Looking back to Sourton Tor as I leave Shelstone Tor
Zooming along the West Okement valley to Lints Tor at the far end
Plenty of people up on Yes Tor
Having crossed the river I’m here on Homerton Hill, looking back to Black Tor on the left
Branscombe’s Loaf on the left with Sourton Tor right
Longstone Hill, my next target is over on the right, to get there I head out of shot to the right and contour round
Now on Longstone Hill looking back to Branscombe’s Loaf to the left of the military flagpole
The cairn on Longstone Hill with Yes Tor and West Mill Tor behind
A few metres from the top of Longstone Hill you get a great view down to Meldon Viaduct
A sparkling Meldon Reservoir with Sourton Tor at the end, South Down, my next summit on the right, Homerton Hill on the left
The dam at Meldon
Meldon Reservoir
Up on South Down now, looking across the reservoir to Yes Tor
A walk along the West Devon Way brings you to the water works and it was a short walk back to the car from here. That’s Branscombe’s Loaf over there on the left and some lovely fluffy clouds above me
treksandtors 
The usual high quality insight into the limitless beauty of Dartmoor. You should write a guide-book! 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Not sure about a book yet, happy to keep the website going for now. its only been 18 months that I’ve had it up. Lovely comments though, thank you
LikeLike