Now some of you will look at the title and see the photos below and wonder why I haven’t gone way into Dartmoor on a longer walk. Well there was a reason. My eldest had asked me if I would like to go with his class, for a walk on Dartmoor. “You know what you are doing dad”, he said. “Its only from Burrator to Princetown”, he said. Before I knew it, I was signed up as an adult helper. Maybe i should have thought a bit longer, after all this is mid December and will involve around 60 10 and 11 year olds on a double decker bus to get there!!! Well the first part wasn’t an issue, the weather was glorious and the kids were fine, if a little loud singing Christmas songs there and back!! However the walk didn’t turn out as planned. The idea was to have a short walk first, then a break for lunch then a longer walk up to Princetown. Well we got around the short walk, however one of the teachers went over on her ankle, which meant the pickup point of Princetown was no longer an option. We instead opted for a second short walk. To be honest there was disappointment among some of the kids, but the weather kept the spirits up along with a trail that included a search for chocolate! The kids did well overall and nearly 6 miles is a great effort from them.
| Start – Burrator Discovery Centre |
| Route – Burrator Resevoir and Dam – Sheeps Tor – Burrator Reservoir and Discovery Centre – Devonport Leat – Cross Gate Cross – Leathertor Farm – Leather Bridge – Norsworthy Bridge – Discovery Centre |
| Distance – 5.5 miles Start time – 10am Time taken – 4hrs Highest Point – Near to Sheeps Tor summit 340 metres ish |
| Weather – Glorious |
© Crown copyright 2017 Ordnance Survey FL 2017 SF
After a meet up and some instructions we set out on our first short walk in the search of chocolates. Teams of 8 with at least one adult were on a mission. This is taken from the dam looking out across Burrator reservoir
Sheeps Tor across Sheepstor dam
Stood on Sheepstor dam looking at Peek Hill, the reflections are looking good
Along the road and through the trees
I think by this spot we had found 5 chocolates and were heading for number 6. We are on Sheeps Tor at this point looking down to Burrator
Leather Tor looking pointy from this angle, Sharpitor above to the left and Cramber Tor beyond to the right
We are now on the second short walk. The weather is still glorious and I’m now on the other side of Burrator reservoir
That’s a bulky looking Sheeps Tor across the reservoir
Sheeps Tor again from the Devonport leat
After following the leat for a mile we reached Cross Gate Cross, looking beyond that is Burrator
Now we are down at Leathertor Farm for a bit of history
A short hop away is Leather Bridge
And now Norsworthy Bridge
Down Tor is visible behind us as we follow the road back to the Discovery Centre
Sheeps Tor and Burrator reservoir, now looking very still
The Devonport Leat empties into the reservoir via this pipe and waterfall
Glorious sky and reflections to finish as we board the bus back to school
treksandtors 
Very brave, spending an afternoon in the company of 60 kids 😀
Great reminders of my walk there a few weeks back. We didn’t find any chocolates though!
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