A walk to Trenchford reservoir and Shaptor Rock

This was my first walk after returning from the Lake District, to be honest I’m never in much of a mood for any walking once I come back from there, and normally I need to go somewhere different like Cornwall or a coastal walk to get me back into it. This walk is mainly woodland, some farmland and a bit on roads. Nothing too difficult but the views from the top of Shaptor Rock are good across to the eastern side of Dartmoor. This is also a good walk for a cloudy day or for something different. As it was the weather was horribly humid and the walking through the long grasses was very uncomfortable. Yet again I carried a lot of water for such a short walk and drank it all. A really good walk though in a rarely visited area, in fact there are three reservoirs here and a loop around them all would be a lovely walk

Start – Hennock

Route – Great Rock – Tottiford reservoir – Trenchford reservoir – Gladstone Rock – Shaptor Rock – John Canns Rocks – Stonelands Tor – Bottor Rock – Five Lanes – Hennock

Distance – 7 miles Start time – Midday Time taken – 4hrs 20mins Highest Point – Shaptor Rock 252metres

Weather – Very humid, some sun but mostly cloud

Lovely views over the Teign valley from the parking in Hennock

Hennock church

Across the fields and down into the woods

Great Rock a huge lump of granite hidden in the trees

Out of the woods and on to the road up to the reservoirs

Tottiford reservoir and a nice spot for a brew

Trenchford reservoir looking the other way

Trenchford reservoir again, a lovely place

Nice colours below the reservoir

Love this view down the valley towards the eastern side of Dartmoor

Gladstone Rock which seems to get more and more covered!

There was plenty of growth on some of these paths!

Entering Shaptor Woods

Looking down to Bovey Tracey from Shaptor Rock

Looking to Haytor from Shaptor Rock

A walk through the woods takes you past other outcrops, such as Pixey Copse Tor. These are some rocks opposite John Canns Rocks taken from beside Little John’s walk. This is Higher Stonelands Tor, there is also Stonelands Waste Tor in this area however looking at the Moorland Walker website he says that this tor is at SX818799 which is further up Little John’s Walk