It seemed, on this walk, that I would always be around, alongside or crossing the Becka Brook. Looking back at the photos, I started above it, crossed it in Leighon, found it again after Greator Rocks, followed it upstream to Cold Moor Tor and eventually ended up back above it at the car park. Apart from the major rivers that originate on Dartmoor, this stream has to be the most recognisable, mainly due to Becky Falls. Aside from the stream, this walk took me in an anticlockwise direction around Black Hill. A hill that I have seen plenty of from my walks around Shaptor Woods recently, this time I was closer to it but never on top of it. The walk starts on Trendlebere Down, before heading down the byway towards Leighon and on up to Hound Tor, a very popular area. I headed down again to the Becka Brook for solitude to follow it upstream towards Holwell. This is where the walk came unstuck a bit, the streams of water coming down from Smallacombe Rocks and the higher ground were biblical. The ground became impassable, so I headed higher, missed my bridge crossing at Holwell Bridge and jumped the Becka Brook near to Holwell Bridge Boulders. The return was easier as I found a narrow crossing place further upstream, before visiting Little Emsworthy and the two Holwell tors and joining the Haytor tramway which took me to Owlacombe Burrow Rock. All that was left was a road walk around Yarner Woods and down to the car park. The weather was everything in one day, heavy showers, sunshine, blue skies, cloud, hail, wind, heavy showers, sunshine, blue skies etc etc. Great fun
| Start – Trendlebere parking |
| Route – Trendlebere North West Tor – Trendlebere Down Stone Row – Lower Leighon Tor – Leighon Bridge – Long Heales Tor – Lower Nap Tor – Plat Tor – Yonder Piphole Tor – Hound Tor (Manaton) – Greator Rocks – Becka Brook Clapper Bridge – Becka Brook Tor – Holwell Bridge Boulders – Cold Moor Tor – Little Emsworthy – Little Holwell Tor – Holwell Tor – Haytor Tramway – Owlacombe Burrow Rock – Trendlebere Down |
| Distance – 8.5 miles Start time – 11am Time taken – 6hrs 15mins Highest Point – Hound Tor 410metres |
| Weather – Everything from sunshine, blue skies, cloud, hail, heavy showers, rainbows and wind |
© Crown copyright 2020 Ordnance Survey FL 2020 SF
Car park at Trendlebere looking across Lustleigh Cleave
The spur of land and the path that leads to Trendlebere Tor
I went to Trendlebere North West Tor this time, very steep and slippery here. The Becka Brook was raging below
And here is the Becka Brook below
Hayne Down in the sunshine
Looking back down the spur. On the Lustleigh ridge beyond the green trees you can see a dark cloud patch passing over, to the left edge you can see Harton Chest poking above the trees and to the right of the patch is Sharpitor
This is a small part of Trendlebere Down stone row. When the gorse is clear and the grass a bit lower you can see the row, which is only short itself running away from this point
Easdon Tor is back right and Hayne Down to the left
Heading down towards Leighon. Hayne Down again in the sunshine
Right by the path is this outcrop, about 200 metres away is Little Leighon Tor so I assume its part of that
That’s Little Leighon Tor, it goes further up the hill as well
I’ve come from the left and I’m heading behind me
Past Leighon House
Over the Becka Brook and Leighon Bridge
I’m just about to reach Long Heales Tor, just inside the woodland is this rock, there was another to my left much bigger than this, again I assume this is part of the tor I’m heading to, Long Heales Tor
Long Heales Tor, this is the biggest part under the trees. More outcrops are scattered around this field
Higher up the field, another outcrop which could be part of Long Heales also
I popped out of the field on the road and walked past Lower Nap Tor. The boulders in the above photo could also be part of this outcrop as it heads in that direction downhill
Bright sunshine and views along the valley to Rippon Tor at the far end with a piece of Haytor sticking up to the left
Little Leighon Tor on the side of Black Hill
After a bit of road walking I popped into the woodland to see Plat Tor and this strangely shaped rock. Speech mark or comma, you decide
Plat Tor and its boulders
Across the road again and I started to follow the path up towards Hound Tor. first I went left in the trees to see Yonder Piphole Tor, a bit disappointing really, flat boulders resembling mossy clitter that had come from Hound Tor a short distance away
Out of the trees and back on the path I got this great view, with Haytor framed by the dip in Greator Rocks
The green area is the medieval village called Hundaford Village
Up at Hound Tor (Manaton) now. The grass here was greasy and slippery, I went down 3 times in 60 seconds, once whilst trying to get up from my first fall. Still the views across to Haytor are good!
The showers were pretty heavy up here, another one coming my way from Hameldown, framed by the stacks of Hound Tor
Rainbows and Black Hill
On the way to Greator Rocks now with Haytor behind and Rippon Tor away to the right
Greator Rocks
And back up to Hound Tor
Becka Brook Clapper Bridge and some lovely sunshine filtering through
On the other side of the brook is Becka Brook Tor, now to find a few rocks to hop across. There was more rocks to the left of this also
Becka Brook Tor
Becka Brook, my constant companion today
Having return to the clapper bridge I carried on, following a faint path through the woods, hand railing the brook, I came across this large pond, with Greator Rocks poking up above
The issue with being down in a valley by the stream, after 5 months of rain, is every path is a stream and a flat part has become a bog. I decided to climb a little to gain some drier ground. That’s Holwell Tor and I plan to be there a bit later
The result of leaving the lower path was I missed the Holwell Bridge, I had to find another crossing of the Becka Brook before a short climb to Holwell Bridge Boulders
A chance for a bite to eat with Holwell Bridge Boulders behind
Glorious views to Rippon Tor as I look for Cold Moor Tor, which is under the tallest tree up on the right
Here it is, Cold Moor Tor
Dropping down from Cold Moor Tor to the gate out of the field, it was a hop across the Becka Brook for the last time and then up to here, Little Emsworthy, looking back to Greator Rocks
A dark looking Hound Tor from Little Holwell Tor
And the other way, suggesting another downpour is on its way is Top Tor in the distance
Holwell Tor, with Hound Tor and then Easdon Tor and Hayne Down behind
The Haytor Tramway, the right hand track went off to Holwell quarry, with Holwell Tor in the centre
Following the tramway with views to a sunny looking Teignmouth
Dark and broody Haytor silhouetted
The Duke of Somerset stone and a rainbow from Owlacombe Burrow Rock
And this is the rock, the stone is just on top out of sight
Bovey Tracey across Yarner Woods as I walk back to Trendlebere Down
The road along Trendlebere. A fine walk and a bit of Dartmoor proper today and less of the woodland walking of the recent months. Hopefully the spells of good weather will increase now as we head to spring
treksandtors 
Another excellent walk. Like you I don’t mind days of squally showers and sunshine. It keeps the air clear and the views are great if you don’t mind putting up with the odd soaking.
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Had another like this on my last walk around the Cornwall coast
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Nice walk, Steve, and good to see the likes of Long Heales and Plat Tor again. I must say though that you only appeared to have visited the upper rocks of Yonder Piphole Tor; what is below is a grand rock face which sits on a precarious slope where the woodland steeply drops away, as seen on Tors of Dartmoor. Trendlebere Tors are two I ought to revisit one day as I had a bad experience there before! There may be a third outcrop to the east of North-West Tor as marked on OS maps which hasn’t been visited yet.
Best wishes,
Max
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I went to the lower part and saw the rock face on Yonder Piphole, my photo wasn’t great as it was dark and raining at that point, 30 secs later when stood on top it had cleared and the sun was shining through the trees. Still not the best of tors, however the name is fantastic
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Looks like a good walk on a grey day. Hope you managed to keep your boots reasonably dry and not too muddy – difficult at the moment though!
I like your photo of Becka Brook – captures the effect of the moving water really well.
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The whole of Becka Brook was like that, so many opportunities for good photos of tumbling water over mossy rocks. But my boots were soaked through by the time I finished, I went knee deep at one point in a bog, all part of the fun though. My Scarpas are getting on in age now and are starting to split badly. I might get through this summer with them, new one needed for next winter though!
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Unfortunately boots don’t last forever 🥾 Just bought a new pair in January myself
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