Restrictions loosened, I decided to head further into Dartmoor. Still on its southern side but the walk is straight into Dartmoor proper, once at Redlake you leave behind the last few remains of people and head off for some solo time. The best part about this walk is the route to Redlake, using the Zeal Tramway path I didn’t see a soul, not something you would get if you walk the tarmac path from Shipley Bridge up to Avon Dam. The weather was glorious, expecting a forecasting of cooling weather I wore 3 layers, 10 minutes in and I was down to one and it stayed that way in some superb sunshine. Once at Redlake I made a beeline to Green Hill, the conditions underfoot were good as we have had little rain for a few weeks now. Green Hill is a remote spot and I headed a bit further to Fishlake Rocks to tick these off my list. Not the grandest of piles but being stuck in the middle of miles of tufty yellow grass, mires and tough walking they are a good addition to my 500. From these rocks I spotted what looked like a faint track/sheep path across Fishlake Mire, I took a gamble and it paid off as I easily made the River Avon, I probably should have headed uphill a bit to Huntingdon Warren but I fancied trying to follow the infant river south to see if I could. I was on the eastern side of the river and it sort of worked. I learnt that I needed to stay right on the banks of the river to make progress, away from it, even 2 or 3 metres, meant very thick tufty grass or mossy bogs that moved underfoot as small streams fed into the river. I made Broad Falls in reasonable time, but the distance was much further than I expected (around 2km). Once at Avon Dam the normal throng of people greeted me, lots more walking the path up to the dam and lots returning to the car park. All in all a fantastic walk and despite it being Easter Sunday, only the last short section had lots of folk. Great day.

Start – Shipley Bridge parking

Route – Zeal Tramway – Broad Rushes – Petre’s Pits – Western White Barrow – Crossways – Redlake – Green Hill – Fishlake Rocks – River Avon – Broad Falls – Huntingdon Clapper – Huntingdon Cross – Western Wella Brook Clapper – Avon Dam and Reservoir – Brentmoor House – Shipley Bridge

Distance – 10 miles    Start time – 10am    Time taken – 5hrs Highest Point – Western White Barrow 481 metres

Weather – Sunshine and surprisingly warm