This was a walk to pick up some tors in the north eastern side of Dartmoor. I have been meaning to come back to Whiddon Wood now for a while. Lots of woodland here, and at this time of year, plenty of brown bracken to bash through and the odd awkward fence to hop over as you near Cranbrook Castle, having hand railed the top of the woodland. The walk along the bottom by the river is always lovely, although it can get very popular with walkers coming down from Castle Drogo itself or from the popular parking at Dogmarsh Bridge. This was a good route with the real highlight the ascent up past Whiddon Park Tor to Whiddon Wood Tor and then dropping down past the red roofed hut to Great Parford. On this walk we had planned to carry on down to Fingle Bridge and on towards Wooston Castle, but the weather was forecast to come in with heavy rain and on cue the clouds looked very black at Cranbrook Castle so we headed to the car. I will no doubt be back to walk the next section along the river towards Fingle Bridge, probably taking in Castle Drogo. Still it was a fine day out in some lovely autumn sunshine.
The starting point a couple of spots by the side of a lane near to Cranbrook Castle, it always seems an odd spot to have a trig point, deep in trees on a sunken laneOnce you hit gates and gaps along the lane the views are fabulous, here looking towards Easdon Tor on the leftA bit further north you can see to Cosdon BeaconPlenty of green fields as we look down to Chagford with Meldon Hill on the leftLuckily this one is named for us, Parford Brake Tor Whiddon Park House Tor, this one is just inside the woods on your left, and up off the path, as you leave the houseWe did an out and back to Dogmarsh Bridge to follow the River Teign for a bitThe farmer has piled these rocks up at some point to make Dogmarsh North Tor, over there in the trees to the right of that one is Dogmarsh South Tor, this one is on my list, unlike the north versionStill a bit too much foliage to see this one in its full, but you can see parts of Dogmarsh South hereIron Bridge over the River Teign, we head across here and then right and along for 30 metres and then upwards to the next torFirst a view along the Teign towards the weirWe then climb the path steeply up through the woods to Whiddon Park Tor, the start of the path is tricky to find, you first need to cross the Iron Bridge and turn right, a clearing will appear on your left, head up that and then up into the trees, the path improves as you climb and you might see it across from you, so it can be easier to find it slightly higher upThis is the path up, the tor is off to the right and gets bigger as you go back Some of the bigger rocks of Whiddon Park TorI popped through the rocks on the previous photo to see this glorious view all the way to Cosdon Beacon, the colours are lovely in this photoThe avenue of trees at the top of the path, there’s a split stone at the top and anyone who has seen the similar National Trust rock in Derwent Water in The Lakes will see a resemblanceAs we pop out of the top we look across to Castle DrogoTurn right and head up the hill, then follow the wall to Whiddon Wood Tor, this is a large tor hidden in the woods, you can head through a gate lower down the wall to this one, but then you can’t get back out again!!Whiddon Wood Tor is up in the trees there, you can see Castle Drogo between the trees on the leftWe dropped down a bit to the top of Great Parford Tor, again lovely views towards Meldon Hill, we are stood by the red roofed hut hereGreat Parford Tor below the last photoLove these views, Kes Tor and the area around Fernworthy Reservoir is in the distanceEasdon Tor is centre of this one as we look southWe hand railed the trees heading towards Cranbrook Castle. Cosdon Beacon back left and Drogo again in view, the valley holds the River TeignUh oh, the forecast rain is slightly ahead of schedule and it looks angryThe other way and its Linda, blue skies and fluffy white cloudsOn Cranbrook Castle/Uppacott Down here, the dark clouds were just behind us so we headed down to the right to the gate off and 100 metres from the car. As we sat in eating our sandwiches the rain fell heavily, it was a good choice not to carry on down to Fingle Bridge and onwards, instead we finished a good walk in the dry
8 thoughts on “Whiddon Woods, River Teign and Cranbrook Castle”
I love these tors but I agree, the access between Whiddon Wood Tor and Uppacott Down needs sorting. The trig point where you parked used to be situated at Cranbrook Castle, but it was moved for its protection by the parish council in 1993. A plaque on the trig explains this. Can’t say I understand why but there you go!
treksandtors 
I love these tors but I agree, the access between Whiddon Wood Tor and Uppacott Down needs sorting. The trig point where you parked used to be situated at Cranbrook Castle, but it was moved for its protection by the parish council in 1993. A plaque on the trig explains this. Can’t say I understand why but there you go!
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That makes sense, daft place to put it though
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I did do once a walk near Fingle bridge and saw Castle Drogo. It is a beautiful area ☺️
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Its a lovely spot
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Another favourite walk of mine. there never used to be any access problems. I well remember the trig point on the fort itself.
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Such a good area to explore this one, plenty to see
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Nice mix of tors and wooded riverside. Looks like you made a better call than I did to avoid the rain!
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Very true, I’d seen the forecast which was for hours of rain, so it was an easy decision even when it turned up a little early
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