Another day in winter where the weather keeps coming in from the prevailing south west so we headed east of Dartmoor to take advantage of the normally drier conditions out that way. Again it worked out nicely for us and we saw plenty of broken cloud with some sun, plus some heavy showers. We got lucky when the first of these hit, as we were walking around Kennick Reservoir at the time and dived in a fishing hut to eat lunch, whilst it passed overhead. The walk is mainly centred around the 3 reservoirs of Kennick, Tottiford and Trenchford before heading down into the woods below Bullaton Farm, there we picked off Bullaton Rock which was glorious, sitting high above the trees and views down to Lustleigh. Before returning to the reservoirs and one final heavy shower as we reached the car. It was lovely to get around this area again, with one significant thing changing since my last visit in May 2021. Hollowpark Rock has now been included on the new OS maps after a recent campaign, it was one of 3 on Dartmoor to be reinstated so I headed back for my second visit there. This was my third walk in 2023 on only the eighth day, which must be a record for me, can’t see it continuing at that pace but I’m certainly hoping for more walks this year than before (think 76 is my most). Onward.

Start – Reservoirs parking

Route – Slade Rocks – Kennick Reservoir – Laployd Plantation – Hollowpark Rock – Kennick East Tor – Tottiford Reservoir – Trenchford Reservoir – Bullaton Farm – Bullaton Rock – Lower Elsford – Trenchford Tor – Kennick Reservoir

Distance – 8 miles    Start time – 11am   Time taken – 4hrs 45mins  Highest Point – Kennick 296 metres

Weather – Some rain, some sun, mixed bag