Back from our trip to the Yorkshire Dales and back on Dartmoor for a walk out of the village of Holne. I remember doing this walk the weekend before the very first Covid lock down, and remember seeing very few people and buying beer from the pub at the end to take away in a plastic milk carton. This walk was done in some nice sunny weather with some warmth in the air, probably the first time on a walk in the south west this year. The area down by the River Dart was good, the path can be tricky and there was plenty of water flowing after weeks of rain, the river in particular was in spate. The climb up to Bench Tor from below is always a brutal one, but once on the top there are some lovely views along the valley and across to higher tors around. We then headed across the moor dropping down to Michelcombe to pick up the Dartmoor 365 square and then heading out onto the moor again and into Gibby Combe. The tor in here is pinned in by two brooks, the Gibby Combe Brook and Holy Brook, at the meeting point is this fine tor in the woodland. We then turned and headed out and around to join the River Mardle, we didn’t cross it as there was a fair bit of water coming down, instead we held its bank and followed it downstream to Chalk Ford, the path was a bit scruffy in places but got us to where we needed to be. All that was left was a long lane walk back to Holne, via Scoriton and Holy Brook Bridge. As it was we reached Holne as the pub was closing so missed a pint at the end, we will have to go back and finally have a beer in the pub.

Start – Holne parking

Route – New Bridge – River Dart – Holne Wood waterfall – Sharrah Pool – Bench Tor – North Tor – Holne Moor Leat Bridge – Michelcombe – Gibby Combe Tor – Chalk Ford – Chalk Ford Rocks – Scoriton – Holy Brook Bridge – Holne

Distance – 11 miles    Start time – 10.30am   Time taken – 7hrs 25mins Highest Point – Holy Brook Head 330 metres

Weather – Sunshine and the odd shower