A trio of tors in the title, but this isn’t Dartmoor, instead I was on Bodmin Moor this time out and ticking off more than 3 tors as well. This was a visit into Cornwall to try and pick off a number of tors there, hopefully this time, without too much fencing and difficult ground to walk over. The main aim for the walk was Garrow Tor, and the majority of the walks I had read started on Emblance Downs and headed there and back. Now those that have read this blog for a while now will know I’m not a fan of an out and back, where it can be avoided. In this case I managed to work out a route which would hopefully gather a number of tors, plus a few other bits of interest in the area. I also needed to be in Okehampton by 4pm to pick up my youngest, who had walked from Yelverton to Okehampton as part of his DofE silver award. So the plan was to get there earlyish and then head off down the A30 for an easy pick up. I parked up at 10.30am and the 8.5 mile route meant a decent pace should have me at the car by 3pm. Heading across some fields and lanes had me at the entrance gate to Carbilly Tor, it was clear that this would be an out and back from the lane, looking at the fencing encircling the tor. However once on it I spied another gate on my route to the next tor, so I headed for that and jumped it, no signs suggested it wasn’t allowed so no harm done. Hawk’s Tor was next and I could see a grassy lane by the fields which would be used to get there, further gates in the fencing took me to Carkees Tor and then on to Scribble Downs.

This is where it got scruffy again, with a very long fence heading through boggy ground and no gate in sight, I thought I could hop the low point of the fence, but got my foot caught and ripped a long chunk out of my trousers. More fencing issues on Bodmin Moor 😡. Once past that I made good progress up the clear track to Butterstor Downs and then hit very high tufty grass with no path carrying on. It took a while to wade through to Butter’s Tor, which really wasn’t worth the effort. More of the same terrain took me down to the De Lank River and the bridge crossing. It was at this point that I got a text from my youngest to say he would be an hour early and possibly ready for 3pm!! Photos taken on Garrow Tor at 2.15pm I sped off for King Arthur’s Hall and then the car, whilst messaging back to tell him to take his time. I reached the car at 3pm and was away, luckily the group miscalculated their distance to return and got back at 4.30pm!! All in all, Bodmin Moor is a challenge, more with negotiating a route which avoids blocked gates and fences than the actual climbing involved, however it is nice to get out to see different places.

Start – Bolatherick

Route – Whiteheads – Bradford – Bradford Bridge – Carbilly Tor – Stone Circle – Hawk’s Tor – Carkees Tor – Scribble Downs – Butterstor Downs – Butter’s Tor – Garrow Tor – King Arthur’s Hall – Bolatherick

Distance – 8.5 miles  Start time – 10.30am  Time taken – 4hrs 30mins  Highest Point – Garrow Tor 331 metres

Weather – Lots of sun with white fluffy clouds