A good day was forecast weatherwise and we thought we needed a bit of serious climbing, to put us in the right fitness for our Lake District holiday, which was due to be a week later. So why not head to the highest point in England, south of Kinder Scout in Derbyshire, which is High Willhays on Dartmoor. This would be walk 59 of Round 2 of my Dartmoor 365 pilgrimage, picking off C7, C8, D7 and D8 and is a loop that picks out the best in this area by heading out over some hills to Black Tor, before climbing steeply to the brilliant Fordsland Ledge. The summit of High Willhays is a short walk away, but time your visit to this one well, to avoid the hordes, before moving on to Yes Tor. I am always a little disappointed that Yes Tor isn’t a few metres higher, and thus above High Willhays, that way a named tor would be top dog on Dartmoor. West Mill Tor is another great tor and worthy of a visit on the way to or from Yes Tor. All that was left was Rowtor, which is a series of spread out outcrops, and then the walk through the bracken back to the car. Another good part of this area is the Dartmoor 365 squares here. Red-a-Ven Dip is a lovely area with a pool to swim in, although with the regular rain we have been having this year, this has meant the streams, rivers and pools are running a little brown with sediment. Next there is the Rowtor target railway, used by the army many years ago, as the narrow gauged train pulled targets around a looped track for the soldiers to shoot at. All in all one of the best days we’ve had out on the moor this year, and certainly some of the best weather.
West Mill Tor left and Yes Tor at the back as we start out. White fluffy clouds and blue skies above and better paths underfoot than our last outing around the bogs of the south moor. Although there would still be some surprisingly soggy ground also on this walk.That’s our parking spot down there with Rowtor behind, which will be our last tor of the dayMust be warm as Linda has no fleece on as we stride on towards Red-a-ven dip with West Mill Tor aboveA Grayling butterfly, the only other time I’d seen one of these was near to Mary Tavy as it got captured by a spider in its web and wound up in front of my eyes. Thankfully this one was free to flutter awayRed-a-ven dip and the pool marked in the Dartmoor 365 book, its the Red-a-ven brook that flows through this.Golden ringed dragonflyThe ford over the Red-a-ven brook, Rowtor in the distanceSmall Heath, I thinkThat is Black Down over there and we’d left the path that ran through the brook, two photos up in order to cut across to Longstone Hill, this was a mistake as we walked straight into calf deep bog and mud. We sat in this spot drinking coffee as Linda dried her sock in the warm sunLongstone Hill summit looking over South Down to the north Devon fieldsFrom Longstone Hill, looking across Homerton Hill in half shade, half sunshine. Down to the right is a glimpse of Meldon Reservoir with Branscombe’s Loaf up to the left and Sourton Tor in the distance in the centreWe took a wider loop around to Homerton Hill in order to avoid boggy ground but it all appears to be boggy this year so we still hit bits of it. The three tors from left to right are Rowtor, West Mill Tor and Yes TorHomerton Hill looking to our next objective, Black Tor. The valley to the right holds the West Okement river and Black-a-tor copse.Black Tor has three distinct outcrops each giving a better view along the West Okement valley as you climb. I think this is the second outcrop with the Slipper Stones on the hillside oppositeSome Dartmoor ponies at Black Tor as we stopped for sandwichesLooking back along the West Okement valley. Black-a-tor copse can be seen belowClimbing to Fordsland Ledge, again some very boggy ground between here and Black Tor, in the area of those cows to be precise, thankfully climbing higher had meant we’d reached drier groundFordsland Ledge and the superb views out the back into the centre of the north moor. You can see the West Okement down there to the right, Lints Tor is the lump just to the left of that. ANd the horizon holds Fur Tor, Great Mis Tor and the mast at PrincetownMilitary paraphernalia on Fordsland Ledge, Great Links Tor peeking up in the distance. The huts up here have clearly had a new lick of grey as they were smelling of exterior paintLints Tor again down to the right, Great Kneeset is behind that. Cut Hill is the high point back right and Whitehorse Hill/Hangingstone Hill is back leftThere are a couple of lumps around the top of High Willhays, the official top is over there, packed with people. So we sat here for a coffee whilst we waited for them to clear.South from High WillhaysLinda on High Willhays, now clear of peopleHigh Willhays summit cairn. Cosdon Hill is at the back in the centre, Belstone Tor is left of that. The views are lovely on a good day like todayBetween Yes Tor and High Willhays sit these outcrops, named Hampster TorHampster Tor looking to Yes Tor, Linda is already off to bag that oneYes Tor summit and big white cloudsYes Tor summit viewsThe trig pillar on Yes Tor looking back towards High WillhaysWe dropped down from Yes Tor towards the main track which heads around towards West Mill Tor, passing the Dartmoor square of Pixies Pool, from which starts the Red-a-ven brookCows and calvesLooking back to Pixies Pool and that is the Red-a-ven brook that we have crossedBefore we reached West Mill Tor we pass Little Tor and get the views across to Yes TorThe large pile that is West Mill TorLovely views from the top of this one towards north DevonRowtor is down there we will head there next once we’ve been to the target railwaySome more Dartmoor ponies and the shed that used to house the target trains, the track can be seen heading away and can be followed on its loopRowtor now and the sun keeps shining over the north moorsRowtor looking to a shadowy West Mill TorThe car is parked down there by the track that can be seen on Black Down, just a bit of light bracken between us and the carAnother Grayling as we walk through the brackenMoor Brook is crossed as we reach the car, Rowtor to the left, West Mill Tor in the middle and Yes Tor is back right. A superb walk, with superb weather which put us in a good place to tackle the Lakeland fells and the two walks needed to finish my 214 Wainwright mission.
Lovely pics of a grand walk. Reminds me of testing a one-man tent on the top of Willes in a terrific storm over 50 years ago. It and I survived! Glad you had a nicer day.
Good spot on the Grayling butterfly. I see from the distribution map theyare also found on the coast of Wales that I’m going to. Wonder why they hug the coast like that? Well done for finding it on the moor.
treksandtors 
Looks like an excellent butterfly walks. I thought the military box was some sort of arty sculpture at first. 🤣
LikeLiked by 1 person
They are a fair distance away from being arty, but at least these ones looked tidy with a fresh coat of paint
LikeLiked by 1 person
Lovely pics of a grand walk. Reminds me of testing a one-man tent on the top of Willes in a terrific storm over 50 years ago. It and I survived! Glad you had a nicer day.
LikeLiked by 1 person
It was great to see some sunshine on a walk, and we’ve had some drier walks over the last couple of months and managed to dodge the rain in between
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hit and miss here, though we tend to plan walks for drier days.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Good spot on the Grayling butterfly. I see from the distribution map theyare also found on the coast of Wales that I’m going to. Wonder why they hug the coast like that? Well done for finding it on the moor.
LikeLiked by 1 person
The Grayling does seem to like some bits of inland like Dartmoor, South Downs and Brecon Beacons. But its certainly happier by the coast
LikeLiked by 1 person
No sign of any here in Pembrokeshire yet
LikeLike
Cracking walk to remind me that I’ve still not climbed Dartmoors highest point
LikeLiked by 1 person
Its definitely worth doing especially if you add on the interest around it
LikeLiked by 1 person
What a beautiful walk with extensive views 😍.
Hope you have a great time in the Lakes, weather is so miserable unfortunately 😔.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Back from the Lakes now, have 4 walks to post about so I’m a bit behind but I’m sure I’ll catch up
LikeLiked by 1 person