A fine weather day and a chance to get out, walking plans were made and forecasts checked. The forecast had blue skies in the morning, with cloud building from the east as the day went on, so we were planning on a trip to the west around Lynch Tor and Stannon Hill. A really poor nights sleep before however, with some very low blood sugars had us both waking up late, and only ready to leave the house around 11.45am. A new plan was rapidly hatched with an out and back to Quickbeam Hill from Harford, the area famously owned by those that want camping, picnics, sitting and other loitering activities to be banned from the moor. They have closed car parks to make things more difficult but all that has happened is people park in the hamlet of Harford, a few hundred metres down the hill, annoying the locals. Parking up in Harford, we had sunshine as we pulled up and the walk was mostly in the sunshine, and the cloud wasn’t too bad on this side of the moor, but we’d missed the clearer skies in the morning. That said this is a simple walk and once you reach Harford Moor Gate, you turn half left and up the long pull to Piles Hill, before a hop, skip and jump to the old Puffing Billy railway track, which would take you out to Red Lake. This is a long path (also part of the Two Moors Way), winding its way through yellow grasses, rolling hills, streams and very typical Dartmoor landscapes, only one tor to be found along this track. Our plan was just an out and back so we avoided the deviations to Sharp Tor or Three Barrows, preferring to stay on the track. Once out at Quickbeam Hill, we stopped for a late lunch, about turned, and headed back for the car. Its another hill ticked off for Linda and a couple of Dartmoor squares, but not a walk that needs to be repeated, and there are much better spots even in this area if you head off this track. A plan for the future with hopefully a better nights sleep prior to the walk.

Start – Harford parking

Route – Stowford Bridge – Harford – Harford Moor Gate – Piles Hill – Butterdon Stone Row – Two Moors Way (Puffing Billy track) – Leftlake – Quickbeam Hill – Leftlake – Piles Hill – Harford church – Harford

Distance – 9 miles  Start time – 12.15pm  Time taken – 4hrs 15mins  Highest Point – Quickbeam Hill 462 metres

Weather – Lots of blue sky and sun with clouds building as the afternoon went on