So the Southwest of England had received a bit of snow at the start of 2026, then cold plunging temperatures and a bit more snow. Not quite a mountain region of snow, but a fair bit for us. It also stuck around for 5 or 6 days on Dartmoor, which is also pretty good for us. This walk was only 2 days after our walk around the Powdermills, and as I suggested at the end of that walk, there was hail and sleet in the air as we drove home. I looked at the maps, searching for somewhere easy to get to, along mainly main gritted roads and away from the flocks heading for Princetown. Last year lots and lots of people ended up stuck on the main road to Princetown, with irresponsible drivers leaving cars on verges to get their instagram photo in the snow, resulting in gritters unable to pass. The road froze and everyone got stuck. The locals were not happy. This year social media was full of people asking where would be best to go, with locals telling them to get lost and not bother. I wanted to avoid this as much as possible. Peter Tavy is near the main road, a fairly flat drive in along the last part and importantly quite quiet, ideal for us.

We parked by the church and set off along the lane for Smeardon Down, hitting the snow as we got there. The sun was up and trying its best to warm us but it was still pretty cold so we stopped at Setters Rocks for coffee and a chance to warm a little. The conditions were superb, clouds drifted overhead and the sun shone down, below us the snow made that satisfying noise it does, as your boots compact it down. We walked to the standing stone on Langstone Moor and then headed off across boggy ground to the stone circle. One of the reasons for doing this walk, was the ground being frozen where normally its is soggy as a wet tea bag. Cocks Hill was our target next and we followed some paw prints for quite a while before reaching the top, we thought they might have been a fox but its more likely to be a dog judging by photos on the web. We headed off to White Barrow, which matched its name before following the long track back to the standing stone and the same way as our outward route, down to the car. The last bit of road walking had become a bit icy as the temperature was dropping, but we made it back safely. No Peter Tavy Inn for us this time nor a visit inside the superb church, we will sort that next time though as both are superb.

Start – Peter Tavy parking

Route – Peter Tavy Church – Setters Rocks – Stephens Grave – Langstone Moor Stone Circle – Cocks Hill – White Barrow – Stephen’s Grave – Boulters Tor – Peter Tavy

Distance – 8 miles   Start time – 11.15am  Time taken – 4hrs 30mins  Highest Point – Cocks Hill 501 metres

Weather – Sunshine, clouds and snow underfoot. Very cold