Another week in the Lakes and it coincided with some lovely weather which got warmer as the week went on. Before heading up to the Lakes I hadn’t had my usual long walk to get me ready for walks with steep fells over long distances, I am a fan of the Dartmoor landscape but it…
This was a chance to get out with the boys in some unseasonal weather around Haytor. There are plenty of tors in this area and we visited 8 in a short walk, plus a welcome ice cream. I’m not a fan of very busy tors and areas, however Haytor is a fabulous outcrop, come early…
The days are getting longer and this means there is no need to be up and out early to get a good walk in. I started this amble after lunch and was easily finished before dark was even considered. This one is a new route for me as I don’t normally head out to Ryders…
I’d seen a walk in one of the walking magazines about a good loop around Bolt Head, near to Salcombe. The distance was around 9 miles and involved walking the coastal path from Overbecks (National Trust) to Hope Cove, involving plenty of plunging views down to the sea below. Now I wasn’t expecting to see…
A walk out of my most visited starting spot. I’m a fan of the tors out the back of Norsworthy Bridge, especially as Burrator is just so popular but 10 minutes after leaving the car there is nothing but silence and the odd sheep breaking the quiet. The summit of Down Tor is a great…
I have recently begun volunteering for the Dartmoor Preservation Association, just helping to clear out some historical sites and a further chance to spend some time on Dartmoor. I had one day on Roborough Down helping to clear bracken, bramble and gorse from the Plymouth Leat. Today however was a bit higher up, thankfully the…
A walk planned on the first day of the strong winds. They were definitely strong today and to be honest once the rain started my will to walk was gone and probably for the first time in a long time, I shortened the walk to get back to the car quicker. This is an area…
A short Saturday trip out with the boys and a chance to do some of my youngest’s homework. He’s been given a booklet with lots of different tasks in it to complete, things like a blind taste test, climb a mountain/hill, go to a science lab and learn to read an OS map. So here…
A very sunny week and a couple of walks spring to mind, Tavy Cleave and up to Fur Tor or anything north!! I decided that anything north was the option and Great Kneeset would be the choice. Any walk around Cranmere Pool requires a good deal of dry weather. A walk there in February requires…
A trip to the eastern side of Dartmoor this time and a woodland walk through one of the best areas in Devon. Lustleigh Cleave is a fantastic area and I could go on and on about the views from Harton Chest. I went looking for Gradner Rocks this time before dropping down into the valley…
I fancied something different today, that and the fact that the military had every range in use and my original plan of heading to Great Kneeset was ruined because of that! So I headed instead to Bodmin Moor for a fine walk from Minions. One thing you notice when walking on Bodmin is how big…
Another middle of the week wander, this time between two horrid days of strong winds and heavy rain. The result of this is that the rivers tend to be a bit swollen and seeing as I had to cross the Walkham twice, I did well to stay dry footed. There was even some snow still…
Snow was forecast on Dartmoor and a bit of a drop in temperature to keep it there, plus a chance of some sunshine which would really make for a good walk. Well I have to say that this is probably one of the best walks I have ever had, anywhere. It was absolutely magical. I…
I wasn’t really planning a walk for this weekend but it got to Sunday lunchtime and I took a spare of the moment dart up to the Merrivale area. Looking back I hadn’t been on the Staple Tors for 3 years or so, which is ridiculous really. I walked out the front door and was…
A bit of snow was forecast for Dartmoor on Tuesday, however I could only get there for a walk on Wednesday. Most of it had melted by the time I got there, apart from the stubborn north facing slopes. This is just a short walk around the basin of the West Dart, between Two Bridges…
A second day in a row out for a walk and probably the best weather I’ve had for quite a while. A crisp frosty start turned into a nice sunny day and despite a bit of haze towards the end it stayed warm enough for 2 layers. I’d walked this area only a couple of…
Good weather was in the forecast for the middle part of the week and I decided I would get myself out on at least 2 walks over 3 days. Unfortunately the first day coincided with a sickness bug, which went as fast as it came. However Wednesday I was back up and running again, so…
Time for a short walk around the southerly tip of Dartmoor in another area that doesn’t take too long for me to get there. That said its not one of my favourite spots due to the scar on the landscape that is the Lee Moor clay works. Still the sun shone a fair bit and…
Last year was a decent one for walking, not as good as previous years but some fantastic walks in some lovely countryside. This year I managed 54 walks which isn’t as high as normal but still not too bad. I had some targets also for 2018, I got very close to completing a second round…
The last walk of the year 2018 and one right in the centre of Dartmoor, setting out from Postbridge. I noticed on setting out that the pub was closed, until mid January, so no end of walk drink for me today. Still I was looking forward to walking over the Riddon Ridge, an area I…
I’m sure I’ve said this before but this walk from Cadover Bridge to Shaugh Bridge and back along both sides of the River Plym is my favourite. Its an easy walk of not much more than 4 miles, it has a fair bit of a climb from Shaugh Bridge (no matter which way you do…
I don’t think I’ve needed a walk more than this one, sometimes you just need to get out and let your head breathe a bit and sort itself out. Bad weather, too much work and more bad weather, had left me caged and ready to go. I chose this walk and kept adding more spots…
December is a month of family, getting together and sharing with those you love. However this is also the time of year when the weather for walking can be as good as it will ever get. Cold bright days are what we are looking for, plenty of blue in the sky and plenty of frost…
Not the best weekend for weather but I wasn’t bothered, it wasn’t raining and that would do me. I quite like this area, in fact Venford is my favourite reservoir on the moor by some distance. I decided to take the direct route from Aller Brook Outcrop to Bench Tor which meant a drop into…
When the weather is as glorious as it was today you have to get out. I wanted to go high to make the most of the views and the west looked best. The tors on this side are all brilliant, the views stretch out to Cornwall and behind them the rolling hills of the central…
The weekend weather had changed from the bright blue skies and sunshine of the week before. The forecast suggested a dry day on Saturday before rain came in a teatime, with Sunday being a complete washout. As it turned out the weather on Dartmoor was ahead of time by around 4 hours as the rain…
With their cousins down from Swindon we didn’t have too much time for a walk today, as playing games on tablets and phones were the priority. A short drive therefore to the area above and to the west of Burrator. Its a great area that packs a punch with the views and is easy to…
October hasn’t really been my best month for walking, lots of things to do at the weekend and far too much work has meant getting out for a bimble has been difficult. However a more relaxed weekend and a couple of days leave meant that I had 4 days to get a walk in. Tuesday…
It hadn’t been a good weather week, in fact I wasn’t sure any walk was on at the weekend, as the heavy rain and wind kept me indoors. However hope on Sunday afternoon of a break surfaced and I took the opportunity. It was only a short walk, with a steep up and back down,…
It had been nearly a fortnight since my last walk and the lack of space and time was starting to make me grumpy. Walking is the best medicine for me and I needed to get out to some wide open spaces. I had this walk in mind last time I was out, however time meant…
A day off work and a chance to get out to a better place. Its no secret that Dartmoor is my go to place, however Royal Hill and Ter Hill won’t be high on my list of favourite spots. The weather today though made every step a pleasure, it was warm for late September and…
The weather was decent, if a little hazy on the distance views and I thought that it was about time I went to Kit Hill considering the views I get of this one on my many Dartmoor walks. It sits just over the border in Cornwall so isn’t too far from Tavistock. The views are…
Just a short walk this time, nothing too far, nothing too hard. Just a chance to get out for an hour, but with such a short walking window it also means you don’t want to travel too far to start the walk. This area is barely 15 minutes from the house and could easily be…
Autumn looked like it was coming over the previous weeks, and I was planning some last longer walks before the days shorten too much to complete them. The northern moors involve an hours drive each way so these needed to be done soon. I picked this out and back to Hangingstone Hill from Belstone, this…
This walk was much needed, the boys had been staring at phones, games and screens for long enough and they needed to get out and see the world. I decided to head to the far side of Dartmoor from home to extend the time away from the computers, whilst also allowing us to finish listening…
Back on Dartmoor and a walk around the mast at Princetown, picking off lots of tors that I don’t visit very often, Swell Tor being one of these. This surprised me a bit as the quarry is a great place for an explore. The weather got better as the day went on, which was good…
Somewhere slightly different today, still on Dartmoor, but right in the north eastern corner. This area is a fine place to walk if you don’t mind a bit of walking down lanes to get to places of interest or the odd hill and tor. I’ve parked here a couple of times now, firstly heading out…
A few days after getting back from The Lakes and I still had a couple of extra days holiday. The weather had broken down south as well and the temperature were back to a normal 18-20degrees. A simple walk on the western side of Dartmoor seemed like a good idea, as long as the cloud…
Staying in Coniston means that the Old Man is an ever present sight every day. Both myself and my boys had climbed The Old Man of Coniston before back in 2014. I wanted to keep my run of Wainwrights ticking along and wasn’t keen on going up fells that I’ve done before. However the Old…
Since I had started walking in The Lakes I had in mind a number of routes, paths and edges that have to be tried or at least looked at. The names of these places will be familiar to a lot of people, places like Striding Edge, Sharp Edge and the Corridor Route are all very…
Our annual family Lake District week was here and true to form coincided with a change in weather in this area. Talk in the run up weeks was of hot temperatures and hosepipe bans, on arrival we could see lots of lakes and tarns with very low levels of water. We had, had one previous…
After last weeks walk around Ducks Pool and the Erme pits I was back in the walking spirit, the warm weather wasn’t going to put me off, plus I was trying to get some miles in my legs ready for the Lakeland fells in a week or so. Make no mistake this is a tough walking…
The day after the walk with the boys to Berra Tor I decided that enough was enough. Yes it was humid and warm. Flies were everywhere and they would eat me, but the hills needed to be walked. It was World Cup final day and despite the big plans being shelved after the semi final…
I’ve been quiet on the walking front lately. Its been the weather, climbing hills in 25 plus degrees in baking hot sun with no breeze, isn’t for me. Not a lot of it for sure. However after a while you need to get out before you go mad, as it was I had lost my…
The hot weather continues and the sunsets keep on coming. When the weather is this good its an easy decision to throw the tent in the car and head out with the boys. Now I had two spots in mind, Bellever Bridge (near to Postbridge) and Cator Bridge about half a mile down the road.…
I’ve said it before and I will keep saying it, I love the sunsets from Whitchurch Common. Whether you sit on Pew Tor, Feather Tor, Barn Hill or Cox Tor at this time of year the sun sets right next to Brent Tor, making for a stunning picture. There’s very little point me talking about…
Good weather means a chance to camp on Dartmoor, I’d promised the boys a camp at Harford gate which they’d spied last year when we walked through here. The Dartmoor national park allows camping in lots of spots within the park boundary, here, and this is a good one. We setup quite quickly and my…
This was my first walk after returning from the Lake District, to be honest I’m never in much of a mood for any walking once I come back from there, and normally I need to go somewhere different like Cornwall or a coastal walk to get me back into it. This walk is mainly woodland,…
After the Tuesday walk up around High Street I was pretty drained. The heat was tough to walk in and to make matters worse the breeze that was present in the Lake District had completely disappeared on the Wednesday. Thursday arrived and the haze was pretty thick, I had planned on a route that took…
Three days into the holiday and no proper walk for me so far, but the hot weather up here in The Lakes had held me back. Tuesday looked good, the temperature said it would drop a few degrees but the sun would still be out. It was off to Hartsop to do a walk that…
Road closures due to the Plymouth half marathon meant I was cut off from the north and west of the city. This meant a drive around the back roads to Ivybridge where I figured that I might as well continue along the A38 and go to the area around Haytor. This also meant a chance…
It was ten tors weekend and as such I tend to stay away from Princetown, Postbridge and anywhere north of that on Dartmoor. I could have gone to Bodmin Moor but I fancied something around Dartmeet which is not an area I walk very often. I made up a walk that would take me down…
Bank holiday weekend and walk number two and the weather continues to be scorchio!! Now don’t get me wrong I like a bit of sunshine however the warm weather does have its downsides. Firstly the midge and horsefly bites, I’m a magnet for these little things and they love the taste of Steve. I end…
Bank holiday weekend and the weather is set for sun, sun and more sun. The mercury is set to rise as well, so I chose a walk that would be through trees for quite a lot of the time so we could stay in the shade. I didn’t fancy driving too far either so I…
Well the week before this walk had been pretty good and the warmest it had been since August last year. If you want to walk in this area then pick a dry spell. Some of the hills around here might be over 500m up but they are pretty flat and as a result can hold…
Lets start with a positives, the weather was glorious on this walk. I started out with a baselayer, a t shirt and a fleece and finished in just the baselayer as the temperature rose during the day. The sun was out, hardly any wind and I got a bit of a tan, it was great…
Time for something different as it is the Easter weekend. I had to be home for lunch at 1.30pm so decided to remove any driving on to Dartmoor from the equation which would only shorten any walk. I hadn’t walked the South West Coastal path for quite a while now and it doesn’t take long…
Looking at the weather forecast for this weekend I was downbeat. I sit here typing this looking at nice blue skies and sunshine out of my window. I’d watched the weather all week, knowing that I could only get out on the Saturday, hoping that it would be the better of the two weather days.…
So “The Beast” came again from the east and this time I went up to have a look, the snow certainly came and the winds whipped up plenty of drifts. Both GPS and maps were out to help with the navigation plus I picked an area where I was very comfortable and knew it well.…
Now I know the cold weather is here again but today in south west England it was still pretty warm. Well at least I thought it was as I walked up the lane towards the turning for Brent Hill, when I reached the summit it started to hail, quite a lot as well. I guess…
A few days off work and with a good forecast I was out. The weather was almost spring like today, the sun was warm and it felt like the snow of a couple of weeks ago was long gone. I haven’t been down to Blackaton Cross for a number of years now, but it was…
They say bad things come in threes, well I can vouch for that on this walk. Before I get to that however I’ll talk about the great thaw after the storm. The snow has started to melt and with it, it has been replaced by rivers of water running everywhere, on top of that the…
The weather had been good for most of the week and on into the weekend, the mercury on the thermometer was dropping. The icy winds from Russia were certainly blowing as I headed out from above Widecombe In the Moor and it was certainly hard underfoot as I stepped on to Hameldown. It was Baltic to…
I’d taken a day off work and planned a good walk that would take me from Fernworthy reservoir up to Scorhill, round to Gidleigh and back via Kes Tor. I set off in poor low cloud hoping that the eastern side would clear a bit, the forecast said it would. Well I arrived as I…
Another weekend and another walk. The weather was set to be good with passing showers, however on arriving at Postbridge the clouds were leaden and full of snow. As a got out of the car it started, within minutes it was white, minutes later it was sunny again. These passing snow showers would continue for…
Don’t be fooled by the title, this isn’t the Welsh Snowdon. No this is the Dartmoor version, sat near to Ryders Hill on the southern moor. Its been over two years since I have been to Snowdon, that time I came from Ryders Hill and this time I chose to come from Avon Dam and…
I’ve been banging on about the weather down in these parts a fair bit recently, with all the rain the ground underfoot has been boggy to say the least. Well this time I decided to change things. I chose a walk that was fairly low (nothing over 350 metres high) and involved plenty of tracks…
The weather in the south west continues to disappoint. Day after day of rain driven in by strong winds have been the pattern since November and especially since the New Year. To be fair Dartmoor resembles more of a water park than a National park with the amount of puddles and running streams everywhere. Saturday,…
Time to head out east. I’ve had a fair few walks recently on the western side of Dartmoor so to balance things out a bit I went around to Moretonhampstead to visit Mardon Down and the many rocks that spring up in this area. You can walk the Dartmoor tors and hills for the rest…
Finally a sunny day in Plymouth, the forecast looked great for Dartmoor so off I went. However on the drive north along the western edge of Dartmoor, cloud loomed in my preferred walking area. My heart sank a bit and I walked for 4 hours in cloud before it cleared for the remainder to a…
Firstly may I wish everyone a Happy New Year, I hope 2018 brings you all some great walking weather. 2017 has been a pretty good year for me and my boys on the hills, tors and fells of Dartmoor, Bodmin Moor and the Lake District. There have been 67 walks over some 375 miles in…
This is my last walk of 2017 and being New Years Eve I decided on a walk that includes lots and lots of things to see, the tors come thick and fast as do the bridges, churches and leats in between, the only downside was the cows, of which there can be a lot of…
I’ve said before this is my favourite walk, anywhere. On days like this it becomes a very special place to be. The sky was blue (at last) and the chance was taken to burn off some of that Christmas pud, although the amount of cake we packed probably balanced out what was burned off!! This…
This isn’t a long walk, but looking back this is one I’ve done a few times with the boys. Its very easy (apart from the steps at the start!!) and the boys love the old swimming pool part down by the sea, overlooking The Mewstone. This was just a quick walk, with bad weather forecast…
Now some of you will look at the title and see the photos below and wonder why I haven’t gone way into Dartmoor on a longer walk. Well there was a reason. My eldest had asked me if I would like to go with his class, for a walk on Dartmoor. “You know what you…
