Buoyed by a lovely walk the week before around Bag Tor, with some lovely sunshine and the odd heavy shower, we set off for Dartmoor again. Unfortunately this time the weather was very dull and the palette on Dartmoor is fully brown and yellow now. It felt very bleak out there on this walk. We…
As we progressed into November, the weather worsened, the days shortened and our want to walk waned a little. However this was our 3rd week of walking, so we were just about hanging on in there. We decided to head to the Haytor area, and do a nice loop walk, which start along a lane…
So another trip to Dartmoor but without driving too far, also somewhere I haven’t been around these parts since 2021, so they were due a revisit. Linda hadn’t been to either of these tors, nor the Dartmoor squares involved of Corringdon Ball and Henchertraw, so with the decision made and the weather set fair (and…
Heading through October the weather was very mixed, continual weather fronts bring rain, some bright spells but the mild weather meant rain was never far away. This Sunday was due to rain in the morning and then clear from the west around 1pm. We figured a drive up to the moor, a short ish walk…
So we were back from the Lakes and we had a week away from proper walking and instead headed for a bit of culture, and a bimble around a small town on the southern edge of Dartmoor. Buckfastleigh is a nice little town with two churches (or one church and one Abbey to be precise),…
This post was something that I had thought about when I got that 10 year anniversary message earlier this year, I’d also passed 750,000 hits on the site as well, so I thought that I should do a celebration post to mark the event. Its true that I started in 2015, mainly out of a…
Bank Holiday Monday at the end of August and time to get out for a walk. We’d done house stuff on Saturday with a family get together on the Sunday, so we were ready for a bimble somewhere. Avoiding the obvious spots on a bank holiday is a normal tactic however on this day we…
So with the mind firmly focused on a walk with better paths, less long grass, but also including some of the boggier bits if possible and continuing to take advantage of the dry year. We set out on a walk from Postbridge with the plan to reach Sittaford Tor but pick off the tricky White…
So the end of our coastal walks had arrived, we’d completed 9 walks in a row by the sea and Dartmoor’s Shipley Bridge with the Zeal Tramway seemed a long time ago at the start of June (here). So it was back to Dartmoor and choices of where to go endless, because it felt like…
It had been 4 years since I’d done a similar route and walked out to Redlake from Shipley Bridge. Since then they had installed pay meters at the car park and managed to re open the toilets. If the money from the car park goes into keeping the loos open then I’m for it, but…
So a slight change from the norm, we are still on Dartmoor, just, but not on the open moor or amongst the tors. This is a lovely village and National Trust spot, full of greenery, high cliffs and the river, the cause of the gorge. We’d had a little rain before visiting so we were…
It had been a couple of years since we had been to Holwell at bluebell time and we were due a revisit. The display we had seen in 2023 was truly superb, and probably difficult to beat (you can see that walk here), but we thought a loop over the tors to the west before…
We’d really enjoyed our last trip out to Dartmoor, along the western side around Bagga Tor and Standon Hill, so we decided to repeat a trip to that side of the moor. The area around the Corn Ridge has the same far reaching views as those from Standon Hill, with added tors and the West…
So the good weather continues, dry, sunny and warm seems to be the order of the day and no doubt these words will be added to, soon, with mentions of drought, hosepipe bans and leaky pipes! Whilst the weather is good, we look to head off into areas which can be pretty wet in normal…
After 6 weeks without any rain at all through March and into April, the Easter period brought a few showers and some cloudy weather. In the main it was still dry, but the ground, and particularly Dartmoor, needed some rain. This walk was after a rainy night, and walked in improving weather as the morning…
So we were looking for a walk which would take advantage of the lighter evenings, plus somewhere we hadn’t been for a while. Haytor is always good for a short walk and visiting at this time means it is far quieter than in the day. We’d also checked the weather, with a small chance of…
I’ll start this post with a bit of a warning, those with a squeamish disposition scroll down to picture four below the map, after reading this, and miss out the knee x-ray pictures! So to explain what happened, we’d been to South Wales and had three lovely walks, visited Linda’s daughter and seen lots of…
So this was the weekend before our trip to the Brecon Beacons and the good weather of March is still with us. Its been a superb month for blue skies, with barely any rain, no doubt the water companies will have hosepipe bans in force by the end of April. But I’m happy, as it…
Another Sunday and another half decent forecast, dry, some bits of sunshine, warm but a little hazy with the distance views. No complaints from me though as its early March and we could have all sorts of weather at this point in the year, and considering on this walk that I was stripping off layers…
A settles spell of weather had meant sunshine, and a fair bit of it. Not that it was warm, far from it, but the easterly winds usually means good things for us in the South West of England, as the eastern side sees more of the cloud. We probably saw two weeks of dry sunny…
So I have an apology to you all, I’m sorry that I said I was fed up with the grey cold dank overcast weather we’d had for the last few weeks. From the minute I hit publish on that walk the weather has clearly gone, right Steve, your wish is my command. Lots of rain…
So again the forecast was for cloudy skies and not much sign of sunshine. Up until the Saturday the weather had looked decent, with sunny spells, but on waking up this clearly wasn’t the case. The last 3 or 4 weeks seem to have been some sort of groundhog weather day, with a biting easterly…
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…
So a walk to pick off a couple of tors for Linda, one that I needed for my round 2, plus a new Dartmoor 365 square and a couple that we’d been to before, alongside a pub to finish. Chagford is one of the best villages on Dartmoor, there’s plenty of interest to see and…
So we had decided on a visit to the north moor and a quieter corner of a much visited area. Sandwiched between the Okehampton Camp/Yes Tor area and the Belstone Tor ridge the East Okement River winds its way down from Okement Hill between these two areas of higher ground. As it nears Winter Tor…
So the country was covered in snow and all the talk was of the weather, how cold it was and that “back in my day it was always like this in winter”! Plymouth got nothing, zero, nowt but Dartmoor got a decent covering of the white stuff, on a Tuesday and Wednesday, which is of…
I said at this point last year that 2023 had “passed in the blink of an eye”, well I’m not sure I even managed to get a blink in, and 2024 was gone. So here I am typing up what happened throughout last year. As with previous years I’ll start with the review and look…
So it was time for our first walk in 2025 and the weather was playing ball. Clear blue skies and cold, perfect winter walking weather. This walk was done before the snows hit most of Britain, with even Dartmoor getting a fair bit, closing the road where we parked on this walk, for a few…
This year we were pretty active between Christmas and New Year, heading out for a walk on 3 days, one day in work, one day a party and one day lying around lazing (New Year’s Eve). This was the second walk of the three and the boys joined us for one of my favourite walks,…
So we were into the middle of December and wanted to keep a little run going, were we had walked each weekend for a few now. Our efforts in October and November had revolved around moving house, so it was nice to be back in a bit of a normal routine. This would be walk…
A walk which is more about bagging tors and having a good nosy around a village than anything else. We decided to head over to Lustleigh to grab the tors in Castor woods, to tick them off Linda’s list, and to tick them off a second time for myself. We would then right a wrong…
We jumped forward a few weeks now, the last walk was at the end of October around Stalldown Barrow and Cornwood. Now its the middle of November, we’ve moved house, wrestled putting up curtain poles, blinds and toilet roll holders and we are in need of a break, and a walk. We decided on the…
Late October, and when the weather is as good as this, it would have been a serious error not to head out and walk on Dartmoor. This despite us being in the middle of packing ready to move house a few days after this (the results of the packing can be seen on the previous…
Firstly a bit of an apology, I’ve been moving house over the past 3 weeks, which has meant very little activity on the site recently, plus I haven’t read the normal websites that I would, so have plenty to catch up on there. I have internet up and running now and most of the boxes…
Into October now and the weather turns a bit, September, and to be fair the rest of October was very good weatherwise. As a result we got out for some very good walks in some decent weather. This weekend, in early October, turned to be a bit drab, with plenty of rain. We managed to…
So it had been around 5 weeks since our last walk in the Lake District, and we’d taken a bit of a sabbatical away from walking. Not for any specific reason, although we did start packing the house up, in preparation for our upcoming house move. Finally in mid-September we decided to head out again,…
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…
In attempts to bag any list (in this case my second round of Dartmoor tors/hills and Linda picking up her first) you can end up in some spots that aren’t that great. Back in April we did a walk around Trendlebere Down and to Water Cleave Tor, which was pretty rough to say the least,…
So our second evening walk this year and another really good sunset. This wasn’t the normal walk for our sunset, as we normally head out to Pew Tor/Pork Hill/Cox Tor area to catch the sun setting beside Brent Tor. This walk however would be number 57 of my Round 2, but only one square this…
This was a short Dartmoor walk, just as the weather started to improve and warm up a bit towards the end of June. We fancied somewhere central and I had an eye on picking off lots of my second round of tors. Both Blackslade Rock and Bovey Rock sits beside lanes, so are easy to…
Back to Dartmoor after our mammoth coastal walk last time out and an area on the eastern side of the moor, not too far from Widecombe. The walk would pick up a number of Dartmoor 365 squares and was walk number 56 on my second round, this one grabs squares Q16, L14, L16, M14, M15…
It was well into spring and we hadn’t been out for an evening walk yet, so time to put that right. The plan on any evening walk is to keep the driving and walking distance down, find somewhere that is interesting or looks good in different light and might have a sunset. With a mainly…
A walk before we headed to the Lake District and I’m not quite so sure why I picked this area. When you head to the Lakes you will need your fell walking legs, this area around the centre of Dartmoor is reasonably flat and involves a bit of road walking. So perhaps not the best…
This was a walk to pick off 3 of my tors that I needed for my Round 2. To be honest there is very little need to go to Water Cleave Rock otherwise, as its a horrid walk in, especially near to the main path which drops down from Water to the Clam bridge. There…
The boys are back in town, as the 3 of us undertake a walk around the western side of the moor. The reason for this area was to give my youngest a look at this side of the moor for his 10 tors yomp in the middle of May. Our last outing was at Christmas,…
After two walks where the sun shone at Mawgan Porth (here) and Willsworthy (here), we’d had two dull walks at Princetown (here) and Shipley Bridge (here). So what would we get this time, well a bit of a mix to be honest. It started very nicely with some warm sun, before clouding over a bit…
A walk of a much shorter distance than normal for us, but this was due to the strong winds still in evidence from a storm, whose name escapes me now. I also wanted us to stay pretty low, so we decided on an area which I had last visited in 2021 (when ridiculous comments about…
Easter Sunday and we were out again, keen to make up for a sluggish start to walking in 2024, with 2 walks in 2 days. This was was a bit more leisurely than the previous days efforts, when we headed up to Hare Tor. This would be walk number 50 in my attempt to bag…
After almost a month away from Dartmoor, caused by our trip to South Wales and the previous week’s stunning walk along the North Cornwall coast (here), we were back. This was Easter Saturday and I think we’d missed the sodden ground and greasy mud too much!! That said, we’d picked another sunny day to walk,…
Birthday time for Linda and I’d decided to take her away for her pressie to a nice hotel in the middle of North Devon, Northcote Manor. Known for its good food, it has a spa, nice grounds and some good views to Exmoor. We’d headed up on the Saturday and spent a fun and relaxing…
February and March are busy with birthdays in my calendar, with my youngest first up, then my mum and finally in February is Linda. Then I have two of my nephew’s early in March before my eldest at the end of that month. We started out with my youngest, he’d had a rucksack for his…
Another weekend and another head scratch to see where we could walk. The weather was looking pretty good around the south and southwest edges of the moor, but not so good when heading into the middle. Not that it would have been raining in Princetown and Postbridge, but more that there wouldn’t be any sunshine.…
The first difficult walk of the year, and probably the hardest walk since we headed out to Flat Tor and Kit Rocks in September. We’ve had lots of walks of around 6, 7, 8 miles at most recently, but nothing with the steep rise and fall of this area. This was walk number 46 of…
So after a couple of weeks of drier weather, the murky thicker clouds returned to the South West of England. Not to worry however as Dartmoor has plenty of walks around its outskirts, allowing us to enjoy walking through woods, lanes and villages whilst picking off the odd tor and a Dartmoor 365 square or…
The second walk of 2024 and not our fastest of starts for our year of walking, but then again we have plans for more evening walks which may help with the totals, especially when the nights draw out. This was walk 44 of my second round picking up squares G14, H13, H14 and H15. I’ve…
The first walk of the New Year and unlike last year, where we’d walked 3 times by this point, this was our first one. A mix of bad weather and Linda picking up a bad pain in her neck, had meant we’d stayed away from walking. We also chose a short route with very little…
So that was 2023 gone in the blink of an eye and we all start to look at walks and places to visit for 2024. I’ll save talking about 2024 for lower down in this post and first look back at 2023, which will go down as one of my best walking years with plenty…
So the last walk of 2023, New Years Eve, and where should we head off to? I’d looked at Shipley Bridge, Horrabridge or further afield to Lustleigh. But the weather wasn’t looking that good anywhere, we didn’t want to travel far (mainly because we were late getting up) and nothing too high up. Burrator fitted…
The Christmas walk, and due to working a bit between Christmas and New Year, it was a day or two later than it normally would be. The boys were also back together, for the first time since our walk up Snowdon in August. This was due to my eldest working every Saturday, he’s saving for…
So the day before Christmas Eve and we were scouring the weather reports, to decide on the best day to walk over the festive period. Both myself and Linda were in work between Christmas and New Year, meaning we had a 4 day window to plan at least one walk. Looking at the weather, we…
With the winter months comes lots of walks along lanes, through woodland and picking off the odd village. This walk certainly had the first two of those, but no villages to speak of, just a house or farm beside a lane to change the view. However what we did have was tors, and lots of…
Not since Bonfire Night have we had a proper walk with some sunshine in it, this walk was done in the second week in December and still no yellow disc in the skies above us. As I type here I can hear the wind howling outside as another named storm barrels through. Its not been…
A walk that suits the winter weather, with plenty of lanes, villages, Dartmoor squares and a short dart on to Dartmoor proper for a couple of tors, before leaving via the lanes again. This walk is number 39 of my second round, picking up O4, O5, P4, P5 and Q4. The walk started from the…
I always enjoy walking in Shaptor Woods, and when looking at the tors I have left to complete my 500 list for a second time, I realised that a few were in or around this gorgeous woodland. It wasn’t just the changing colours on the leaves that I enjoy in here, but the size of…
I’m enjoying our walks on this side of the moor recently and no doubt over the winter period we will look for others in this South West corner of Dartmoor. Setting out from Peter Tavy gives a few options for a walk, you could head towards Mary Tavy along the Dartmoor Way, or up to…
Despite October being pretty wet in the main, especially after the first week of the month, we seemed to get lucky each weekend, with some nice sunshine to accompany our walks. This walk in the centre of Dartmoor was no exception, again the sun was shining and reasonably warm for the time of year and…
So a walk in an area that probably doesn’t get enough attention, considering its the area on Dartmoor nearest to my house. I’ve walked a lot around the Trowlesworthy Warren, but heading back to Hen Tor doesn’t happen very often, and that’s a mistake. This would be walk number 36 of my second Dartmoor 365…
Four walks in a row on Dartmoor now, although the next walk will be back to the coast. This is a lovely area, with some nice quiet lanes, villages and a gorgeous woodland valley with a river running along the bottom. The river in question is the Teign as it winds on its way east…
Since we had got back from Snowdonia we’d been on a run of Dartmoor walks, not for any reason, it was just the way it fell. This time we headed east for my birthday walk, and a walk from the village of Haytor Vale (it has a pub so we parked there!), this was walk…
A year after we walked up to the East Dart Waterfall in some of the hottest weather I’ve walked in (remember the long hot summer of 2022), we again started out from Postbridge on a similar walk. We walked in the opposite direction this time, and headed out the back of the waterfall, through Sandy…
So the first walk after our Snowdonia trip and the weather was set warm and sunny. This was the start of September, and that one week of nice sunshine that we had, before it disappeared again and returned to the same rubbish we had in July and August. This was a walk that I hadn’t…
One last walk before we packed the car and headed off for an adventure around Llangollen, Snowdonia and Bolton. This walk was decided on to make sure I could walk the planned Snowdon and Moel Siabod routes and would slightly extend the length I walked around Falmouth, the week before. This was walk 31 of…
With a run of walks by the coast (5 in a row) we were ready for another adventure on Dartmoor. It had been over a month since our last outing, a sunset walk around the Staple Tors, so we looked far afield for a place to see some tors and pick off lots of Dartmoor…
So 3 weeks after bringing the boys here for the first time, I returned again, this time with Linda for another walk around the Staple Tors. This walk is number 29 of my Round 2 of Dartmoor 365 squares, and picks up L5, M4, M5, N4 and N5. However the main reason for being back…
A short drive today to the South Western corner of the moor and a point which is probably the nearest to home. This area is full of man made scars on the landscape with clay works and tungsten mines to name two of the newer ones. The area is a forever changing landscape, and it…
treksandtors 