Well Spring has sprung, or at least an early version has. We may well get another blast of the cold stuff but for now we all are looking forward and willing to fight anyone who wants to stop our plans, we all know what I’m talking about. This walk was a beauty, the weather was…
This is another walk, after a short drive which has inched me slightly further east. The start point was within a mile of the last Dartmoor starting point however the views were very different, gone were the clay works (until I got round to Rook Tor), replaced by open moorland. The weather started a bit…
The title is a nod to the director of the 7up series of Tv programmes, Michael Apted who has died recently, he was also known for Gorillas in the Mist. The title is relevant as the website has hit a quarter of a million views (approaching 100,000 individual visitors). The numbers are mind-blowing for me…
I’m writing this as a wave of deja vu appears to wash over the UK. Back in March 2020 I wrote about a walk around Holne before the lockdown and here we are again. No more than 5 miles further north I’m on my last proper Dartmoor walk before we are shutdown again. Looks like…
Where do you start with last year, best not to dwell on it wherever possible in my opinion. A pandemic and a response to it which has left us all shaking our heads, u turns, broken promises, a tier system which nicely protects big business and leaves the small business owners piling on debt to…
A walk with the boys, well to be honest not just a walk but a trip to a pub to have some food after a walk. It shows how bad this year has been, when I see a trip to a pub as something to look forward to. The great news for me was that…
Another weekend in November and they seem to be going the way of every other November weather wise. More often than not they are wet with low cloud and high winds. Well this one had the wet and the low cloud, but very little wind. It was a truly dank day. North Devon and the…
The last time I wrote with this title it was to thank those that visited my site and helped me reach 100,000 views. That was mid 2019 and can be found here. Now I’m writing again, to thank for the next 100,000 which I’ve got to within 2020 alone (by November to be exact). I…
The second walk in two days, and walk 2 of Lockdown 2. I’m on to Dartmoor now, or at least the southern part. I’ve given myself 30 minutes from home for a walk, as that’s my interpretation of a short drive. I quite like this area of Dartmoor, there is a fair bit of moorland…
I had planned a week off and was trying to make the best of the week. The weather wasn’t really playing ball and I found myself trying to crowbar walks in between the heavy rain storms or days of rain. This turned out to be the only proper walk I did all week as after…
I had been watching the weather most of the week and unusually as we neared the weekend it was getting a little better. It was set for a dry Saturday with some sun and the same for Sunday. I thought a walk around the high points, of the north western corner of Dartmoor, would be…
It had been another decent weather week down here in Devon, the only slight downside was the breeze which picked up as we nearer the weekend. However by Thursday I had decided on a camp, got some food and picked an area for the tent. All this recent wildcamping by myself has come as a…
This was a bit of a last minute decision, a bit of a scrabble around, grabbing the sleeping bags, torches and a dash to get some food before we headed out for our first camp of the year. I looked at the time and realised I would need to not walk far from the car,…
I decided to get back on Dartmoor and repeat most of a walk I had done before (here), with a little bit of difference along Belstone Cleave. I’m a big fan of Cosdon, its on my list of favourite summits on the moor and if the weather is good up here, as it was today,…
This one was just a quick walk up to Brent Tor, over on the far west side of Dartmoor. It probably took us twice as long to drive here than it did to walk up, sit for a bit and walk back down. There is no distance to this one, but it is perfect for…
This was all about making the best of what we had. We’d already been on a walk around Slapton Sands and after a rest day we picked some locations, booked ourselves in and met up with some, and then all, of the family that would have been with us in The Lakes. We decided to…
Time for a quick walk with the boys. We’d spent the morning trying on clothes for the boys to ensure that everything fitted after lockdown. After an hour we had one big bag of clothes for the charity shop, items passed from elder to younger sibling and a short list of clothes needed for the…
Back onto Dartmoor and a choice of where to head, initially I wanted to go to Belstone Cleave and maybe up onto Cosdon Beacon. But I decided to head to the north eastern corner of Dartmoor and the point which is nearest to Exeter on the map. This area is classic Devon, and if you…
This isn’t a walk but just an evening drive out to catch a sunset after a hot day, so if you like a sunset then this will be your thing. This is a popular spot, even at 9.30 at night. Tripods were out for the other few out here to catch the sun. Myself, well…
This was a walk to pick up some tors in the north eastern side of Dartmoor. I have been meaning to come here now for around 6 months but with the lockdown I haven’t ventured too far from home. This was as far as I have been now and a return to some sort of…
A walk a couple of days after my evening walk up to the Trowlesworthy Tors. This was a simple walk on paper, however I knew the part from Double Dart Rocks up to Aish Tor would be steep, and probably covered in gorse. Gorse seems to cling happily to the side of the Dart valley…
An evening walk this time and the boys joined me again, nothing too stretching but enough to make you feel as though you’d walked a bit of your tea off. This is a lovely simple area for me to get to and gives some great views into the centre of Dartmoor around Princetown. The two…
Back to Dartmoor for me. And a walk were I saw no one, not a soul all day apart from in the car park which was very strange but then again I don’t mind it that way. This walk takes in a lovely tor with some amazing views, some of the best from what isn’t…
This was a strange weekend, people knew this could be the last chance for a while to get out. Some despite the instructions went for a popular spot, a well known beach or area of a national park. Myself, I went quiet, more intent on a local pub that might be selling takeaway beer!! I…
Not much of a weather window and to be honest I wasn’t exactly leaping out of bed and rushing around to coerce the boys to be up and at ’em. So by the time we left, the half reasonable weather window was passing. At least driving out of Plymouth meant that it stopped drizzling and…
It seemed, on this walk, that I would always be around, alongside or crossing the Becka Brook. Looking back at the photos, I started above it, crossed it in Leighon, found it again after Greator Rocks, followed it upstream to Cold Moor Tor and eventually ended up back above it at the car park. Apart…
Back to the eastern side of Dartmoor again, and another late start after midday, after waiting for the last of the showers to pass through. This was another trip into Shaptor Wood to try and finish off the tors in there, well that was the plan. However I got a bit befuddled in there and…
This was day 2 of Storm Dennis, I was eagerly keeping an eye on the weather reports, which mostly said that the rain would stop about 2pm and the wind would be reasonable by midday. I don’t mind a wet start to a walk as long as I finish in the dry with time to…
Whenever I’ve walked in this area I’ve always tended to head straight to Lustleigh Cleave or the ridges above. Well today I thought I’d take in a few of the paths that wriggle their way to and from this lovely little village. The weather wasn’t too bad considering it was raining as I drove here,…
Slight change to my recent walks, which have mainly been in and around woodland, this time I wanted to get out on to Dartmoor proper and up to some more recognisable tors. I was still aware that the majority of the moor is still very wet so I kind of skimmed the edge on the…
The third walk of the year on only the 4th day and the first one with the boys in 2020. Its tricky with boys who are now 12 and 10, mine are typical boys of this age and their age, they love to stay indoors with some sort of tech in front of them. Mine…
As you may have noticed this winter I haven’t really been walking on Dartmoor proper, choosing to stay around the edges and head into woodlands for walks and to pick off some tors. Mainly, however, this has been to stay away from a sodden Dartmoor after months of rain down here in the south west…
Well 2019 has been a tumultuous year. I lost a job, spent 6 months unemployed, struggled with anxiety and depression during that time. Starting volunteering with the National Trust, then got a new job with the National Trust. Got huge pains throughout my arms and hands doing the ranger volunteering work that I was doing,…
My first walk of 2020 and I wanted to work my way back into walking. I hadn’t walked properly since the day before the general election (the 11th Dec), not for any protest reason, but because the weather was very poor in that time and I had been rota’d into far too many shifts for…
This walk has taken a bit of time to write up. The main reason being that I’ve extended my list of Dartmoor tors, from 400 to 500, and in doing so, this meant finding another 100 tors to include. Now looking at the many tors lists that are out there, I was missing lots of…
Well November seems to have been mostly about the rain, either it was about to rain or it already was. The temperatures stayed pretty mild throughout meaning the south west was hit by wave after wave of rain clouds. I managed only two walks in the whole month which was a pretty poor effort for…
I’d been back from the Lakes for over a week and hadn’t ventured to Dartmoor, a mix of work and poor weather when I had a day off, left me bereft of good walking opportunities. Well I decided to take a gamble on a day were the rain was due to arrive around 2pm, hoping…
Not the walk I planned, not even the alternate walk I’d planned. Originally I was going for a walk around the Plym valley, heading to Plym Steps, Grim’s Grave and lots of tors in that area. Then I changed my mind and decided to head to Princetown, then to Whiteworks and walk across Royal Hill…
Like most of the country we’ve had some wet weather down here in the South West, meaning my visits out have not been as frequent recently as I would like. It has also meant the ground underfoot has started to take on its more normal squidgy, boggy self. The other change since my last walk,…
As promised, not as long until my next big walk and this one is a bit of a change in locations for myself, especially the outward route. After a dry summer I decided to have a go at looking for Rugglestone Rock, plus a number of outcrops on the side of Hameldown. These all seemed…
Another short walk for me and the boys to ensure a bit of exercise on an otherwise lazy day. We had watched the lunchtime football, preceded by a trip to the field across the road to pick some blackberries, but around that we either lazed in front of the box or scrolled through our phones.…
It had been a while, The last decent walk I did was Helvellyn and that was more than a month ago. Decorating, gardening and work had got in the way too much, well enough was enough and this walk was planned. Initially I only wanted to go as far as Kit Rocks, then across to…
It had taken a while, we’d been back a couple of weeks from the Lakes and hadn’t had a walk in our own back yard. Well enough was enough, and it required a quick walk to get back into Dartmoor. I was trying to remember my last time up here and I think it was…
This wasn’t supposed to be the walk today, I had grand plans of driving into Cornwall and heading up to the highest point of that county, Brown Willy (stop laughing, it is called that). We had walked up High Willhays the last time out, and it would have been a nice symmetry to scale Brown…
I wasn’t sure whether to write anything about this, however it is a bit of a milestone for the blog and website so I figure a thank you is needed to you, the readers. Thank you all, from the humble beginnings of a newly emerging Dartmoor tor or rocky outcrop this website has become a…
Good weather means good walks are possible. With the dry spell I decided to take the boys up to the highest point in Devon. In fact this is the highest spot in England, south of Derbyshire. We set out from the plentiful parking spots near to Rowtor, and took in 8 tors in total. 5…
I’d missed out on the bluebells of Holwell Lawn this year. so I’d vowed that I’d would do my best to get here for my yearly sunset. The weather played ball and gave me a few options to decide between. As normal I had tea and headed out for any of the car parks below…
This was a route hatched on the morning of the walk, one that I’d not done before as a route, although I’d done all of the paths before over many different days out. It looked a fairly good route with good paths all around, however as I’m starting to find out on the south western…
I always try to get to Lydford Gorge most years. Its a very simple walk, just follow the well made path along one side, the high path and then visit White Lady Waterfall, before walking the lower path alongside the River Lyd to Devils Cauldron. The lower path can be slippery when wet (or Bon…
Back again to one of my favourite spots. I love it here, and when the sun is shining it is a great place. My boys hadn’t been here so I decided to take them for a short walk around the Cleave, picking out the best bits. That meant Raven’s Tor, The Old Clam bridge, a…
A medium length walk which packs in a lot of tors in a short distance. 11 in total in 7 miles, the main tor area is the ridge up from Crockern Tor as once you reach Little Bee Tor, there are 8 in a 2 mile section. It a fine walk, especially the area out…
This is a second part of a walk that I wanted to complete a month or so back, to make a longer walk. I wasn’t really up for a walk on the first outing, so cut it short, here is the second half of the walk, a few weeks later. The weather was decent, the…
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 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…
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…
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…
treksandtors 