Well, our luck was in today, as we woke to blue skies and sunshine, so we headed up to the moor. On the way we saw this sheep standing on top of the wall, why? because it can obviously...lol..there`s lots of little lambs scattered all around too, so sweet
Evenually we reached our destination Burracombe gate, so after a coffee and scone we headed out, following the path which was used in former times by the old tin-miners, and was originally the Abbots way, a track used by the monks travelling between the Abbeys.
The sun was lovely and warm and it was nice and peaceful
There was a handful of ponies having their breakfast
We turned past the Scout hut then through the gate out on to the open moor. Gutter Tor rose to our right, a dark shoulder against the blue of the sky.
We walked over the springy turf, with just the Skylarks and sheep for company, till we reached this old granite house, tucked into the hillside, Ditsworthy Warren house. It was used by the last practising warrener on Dartmoor, and closed down during the early 1950s when the Rabbit Clearance Order made it an offence to harbour wild rabbits. Its owned by the National Trust now, and is used as an adventure training centre.
At the back of the house, is a little stone walled paddock, and within the walls are three kennels, which were the homes of the warreners dogs.
Not very comfy....
Having had a good look round, we carried on over the moor, with lovely views to distant tors, and with the river Plym running like a shiny ribbon along the bottom of the valley
This valley is called Drizzle Combe, and has some large menhirs and stone rows
This one is over nine feet high.
Nearby is this large cairn of stones, with a depression in the centre
This is called the Giants Basin
following the next stone row, you arrive at the largest menhir on the moor,
Its over fourteen feet high, and hugely impressive. The whole area is rich in prehistoric remains of the Bronze age. There are also kists and hut circles.
We carried on uphill, leaving the antiquities and their age old secrets behind, as we did I noticed this lovely sparkly crystal stone inbedded in the grass, magical obviously...
Not so magical, was these Dung Bonnets, fungi that grow on dung....
By this time it was really hot, we stripped off our jackets and jumpers, it was nice just to be in tee shirts. We evenually reached the ruins of Eylesbarrow mine, this was one of Dartmoors most ancient tin mines, dating back to the 17th century or earlier. Scattered around are the remains of buildings that housed the working of the tin mines, now covered with heathery tussocks.
We also found this Badgers set, but I think everyone was having a lie-in..
Having had a good look round, and being in need of a nice hot cuppa, we headed back down the windy track, Pete was lucky enough to hear a Cuckoo calling from a distant wood, but unfortunately I didnt, but theres plenty of time yet..after a drink we headed home.
In the village of Sheepstor just along the road from our walk, we saw this delightful Holy well, so had to take a picture. It was a lovely walk, as always.
Well, our luck was in today, as we woke to blue skies and sunshine, so we headed up to the moor. On the way we saw this sheep standing on top of the wall, why? because it can obviously...lol..there`s lots of little lambs scattered all around too, so sweet
Evenually we reached our destination Burracombe gate, so after a coffee and scone we headed out, following the path which was used in former times by the old tin-miners, and was originally the Abbots way, a track used by the monks travelling between the Abbeys.
The sun was lovely and warm and it was nice and peaceful
There was a handful of ponies having their breakfast
We turned past the Scout hut then through the gate out on to the open moor. Gutter Tor rose to our right, a dark shoulder against the blue of the sky.
We walked over the springy turf, with just the Skylarks and sheep for company, till we reached this old granite house, tucked into the hillside, Ditsworthy Warren house. It was used by the last practising warrener on Dartmoor, and closed down during the early 1950s when the Rabbit Clearance Order made it an offence to harbour wild rabbits. Its owned by the National Trust now, and is used as an adventure training centre.
At the back of the house, is a little stone walled paddock, and within the walls are three kennels, which were the homes of the warreners dogs.
Not very comfy....
Having had a good look round, we carried on over the moor, with lovely views to distant tors, and with the river Plym running like a shiny ribbon along the bottom of the valley
This valley is called Drizzle Combe, and has some large menhirs and stone rows
This one is over nine feet high.
Nearby is this large cairn of stones, with a depression in the centre
This is called the Giants Basin
following the next stone row, you arrive at the largest menhir on the moor,
Its over fourteen feet high, and hugely impressive. The whole area is rich in prehistoric remains of the Bronze age. There are also kists and hut circles.
We carried on uphill, leaving the antiquities and their age old secrets behind, as we did I noticed this lovely sparkly crystal stone inbedded in the grass, magical obviously...
Not so magical, was these Dung Bonnets, fungi that grow on dung....
By this time it was really hot, we stripped off our jackets and jumpers, it was nice just to be in tee shirts. We evenually reached the ruins of Eylesbarrow mine, this was one of Dartmoors most ancient tin mines, dating back to the 17th century or earlier. Scattered around are the remains of buildings that housed the working of the tin mines, now covered with heathery tussocks.
We also found this Badgers set, but I think everyone was having a lie-in..
Having had a good look round, and being in need of a nice hot cuppa, we headed back down the windy track, Pete was lucky enough to hear a Cuckoo calling from a distant wood, but unfortunately I didnt, but theres plenty of time yet..after a drink we headed home.
In the village of Sheepstor just along the road from our walk, we saw this delightful Holy well, so had to take a picture. It was a lovely walk, as always.
2 comments:
How lovely - I wish we had meadowlarks here. The stones are amazing, I could see the old woman's face in the magical crystal. A delightful walk.
I almost felt like I took that walk with you every step of the way, with all the lovely pictures and historical info. Nice to see you had a good day too - we had storms and rain yesterday - and no Internet, grrr! x
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