As I Walked Along

The Abbots Way winds from East to West across Dartmoor from the small village of Buckfast to the small town of Tavistock.  It starts and ends with quiet country lanes, bookends for the longer part of the walk across open undulating, and somewhat soggy moorland.  

As I walked along I considered the rather high proportion of dead to alive that had, over long centuries, completed this forlorn path across Dartmoor. For some it was their last journey. This path is the Lych Way, a corpse road along which bodies were carried from all across the ancient Dartmoor forest, ready to be buried on consecrated ground in Lydford Church yard. The Lych Way is a day long, twelve mile taste of the magic, and occasional misery, Dartmoor has to offer. In between gorgeous views it passes through ancient woods, scrubby moorland, army ranges, soggy bogs, prehistoric and modern relics, fords and stepping stones. A keen eye will notice boundary stones, hidden crosses, wild flowers and wildlife. It doesn’t need a keen ear to realise how quiet and tranquil some stretches are. All this is strung between two quintessential Devon villages replete with pubs, coffee and conveniences.

Simmer ring, burner, lid, simples. This isn’t so much a review as an honourable mention. The simple, reliable things in life are often taken for granted, especially when they work well and do exactly what they are intended to do every time. I term these ‘door handle products’. Not necessarily exciting, but rather important and only likely to be noticed when they don't work or get snagged on a coat. The Speedster spirit stove is one such product. Brought four years ago for the princely sum of £5.40 it’s proven to be a reliable practical burner. Speedster Backpacking Products are a UK company who offer all sorts of useful gear for UK hiking, from tick removers to spirit refill bottles, their stock is clearly based on experience.

All The Tors was one of my Christmas books this year, I must say it’s a perfect read for a chilly January, when one is feeling a few mince pies short of ultralight. It’s a time when, for some subjects, reading is better than doing, or at least a drier substitute. All the Tors describes Emily Woodhouse’s self-invented, self-supported and self-inflicted challenge to visit 119 of Dartmoor’s Tors consecutively. It has the spirit of an Alastair Humbreys micro adventure , albeit somewhat elongated at 10 days. It certainly does make the reader want to grab a pack and head into the wilds - safely. I say safely because Emily is a member of Dartmoor Rescue , something evident in the decisions in the book as the weather becomes...undesirable.  Its interesting to see this sort of knowledge built into the story.  The walk itself was timed to commemorate 50 years of their generous and brave work.

The Templer Way begins - it's down hill from here The Dartmoor Two Tramways Route is a hike which links two of Dartmoor's more substantial disused tramways.  This post covers the final section, starting The Haytor Quarry Tramway.  There's an overview of the route in  Section 1 - Ivybridge Station to Redlake , and the previous is  Section 2 - Redlake to Haytor Quarry .