My Dartmoor Walks: Belstone Tor

Showing posts with label Belstone Tor. Show all posts

Wednesday 29th May Belstone

We started from Belstone on our annual trip to the top end of the moor. After a bright sunny morning the cloud had come in and we set off down the lane...

...where there is this dry stone wall but with a wooden top!

Soon we came out at the beginning of Taw Marsh. Steeperton Tor stands tall overlooking Taw Marsh. Oke Tor is on the right.

We went to have close look at this disused underground water plant which was built as a result of the 1959 North Devon Water Act when permission was given to extract water from Taw Marsh. The problem was that there was too much radon gas in the water and this plant was built to aerate the water and remove the radon gas.

Skylights illuminate the underground plant

It looks like most of the plant is still intact - this photo is taken through on of the two entrances at each end.

This one is taken looking down into the workings through a broken skylight

We followed the track which led up to Oke Tor.

Looking across to Metheral Hill

On to Oke Tor where...

The military, complete with machine gun were having a training exercise, having established a good look out position on top of the tor.

Looking south from Oke Tor towards Steeperton Tor.

Our route back was along the ridge line with Knattborough Tor in the foreground and Belstone Tor in the far distance.

To the west the sun was setting over Cornwall as the rain came down on us for the final part of the walk...

...to The Tors in Belstone.

With John, Jon, Pete, Mike and Nigel

Tuesday 20th March Belstone

A gloomy day on Dartmoor. We walked through the picturesque village of Belstone and out on to the moor.

Our first stop was the Nine Maidens - the remains of a Bronze Age burial site.

A short distance then to Scarey Tor (87) - it's not and no idea why it got the name.

Down to Gullivers Steps and the paved ford. Paved in the eighteenth century by the army so that horses could draw gun carriages through the water. Without these the cobbles the carriages would have gouged deep ruts in the river bed.

Nearby is this boundary stone with the initials OPB marking the spot where Okehampton and Belstone parishes meet on the line of the old "Forest of Dartmoor" boundary.

We followed the very old military road alongside the Black-a-ven Brook.

Along the military road with Oke Tor and Steeperton Tor in the distance...

...and up to Oke Tor (88)

It now being the start of the picnic season we stopped on the side of Oke Tor for an early lunch...

..but by the time we had finished it was feeling colder and with the wind on the ridge extra clothing and gloves were necessary. In the middle distance Knattborough Tor (89)....

..not much of a tor at all really

A short distance to Winter Tor (90)....

...Higher Tor (91) was just up the hill

With to Belstone Tor (92) along the ridge past Irishman's Wall in the foreground.

Finally down to the appropriately named Tors End (93)

Then back into the village of Belstone past a tractor which has seen much better days!

A seat where the wooden boards have been removed - they have been neatly sawed through so probably the result of the health and safety police - vandals would just have smashed it up!

A memorial to Winston Churchill.

And the village stocks!

On today's walk Charlie, Roger, Carol, Colin, Amber, Terry and Rosemary.

Sunday 18th December 2011 Ted Hughes Memorial

A longer solo walk on a cold winters day to find the Ted Hughes Memorial. A heavy frost overnight and an early start from Belstone with the forecast of showers.