Monday 4th November Longaford Tor

A fantastic day for walking, cooler again, bright blue skies and very clear visibility.  This walk is similar to the one I did last week but that one was too long.  It is a continuation of that recee.  So starting again from the car park at Two Bridges I set off up the track.

Looking back.

Looking up across the valley of the West Dart River with Longaford Tor just visible.

On to Crockern Tor....

...and then towards Littaford Tor, Longaford Tor and Higher White Tor following the wall for a while.  Brilliant cloud formation!

Looking back.

Then to the clitter bank above Powdermills bog.

I picked up the track that goes through the bog towards Powdermills...

...to the point where it joins the Lych Way and then returned back towards Longaford Tor.

Looking back to Bellever forest and Bellever Tor.

The top end of the Powdermills bog with Longaford Tor just in view and Higher White Tor on the right.

Through the gate to follow the wall to Higher White Tor.

Looking back at the large expanse of Powdermills bog.

At Higher White Tor looking towards Longaford Tor.

A pony with bright sunlight behind him.

Looking back up the West Dart Valley with Crow Tor just visible.

I took the lower track down to the edge of Wistman's Wood.

Looking back to Wistman's Wood.

I now have a better route for the walk on Wednesday night but the actual walk will depend on the weather conditions.

Sunday 27th October Powdermills

The day before the storm?  Well dank and grey with strong wind and heavy showers.  I set off up the track from the quarry by Two Bridges.

Then over to Crockern Tor.

This was the site of the ancient stannary parliament....

Longford Tor and Higher White Tor in the distance - I followed this wall before.....

....turning right to go down to find the track through the bog.

The track I was looking for is not marked on the OS map but I have walked up it once before. Several attempts to find it failed and I came back up to this bank of clitter.  I followed this to the end...

 ...and then I found the track - a solid path in a desolate area of wet bog.

Soon I was at Powdermills.  A disused gunpowder factory.

I crossed the Cherry Brook and headed up to one of the old buildings.  The buildings  were well spread out.

The gunpowder was needed for the many mines on Dartmoor during the 18th and early 19th centuries.

 The buildings were of very solid granite but they had very thin roofs so that in the event of an explosion the only damage would be to the roof and not the rest of the building.

 The walls were certainly very substantial.

Next I was heading back up to the higher ground and Higher White Tor.

But, first back across the Cherry Brook but this time no bridge - I found a suitable crossing point and...

...up the hill to the wall junction with two stiles and...

...just above this is Higher White Tor.  Longaford Tor is in the distance.  There was a really heavy shower here and an incredibly strong wind on the ridge.

 

 This was the easy part Littaford Tors ahead.

Looking back.

Then down to the car park.  By now my waterproofs had completely dried out in the strong wind.  this was a recee for another day.  It won't work for the planned evening walk but it might another time for a daytime walk.

Wednesday 5th December Powdermills

A proper winters day. An icy start, cold and very wet underfoot.

We started from Two Bridges and followed the track...

...towards Wistmans Wood...

Looking back to Beardown Hill....

...across to Crow Tor.

Then up to Longaford Tor and on to...

...the ridge line with views toward Fernworthy Forest...

...and Bellever Forest.

Next down to Powdermills on the Lych Way and a part of the moor I hadn't visited before.

Across to Higher White Tor and...

...down to the boggy bit.

This was seriously boggy - Helen went down to her waist and Anne went down to her knees filling her wellies with water!

But we all survived and then across to Powdermills where they made gunpowder for use in the many quarries on Dartmoor.   The buildings had very solid granite walls and light roofs so that any potential blast would leave the walls intact and take the roof off.

Much more about this fascinating place here  www.legendarydartmoor.co.uk/powder_mills.htm

Back up towards the ridge line but by a much safer path.

On to Crockern Tor....

A short walk back to the car park and on to the Prince of Wales - which was fully ready for the Christmas festivities.

With Jon, Terry, Ian, Helen, Irving and Anne