Wednesay 22nd July Stone Circle near Sittaford Tor

A longer drive to the end of the road in Fernworthy Forest and then up through the forest to the gate just below Sittaford Tor.

The exit gate with the style to the right and.....

....the view to the left.

Up to the restored stone circles of Grey Wethers 

 Tom


















About 250m to the south-west of Sittaford Tor is a recently discovered stone circle. It is the first stone circle to be discovered on the high moor for over 100 years and is believed to have been built during the late Bronze Age 4000-5000 years ago. Some preliminary testing taken from soil samples beneath two of the stones indicates that the stones have been in this fallen position for approximately 4000 years. The appearance of the stone circle when the stones were up bright would have been very similar to those at Grey Wethers.

It can be seen from this photograph that many of the stones were well below the surface had been overgrown by vegetation prior to their recent discovery.


















Next we  headed over to Quentins Man.

The view down the Great Varracombe valley.

We turned back through Teign Head Farm and over the clapper bridge to follow the forest boundary...

... and find the memorial stone to WO S.LPerry who died at this spot in 1992.

On around the edge of the forest before returning to the cars.

With thanks to Paul Fox and Andrew Livingston for providing information regarding the exact location of the new stone circle.

Tuesday 13th August Sittaford Tor

Cloudier and cooler today.  Starting at Postbridge, a 'honeypot' at this time of the year with two coaches already and it's only 10.00 in the morning.

The usual routine is that the coach party gets out of the coach, walks 100 yards to go over the clapper bridge and then get back on the coach ready for the next stop!

We set off towards the house known Hartyland...

...and up to Hartland Tor...

 ...where Charlie finds a letterbox.

Sittaford Tor in the distance our next destination.

First to the Grey Wethers and the restored stone circles.

Over Sittaford Tor and on towards Stats House.

Around a boggy bit.

Sittaford Tor behind us...

...and Stats House.

Next to the waterfall for lunch.

Back to Postbridge.

With Charlie, Jim, Colin and Amber.

Tuesday 26th March Cranmere Pool

A dull grey day and bitterly cold as I set of through Fernworthy Forest from the end of the road.

I took the track that exited opposite the ruins of Teignhead Farm and went down....

...to the clapper bridge to cross the North Teign River.

Looking back to the forest.

I went up Manga Hill through these old gate posts.

Looking east to Kestor Rock.

South around Walla Brook Head with Watern Tor in the distance.

Evenutally the range hut on Hangingstone Hill came into view.

Over towards Cosdon Hill there was just a flicker of sunshine but that was it!

The range hut on Hangingstone Hill.

There was a very heavy frost on this part of the moor. All the grasses had a feather like frosts attached in the shape of a long flag.












In the distance to the west I could just make out the familiar shapes of

Fur Tor                          Hare Tor                       Great Links Tor                     Yes Tor

 

From here I headed west to Cranmere Pool.  The interesting thing about this area is that raindrops falling on the right of the picture will eventually return to the sea at the Taw Torridge estuary near Barnstaple on the north coast of Devon and those falling on the left will return to the sea at Dartmouth on the south coast of Devon.

The letter box at Cranmere Pool

I left my mark in the visitors book. It is surprising how many people visit this remote place.

There is much more about this here:-
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cranmere_Pool

and here:-
http://www.legendarydartmoor.co.uk/cranmere_pool.htm






Looking back

I back tracked and headed towards White Horse Hill.  Normally this is a very wet part of the moor but the heavy frost and frozen ground made it much easier than would normally be the case to get across.

On White Horse Hill is this cairn (now reconstructed) which was opened up in 2011 to reveal the first organic remains found on Dartmoor and about 150 beads - approximately 4,000 years old.

Much more about this on these links:-
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-devon-14468394
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-devon-15727960
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-devon-21442474

From here I followed the ridge line to Quintin's Man...

...crossing the stream here...

...and then headed up to Sittaford Tor...

...and finally past Grey Wethers before returning back into Fernworthy Forest.