By: Blonde One
As with other places Dartmoor has a very rich history: from thousands of years ago to more recent times. On my most recent solo walk I returned to some places that I haven’t visited in a while and also covered some new ground. The places that I returned to I tried to have more of a closer look at. I visited some of the old Swelltor Quarry, that some say is a bit of a blot on the landscape. The industrialisation of Dartmoor is fascinating and brings some excellent exploring opportunities. Here’s what I found:
There I was, surrounded by a totally rugged landscape, feeling the power of the bleak moorland when I stumbled upon these apparently civilised and quite majestic stone carvings. Dartmoor granite has been used in some impressive places and upon further research, I find that these carvings were made to be used on London Bridge as corbels (brackets). They were pretty impressive and if I had suddenly developed superpowers I might have considered putting the 6 foot long stones over my shoulder! Far from being eyesores, the industrial leftovers on Dartmoor add to my fascination of the place and make me realise that you can return to the same spot numerous times and still find something new.
Loved walking across the mining areas of the North York Moors/Yorkshire Dales where they used hushes to scour the ground and bare the ore. Were your corbels left-overs when the bridge was built? Imagine carving something that big only to have it discarded!
Hope you ticked this off in your Dartmoor 365!