By: Blonde One
What does a Blonde do on a lovely sunny Sunday when it gets to 4pm and she feels a bit of cabin fever setting in? Well here’s what …
I had had enough of being stuck inside working so I decided to go for a bit of a walk on Dartmoor to find some big views and a bit of solitude. I decided to go to an old haunt from my childhood. I remember climbing on the rocks of Combestone Tor with my sister when our grandparents took us.
I set off in the direction of Ryder’s Hill passing Horn’s Cross on the way. There were cows, sheep and ponies but luckily no people. The cows were feeling a bit playful as they wanted to play hide and seek!
The way up to Ryder’s Hill is not too challenging in this kind of weather. There are some paths but I would recommend using a map and compass as a back up. Don’t even consider doing this walk if the weather is bad and you are a novice walker. It’s a slow steady climb up to the 515m summit but well worth it when younger there and see the far reaching views. Apparently this is the highest point of the southern moors.
There are 3 markers to let you know you are at the summit. There’s the OS trig point and two other marker stones: Petre on the Mount and Petre’s Stone. All three of these stones are impressive on their own but put together, with a blue sky and view to take your breath away, they are even better.
After a pit stop for a snack and coffee I reluctantly made my way back down the hill. It was one of those afternoons that made me want to stay forever!
Intriguing – according to my big dictionary, petre is short for saltpetre, but saltpetre isn’t in the dictionary, so it isn’t very helpful.
But here it is, in my good old Pocket Oxford, the dictionary of my schooldays – potassium nitrate, a substance used in making gunpowder, preserving meat, etc. Now, I didn’t know one preserved meat with gunpowder – what fun!
That must be where the other name for sausages: ‘bangers’ comes from!
We have gunpowder works on Dartmoor at Powdermills near Postbridge. The building remains are fascinating.