By: Blonde One
There is a path on Dartmoor which has been affectionately named as ‘the motorway’. It’s a busy track that has had significant amounts of work done to improve and repair the erosion that has been caused by the very heavy footfall and the cycling. Some local Dartmoor folk will avoid ‘the motorway’ at all costs due to the fact that it is so popular and often there will be a good number of people there. However there is a very good reason why this route is so busy … it’s a lovely option for an afternoon walk on the moors! Simple as that.
After you have walked along the path past South Hessary Tor you will either go straight on to the atmospheric Nun’s Cross and Nun’s Cross Farm building or you will turn right, as I did, and walk west along the path that will eventually lead to Burrator Reservoir. There are lots of features to recommend this walk as it has a range of different things to look out for. There are the cuttings to the right and left of the path from the days of tin mining in the area and well as the two granite restored crosses. One of which was difficult to see on this day because of the mist. The navigation is easy as the paths are so well defined (unlike some of the paths found on Dartmoor). I walked up to visit Crazywell Pool and reminded myself of the spooky legends that surround this very attractive pool. I wasn’t tempted to swim this time!
After visiting the pool I headed north to pick up the Devonport Leat to follow back. Leats are a great handrail feature to use in poor visibility. The path beside the leat is good to follow and several footbridges demanded I take their photo. The Survery Marker in the photo attracted my attention and I stopped to ponder it’s use for a while.
After about 2 hours I was back at Princetown very much wetter than when I started but definitely a whole lot happier! Of course before heading home I had the obligatory visit to Foxtor Cafe to sample their coffee and cake.
Copyright Ordnance Survey
