By: Blonde One

The pretty village of Belstone lies just beside Okehampton and is largely untouched by the sometimes hoards of people that visit Dartmoor. It is not really well used by Ten Tors or DofE groups as a starting point either and so retains its quiet and peaceful aura. It seems to use Okehampton as a buffer as most people will start their walks from there when ‘up north’ on Dartmoor.

Belstone is not to be dismissed however and is well worth a visit. It has all the traditional features of a Devon village such as an interesting looking small church, a pub and thatched cottages, as well as relics of times gone by such as the tractor that I suspect hasn’t moved for a decade or two. The gateway to the moors that this village provides shows Dartmoor at its finest, although the sunshine and blue sky helped! The animals and people were friendly and happy to be there and we enjoyed our brief visit with the promise to ourselves that next time we would stay longer and include a visit to the pub.