A walk across Dartmoor, the Two Moors Way...Ivybridge to Morchard Road

The "Two Moors Way" (MW) is a long-distance footpath from Ivybridge just north of Plymouth to Lynmouth on the north coast of Devon. The total length is 164 km but I decided to walk it in two sections from Ivybridge to Morchard Road (90 km) and then later from Lynmouth to Morchard Road. Although Morchard Road (a small village) is over halfway, it is convenient both for accommodation ("The Devonshire Dumpling" pub) and bus and rail connection. It has a good rail connection to Exeter with trains about every hour. I used OL28 OS Explorer and 191 Landranger maps (and compass) and also the Devon County Council Guide. The later is useful for general logistics and description on the moors. In lowland areas the guide refers you to way-markers that are generally good but a map is useful and essential on the moor itself. I had a small mountain tent with essential equipment that I used for three nights and the last night I stayed in the "The Devonshire Dumpling" before joining the Climate March in Exeter on the last day.

I got the regular bus from Dartington to Ivybridge (on MW ) and walked uphill on a farm track to enter  Harford Moor. 

One of the first way-marker stones I noticed on Harford Moor at the beginning of the walk. A " MW" with an arrow.

On the moor the route firstly follows an old tramway for a few kilometres and this gave reasonable views with the occasional fog bank rolling in. I stopped for lunch at an old clay pit at the side of the track and then continued to Crossways where the route leaves the tramway.

Tramway and Belted Galloway cattle in the distance. Lots of cattle and sheep on the moor.

Two Moors Stone at Crossways where the MW heads over open moorland.

Although the guide directs you to follow the path uphill, there are now two distinct paths uphill. The one to follow is the most northerly towards a marker stone on the brow of the hill. The other goes towards the clay workings. I found that because of the cattle and sheep on the moor, the footpaths are difficult to follow and a map and compass are the best options together with any land marks such a cairns, streams or burial mounds. On this occasion I used land marks and compass bearings to cross the hill and descend by a direct route to a clapper bridge over the river Avon.

The clapper bridge over the river Avon

Here I met a couple of hikers making their way off the moor to Buckfastliegh on the Abbott's Way. In fact these were the only long distance walkers I met on the route. I filtered some water and took another break here. Because of the numerous animals on the moor, I filtered and also added chlorine tablets to my water and always chose running water supplies.

The next bit of the path was tricky because although the MW skirts along the north side of the river to Huntingdon Cross, the path seems to get into bogs so I took to higher ground to regain the bankside path a little later on drier ground. The crossing of  Western Wella Brock as been made easy with a clapper bridge (dated 2018). 

Hickaton Hill; enclosed hut group shortly after Huntington Cross

After another hill I started the descent to the river Mardie and Chalk Ford. Before the descent I chose a spot to camp to give views to the coast, made dinner and had a good nights sleep waking to a heavy dew on the tent. It is never pleasant to pack a wet tent but the sun was slow to rise and I was soon on my way to a footbridge (and water refill) to skirt around Scorriton Down to Scorriton and then up a very steep cobbled lane to Holne. The tearoom doesn't open in the autumn or winter but there is a volunteer village shop open at 11 pm that enabled me to get supplies. From then on it was a great walk down to the Dart valley and along the river Dart in the hot sunshine.

Alongside the river Dart before the climb to Aish Tor.

From here it was a moderate climb to Leigh Tor and onto Dr Blackall's Drive, a wider path skirting the peaks and giving great view of the Dart valley in the sunshine. The path eventually gets to a road crossing at Bel Tor Corner although I found the way-markers confusing at the end, in fact I ignored the last one and kept NE to the road. The path then goes across open moor again but there are many tracks so I headed N to NE keeping the cottages to my right to meet the road to Ponsworthy. Before the main part of the village the MW follows a path with the stream to the right (more water supply) and on to the road to Widecombe. I had already visited Widecombe and didn't need supplies so I stayed on the main MW to gain higher ground across Hamel Down. I didn't see a sign marking the MW off road after Dockwell but made my best guess heading north and then north east onto the Down. I think the actual path is bordered by gorse bushes and is a gentle uphill until the last section onto the main Down close to Hamel Down Beacon. Even though it was a sunny afternoon, the moorland did look bleak with the burial mounds and cairns the only real landmarks. 

View from Hamel Down

Grimspound , apparently one of the best preserved Bronze Age settlements on Dartmoor. Also used as a sheep pen ??

I decided to camp on lower ground after Hockney Tor but before Chagford Common and made another dew laden start crossing to Chagford Common towards Fernworthy.  After climbing to the Common, the obvious northerly path is a footpath on the OS map but not marked as the MW route which was marked a little to the west. It is best to stick with the obvious path north that meets the MW route further on. My best advice is to head north through the Common until you can see the corner fence line. If you go off route the going can get tough with marsh and uneven ground.

View north over Chagford Common ...just tramp north!

The route then took to low ground but still with some steep Devon hills going through Teignworthy and Teigncombe. I took the deviation to Chagford for supplies and a real coffee and rejoined at Rushford bridge (only adding a couple of kilometres to the route). 

The next stage was along the river Teign through the grounds of Castle Drogo by "The Hunters Path" and then into Drewsteignton for lunch at the "Drewe Arms".

Hunters Path around Castle Drogo

The weather was still brilliant and it was an easy walk to the boundary of the park and then on a long stretch of single track road through small hamlets and villages to reach another farm road to Newbury. On route I passed a memorial stone to Joe Turner who was one of the founders of the MW.

Memorial stone to Joe Turner

Soon I reached an amazing holloway on route to Helmoors Down and an idyllic camping spot on common land in a clearing along the holloway. I was able to prepare dinner as the sun shone though from the west and breakfast in the sun in the morning.

My last night of camping as the sun dries my gear.

The last section from West Wotton farm to Morchard Road I didn't enjoy so much as it was mainly through farmland with the MW often going between electric fences and hedge boundaries with odd deviations around farm buildings that made you feel distinctly unwelcome. At one point I needed a compass to get through a dense herd of dairy cows so cramped in I couldn't see a field boundary. I also noticed in this section piles of Ash tree trunks that presumably had to be felled because of ash dieback.

After a night at Morchard Road, I almost caught the bus to Exeter but it didn't stop at the pub as expected so I got the train from the nearby station and joined family in Exeter on the school march on climate change.

Overall I was lucky with the good weather particularly on the higher moor and the gradients are very modest. In the valleys the route is well marked and easy to follow. I found the moor itself rather stark and although some people describe it as "wild" I'm afraid I take the opposite view and think of it as a denunded landscape spoiled by human activity.  It now certainly appears overgrazed with all the cattle, sheep and I wish the park management would ease the commercial pressures and allow some of the moor to go back to nature; it will take a long time!

Our Camper Van Tour in Scotland

Sometime ago we decided to try a tour before we cut back on vehicle journeys. We liked the idea of the freedom we found with our old VW camper, so we hired a modern VW Transporter “pop-top” fitted with a sink, gas, electric and portable toilet. The local companies were all fully booked for August but we found a company “MooVans” located just off the M5 near Weston-Super-Mare and on our route north.

We hadn’t planned a detailed route more than to visit Emily near Carnforth, go up to the west coast of Scotland to get as far as we could and then return across Scotland to the east coast and visit Helen’s brother’s family near Tain (50 miles north of Inverness) and then south to see Iain and Elaine near Bathgate. From there we aimed to return to see Ems and then camp at my nephews wedding near Retford in Nottinghamshire and return home, all in about twenty five days.

We started on 25 th July to pick-up the camper “The Bull” a red and white van and headed  north on very busy roads to Tuxford to visit my brother and sisters and see family before the wedding we were attending later in August. We then went on to Carnforth and met Ems the next morning. We camped at a woodland spot near Bolton-le-Sands in wet weather but managing to get around and a walk along the estuary in sight of Morecombe Bay. The weather didn’t improve on our drive north around Glasgow and the southern shore of Loch Lomond in the Trossachs (a regional park in Scotland). We camped at “Lomond Woods” in Ballock which is close to the boat terminal and eating places for our evening meal. The following day we continued north through Glen Coe and found ourselves on the North Coast 500 scenic route that begins and ends in Inverness in the Highlands. We saw a lot of RV’s and tourists in the towns and campsites following the 500 route.

Ben Lomond from our coffee stop progressing northwards along the loch.

 At the end of Glen Coe, the weather was improving so we stopped at “An Torr” National Trust area for one night and walked to Signal Rock (Tom A’Ghrianain, Hill of the Sun). This is a pleasant park, especially as we were able to sit in the sunshine by the banks of the river. We did a short cycle ride to a local pub, Clachaig Inn, by taking a track north adjacent to the main road through Glen Coe and crossing the river Coe to a minor road to the village.

River Coe in Glen Coe taken on our cycle ride to Clachaig Inn

We continued to Fort William (there is a large car park on the left as you enter the town) for shopping and of course coffee. After that we followed the A82/87 north visiting Eilean Donan Castle and then a wild camping spot with several RVs that overlooked Loch Carron. We could see the loch but the distant mountains kept disappearing in low cloud.

View from our camp spot above Loch Carron as the clouds lift.

 At last the weather improved the next day as we stopped for refreshments at the garage shop come breakfast diner in Kinlochewe and met several motor cyclists. There isn’t a lot in the village but the Eighe Visitors Centre is nearby and a good chance to try some walks in the dry.  Here we watched Bramblings in the garden and walked the “Buzzard Path” gaining height and views of the mountains to the south-west and the glen below.

Bramblings feeding at the visitors centre.

For lunch we found a pleasant spot on a beach aside Loch Maree a short distance from the car park (possible camping spot).

Lunch spot along the banks of Loch Maree; spot Helen on the beach.

 Then we went on to Gairloch and Poolewe and a campsite near Inverewe Gardens (now belonging to the National Trust). We visited the Bridge Cottage café (Tarta de Santiago was very nice) and cycled along a narrow road towards Inverasdale and by accident came across a beach site “Firemore Camping” where they allow camping (no facilities, N57.83007,W5.68051). The next day we visited the gardens as spectacular as we recalled from previous visits and then drove to the beach campsite to spend a couple of days on the machair with sunshine and slight breeze to keep the midges away. In fact this was the only time we managed to eat outdoors on the entire holiday! We also cycled further along the minor road to the end of the peninsular to see a gunnery station set on the cliff tops. Lock Ewe was a base for the Home Fleet and assembly point for the Artic convoys during the last war. The cliffs gave some great views of the Loch and the Isle of Ewe that we could see opposite our camping spot. We also got good views of the Loch as we went north towards Ullapool stopping at the Elphin tea rooms with tables outside and splendid views to the Suilven (Pillar Mountain, 731 m), a distinctive profile rising from the moorland bog.

View from the camper of the beach at "Firemore" looking towards the sea. Great beach walks and cycle rides in the area with only gentle hills.

Pleasant camping on the beach, our best site of the holiday.

The Suilven from the tea rooms.

We camped at the Broomfield campsite in Ullapool very close to the harbour and in walking distance of the town and a pleasant walk in the evening sunshine along the shoreline. The better weather continued as we drove north on the A835/837 to get near Lochinver and then a narrow twisting single-track road to Clachtoll where we had hoped to camp near the beach. However, the campsite was full…full, may be because it was on the tourist information list.  We then decided to return to the main road by the same route as it was much longer to continue around the peninsular. I don’t know why but this single-track road was very busy; with limited passing-places it was not pleasant driving.

Moving on we stopped for lunch and a walk at a car park off the A837 on the Little Assynt Estate. The Leiter Easaidh path is an all ability suitable for wheel chairs with plenty of resting places and toilets with shelters nearby. They even allowed overnight stops in their car parks.

On our walk near Assynt estate with lochan in foreground with boat (boats can be hired) and eco-toilet.

We continued on but with the bad weather and prediction of rain to come we decided to start south crossing Scotland to the east side by the A838 and overnighting on the shores of Loch Merkland next to a timber wagon. The next day we went to Dunrobin Castle near Golspie but weren't impressed as we saw no mention of the Sutherlands role in the Highland Clearances, a major act of vandalism in the 18 th and 19 th centuries.

After family visits we took the A9 south stopping at villages on route including Carrbridge and lunch at the "Sugar Bowl" in Kingussie eventually overnighting at the National Trust place at Killiecrankie, "Soldiers Leap".

Dunrobin Castle from the gardens.

The packhorse bridge dating from 18th century with the River Dulnain in spate. The water levels later led to the bridge being shown on national television in the evening.

"Soldiers Leap" on the river Garry at Killiecrankie

After seeing Iain and Elain and then Emily, we went across the Pennines and Yorkshire Dales to the Midlands. The route was very pleasant driving but again in the rain. We stopped at Bedale and camped at a nice site on the river Ure at Sleningford Water Mill and walked into North Stainley village by a riverside footpath but the pub was closed. 

After the wedding (we did get sunshine on the actual wedding day), we returned home this time avoiding the motorways and traffic jams and going by the old Fosse Way, roads we routinely used forty years ago! We camped at Glastonbury in the rain but by now we were getting use to the summer weather.