A Day on the Moor

Not far north of Paignton is Dartmoor...and with the weather overcast and threatening rain, it seemed a perfect day for a visit. We found our way up into the Moor, staring at the east end...our first stop being Hound Tor...a craggy peak that is rumoured to be the inspiration for The Hound of the Baskervilles. Fighting off patches of drizzle, we made our way to the top and were rewarded with some marvellous views.

Hound Tor

 

Looking out from Hound Tor

Back in our car, we continued generally westward through the Moor until we came to the interesting little village of Widecombe in the Moor...complete with Tea Rooms where we had a cream tea of course. After a short wander around we set off again, this time to Wind Tor nearby. A geocache had been put there and the person that had done so said there were nice views back to Widecombe...and they weren't wrong. They also said that the Tor was aptly named...and they weren't wrong about that either.

Widecombe on the Moor

Lovely Tea Room at Widecombe on the Moor

Looking down on Widecombe on the Moor from Wind Tor

Back in our car and out of the wind, we continued our drive along the minor roads through the Moor...now heading north. We came to an unmarked spot on the road that seemed to align itself with a historic area marked on our map by the name of Grimspound. Quite by chance there was a Park Ranger there who told us a little about the area...and with that, we were off for a walk up to the remnants of a late Bronze Age settlement. As an added bonus, there was a geocache high on an adjacent tor...and from up there, Grimspound was laid out before us.

Grimspound as seen from the adjacent tor

High on the tor adjacent to Grimspound

Anita standing inside a hut

The south gate to Grimspound

After that tramp through the Moor, it was time to pick up out east to west traverse across Dartmoor again. After passing by Dartmoor Prison, we came down off the Moor into Tavistock...a pleasant market town where we stopped for a while. According to the geocaching web site, we were at this point the furthest from home that we are likely to be on this holiday. With Scotland still to come, that doesn't seem to be right but perhaps it has something to do with what direction is the shortest distance home...I will just have to experiment with a world globe and a peice of string one day.

Tavistock

From Tavistock, it was a pleasant drive back to Paignton...cutting through the bottom corner of the Moor to avoid the evening peak traffic around Plymouth. While we were having dinner, it was obvious that the "motor bikes were coming to town" and were congregating on the Esplanade. After we had finished eating, we went down for a look...along with most of Paignton...and found a huge assortment of motor bikes including some really interesting old ones like BSA's, Nortons and Aerials. It turned out that the group Bikers Make A Difference hold a weekly fundraising run to Paignton during the summer season...they didn't know how many bikes had turned up but they were hoping it would be over 1000.

Just a few of the bikes parked along the Esplanade