Yellowmead Farm

Yellowmead Farm looks like it is undergoing a major overhaul. Since going up for sale in April 2009, it's subsequent purchase and renovation works have caught the attention of the National Park Authority and of the authors of dartmooronline.co.uk.

The new owners have dug a service trench alongside the farm track leading from the B3357 Two Bridges to Tavistock road. This was dug without permission and has left a lot of boulders displaced.

Dartmooronline.co.uk reports that restoration work of the land surface has been agreed after negotiations between land owner and the DNPA. Our photo suggests that the yellow in the farm is a mere facade, The entire property which at time of sale "required complete renovation", is retaining most of it's external walls for now at least...

The Widecombe way

WITC was up on Rowden and Wind Tor recently, enjoying the sunshine. We've tended to see the area has always been seen as a bit of a letterboxing backwater, with boxes frequently missing and within earshot of the sunbathing car drivers on the road verges below.

We were pleasantly surprised to find almost all boxes on site and several unexpected finds too. On the slopes of Wind Tor we were also afforded a grand view into the East Webbern valley. Here are found many hamlets, farmsteads and the quaint village of Widecombe-in-the-Moor. A popular tourist destination, with a particular big draw being The Cathedral of the Moor, also known as St Pancras church (pictured), which is the unusually large church for such a small village. We did not take the chance to check out if the church's own letterbox is still on site! Apparently it is located in the South Transept.

We did return home with 8.94 more miles (thanks GPS!) under our belts and 29 boxes found.

A new addition

At long last, WITC took the plunge and purchased a new GPS. A brand new shiny Garmin Dakota 10. Sure, there are bigger and better things out there, with mapping and stuff, but this is more than adequate for us, and it was a bargain £90 on eBay.

Out on it's inaugural walk (above), and we are really very impressed. Clear display, good battery life, accurate and good satelite locks. Recommend.

More boundaries

WITC took a recent stroll up to Haytor Down, Black Down and Holwell Tor. It is another area more frequented by dog walkers and day trippers than letterboxers. Its a walk with a contrast of ankle breaking scree slopes and big quarry drops, and large expanses of gorse and heather, criss crossed with a myriad of sheep tracks.

Set amongst the vegetation, hiding from immediate view, is a long line of boundary stones bearing inscriptions and the letters DS. These letters stand for the Duke of Somerset, and marked the boundary of the 11th Duke's estate.

Our walk took us from the top of the ridge to the walls of Yarner Wood, and we appreciated the shelter of the trees here when the heavy rain showers rolled in. We had chosen this route carefully to avoid the really busy, hot and sunny days, but hadn't planned on having to dodge rain as well as the crowds. The views between the showers are stunning looking East over Devon, and West towards the a particularly dramatic area of Dartmoor, with many iconic tor outlines, and tight valleys.

Most of the Boundstones on Haytor Down were erected on the Duke's instructions in the 1850s, and are interspersed with older stones and landmarks. They are generally named or inscribed with 'DS 1854', and can be seen all around Eastern Dartmoor. Here we see Owlacombe Burrow, Prince Albert, Victoria and Old Jack. Blue Jug and Grey Wethers on Hameldown are art of the same set of stones. The home to the Duke of Somerset was then Natsworthy Manor, a sprawling house North of Widecombe which is now a Buddhist retreat. Berry Pomeroy Castle in the South Hams is how one of the Duke's estates, though the current Duke lives closer to London.

We finished on our day with impressive haul of 23 stamps, including some long undiscovered boxes.

Down, but not out

Contrary to popular belief, we are still letterboxing. We are just finding the fickle weather itself, a Challenger.

This weekend, our walk took us out to Down Ridge from Sherberton Farm, near Hexworthy.

As we trudged our way up towards Ter Hill, we turned to watch the fog and low cloud which has held up our routes of recent, suddenly lift, as though it were just waiting for us. The entire panorama revealed itself before us, from South Hessary to Rippon Tor. Even the sun came out, and in Deep Swincombe, the North Westerly wind wasn't in evidence. Forced to shed our waterproofs and warm head gear, it could almost have been Summer!

The whole route was no more than just 3 or 4 miles, after we chose the shorter letterbox walk instead of a planned longer trek 'up North'. On this walk, we discovered two first-in-books, which were particularly pleasing, and almost everything we searched for was on site and in good condition. If you believe some stories, we are bucking the trend by finding boxes unaffected by the letterbox thief.

However our good fortune didn't last beyond lunchtime when the fog rolled in again, the wind picked up and we were forced to return to the car. Unfortunately, despite the Bank Holiday weekend, Hexworthy's Forest Inn stuck rigidly to its regular opening (read: closing) hours, and for the um-teenth time, we missed out on collecting this Pub box...

Friday, 8th April 2011

Back to the South Moor for a letterbox walk and another property to consider (post lottery win!)

As you drive towards Harford from the West, after passing through the picturesque village of Cornwood, you pass a particularly manicured area of parkland. On the right, and out of sight of the road is the impressive Manor of Blachford.

If you've ever been to Langcombe Head between the Rivers Plym and Yealm, or to Broad Rock near Erme Pits, then you have walked on the ancient boundary of this property. The BB inscription on their rocks standing for Blachford Bounds.

It is an impressive estate, with a fascinating history and long list of former residents, from the Prior of Plympton (14th Century), to the barons and MPs of the Rogers family (look them up). The current owner has completely refurbished the near 18000 sq ft mansion, and revamped the entire estate's land.

Savills estate agents have it advertised asking for offers over £8 million. http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-33548306.html

Back to the walk though, and on another beautiful day, we were up at Harford Moor Gate to turn a short charity walk into a slightly longer route encompassing Sharp Tor, Piles Corner, Three Barrows, Piles Hill, Hangershell Rock, Butterdon, Weatherdon and Tor Rocks. Its a great area to walk, with the terrain fairly easy, and usually, a lot of success letterboxing. It was true today, with 36 boxes found.

Wednesday, 6th April 2011

WITC headed up to Cox Tor and Roos Tor today. One of our objectives was a celebrationary letterbox walk sited for another letterboxer.

It was the warmest day of the year so far - the forecasters predicted. They probably were right.

We've enjoyed the driest March in decades and a nice, warm start to April - so we searched high and low for signs Spring on Dartmoor. Apart from a heavily pregnant pony, there were not many visible signs on the ridge above the Walkham: no lambs, no flowers, and no obvious change in colours.

So apart from the sunny view, the most seasonal image we could identify and photograph was the hairy larvae of a butterfly - more commonly known as a furry caterpillar! At this time of the year they are binge eating, before turning into a species yet un-determined.

The walk we had undertook was all outside of the Merrivale Firing Range, which as we all knew, was closed for day and night use all this week. However we did have to box under the shadow of red flags flying on Great Mis and Roos Tor and under the gaze of the range spotters on distant White Tor.

The threatening flags certainly seemed to keep the crowds away, but we rattled through the list of boxes to find and were complete by mid afternoon. 6-and-a-half miles and 49 boxes found. Just some of which are pictured.