Between the rain showers, I grabbed the opportunity to complete a charity letterbox walk sited for the 'People's Dispensary for Sick Animals' around White Tor on the western fringe of Dartmoor. I parked up at the quarry car park on Smeardon Down, and climbed to Boulters Tor. The gorse is beginning to flower, and the bracken is growing fast. Another few weeks and this area is deep in the stuff.
As well as the flora, the rocks around here are distinct too. Boulters Tor, White Tor, Brent Tor, and other western outcrops around here are not of granite. They are basalt, the result of lava flows during the Devonian period, some 400 million years ago, when this area of Britain was under the sea. The rocks are black and far more angular than granite.
Stephens Grave was on my route, although this area is devoid of letterboxes. This lonely spot is the supposed burial site of John Stephens of Peter Tavy. As someone who committed suicide in the 18th century, he was not allowed to be buried on hallowed ground, but instead was buried at a crossroads, far away from the parish church, to confuse the spirit should it feel like a wander. Witnesses claim to have seen his ghost, sitting as though lost, on the grave.
White Tor is an entertaining place to letterbox. Lots of outcrops, and opportunity for bearings. It never ceases to disappoint. One bearing seems to be missing though - the white flagpole. The base remains, but it appears the pole has been cut down. There was no indication of this happening in MOD plans that I have read.
After completing the loop of the tor, I descended to Wedlake and the Colly Brook to trace back to the car. A fantastic day and 19 boxes found.
It was a joy to have a bank holiday off work, and with the sun shining, I set off for Frenchbeer Rock and a letterbox walk over to the River Teign and Manga Rock. 
My weekend walk took me to the far East of the moor. To Shapley Tor, King Tor and Grimspound. The fog that hung low over Cornwall and the Western moor combined with gusty South-Westerlies seemed to lift as I passed Okehampton. The Challacombe Valley also appeared to be benefiting from being in the moor's weather shadow.
The route I'd planned began around the head of the East Bovey river. The landscape were scarred by closely cut firebreaks and charred heather - evidence of recent swaling activity, over now for another year. Next was the slog up and over Shapley Tor. A spot of unsuccessful boxing here - primarily due to distant bearings being impossible. I was forced to retreat to the line of the newtake wall to head South and avoid the pelting rain that had finally made an appearance. The target now was the East Vitifer Mine below King Tor. This interesting little mine last saw activity in 1913 when it employed 6 miners, albeit only in surface level works. The warning signs around the area refer to the deep pits worked between 1845 and 1876. It was never particularly successful as a tin mine. The current owner of the mine has recently been in trouble with Teignbridge Council for not maintaining the fence around the one of the pits.
I side-stepped this danger, and instead opted for the lung-busting climb to Kings Barrow. I'd received some new clues the day previous to the walk, and was keen for a first-in-book opportunity. Due to an oversight, one of these new clues also lacked a grid reference, and the owner of the boxes had pleaded for one to be obtained for his records. I was happy to oblige. I felt I needed to test my GPS batteries, sat idle in the bottom of my rucksack for months.
