SOUTH WEST ENGLAND
HALF-DAY
SHEEPSTOR VALLEY
HALF-DAY TOUR
The most beautiful valley in England
This is really my favourite valley on the moor. By car we will visit the best viewpoints, visit a historic moorland church and almost certainly encounter Dartmoor ponies. You will come across the bull post where dogs were set upon a bull for sport and gambling as well as deer leaps designed to permit deer to cross a boundary but not return. The contrast between the lush farm fields and the harsher pastures of the moor just the other side of the wall is so striking that this is where Spielberg chose to film Warhorse. We will be walking along the track to the iconic, deserted farm where Joey and Albert ploughed the field against all the odds before finishing our walk at one of my favourite moorland pubs.
The walking involved on this tour is on a single track with little or no incline.
Alternatively, you may wish to be active for a whole day. If so, see the full day tour Moor Secrets.
THE HIGH MOOR HIGHLIGHTS
HALF-DAY TOUR
Discover the Napoleonic origins of the infamous Dartmoor Prison and hear about the associated tales of the prison escapees. Legends abound on Dartmoor; visit the infamous Grimpen Mire of Conan-Doyle's Hound of the Baskervilles and the poignant grave of Kitty Jay. Hear about Jan Reynolds who sold his soul to the Devil at Widecombe, the body of the salted ‘ferther’ at the Warren House and Vixana the witch. Let me share some of the songs and stories of the high moor.
See the clapper bridge of Postbridge, the wild tin-mining lands below the Warren House Inn and the National Trust village of Widecombe-in-the-Moor. From the much-photographed Haytor Rocks you might choose to return via the Bronze Age settlement of Grimspound via the extraordinary moorland lanes.
As we continue over the moor I will explain how this extraordinary landscape was formed and how the people have managed and changed it.
Get close up to bronze age hut circles and wonder why the stone circles created: Were they for ritual use or were they even primitive clocks?
No walking distance will be no more than 100metres (120 yards) from our vehicle.
What a fantastic place! Fascinating and oh so special! I tell people, when they ask, how it was that Dartmoor is more beautiful than anyone can imagine. I often mentally put myself on the top of the moor with the wind in my hair. That was my Happy Place! - Trisha
Russell helped to paint the historic and cultural picture for all the places we visited. Very knowledgeable and personable, he passed on his enthusiasm and love for Dartmoor and Devon. This is his patch! - Warwick
