A Couple of Days on Dartmoor

[DBK]

It's six weeks until we cross over to France for our next big trip so to scratch the travel itch before then we booked three nights at the C&CC site at Tavistock on the western edge of Dartmoor. It took us a whole 45 minutes to drive here from home but it feels like a different world up here. After a very friendly reception from the wardens we were soon set up.

When I booked last week the weather forecast wasn't brilliant but we wanted to get away so just went for it.

And then the forecast changed and it looks like we might have some good weather!

We just did a short walk with the dog this afternoon but we'll drive off in the 'van tomorrow and have an explore. Walking opportunities from the site are limited unless you want to walk on the road.

 

[dash300]

It's six weeks until we cross over to France for our next big trip so to scratch the travel itch before then we booked three nights at the C&CC site at Tavistock on the western edge of Dartmoor. It took us a whole 45 minutes to drive here from home but it feels like a different world up here. After a very friendly reception from the wardens we were soon set up.

View attachment 923951

When I booked last week the weather forecast wasn't brilliant but we wanted to get away so just went for it.

And then the forecast changed and it looks like we might have some good weather!

We just did a short walk with the dog this afternoon but we'll drive off in the 'van tomorrow and have an explore. Walking opportunities from the site are limited unless you want to walk on the road.

Nice site and nicely set up bathrooms. No shuttling from cubicle to cubicle. The Market in Tavi is good too.
Parking good .. https://www.visit-tavistock.co.uk/tavistock-welcomes-motorhomes

 

[DBK]

Nice site and nicely set up bathrooms. No shuttling from cubicle to cubicle. The Market in Tavi is good too.
Parking good .. https://www.visit-tavistock.co.uk/tavistock-welcomes-motorhomes

Only problem is the direct road from here to Tavistock is currently being dug up and is closed into August.

I've visited Tavistock before and it's a nice town. The proximity to the Moor is a big plus. If we ever move again it would be on our list of places to consider.

 

[royandsharont]

I’ll be interested to hear how you manage to find parking for the van whilst visiting. I looked up Salcombe park & ride and saw camper-vans not accepted and height limited too, waiting to hear back from the local council.

 

[dash300]

I’ll be interested to hear how you manage to find parking for the van whilst visiting. I looked up Salcombe park & ride and saw camper-vans not accepted and height limited too, waiting to hear back from the local council.

As posted above just a short walk into town. Pay by RingGo.

Tavistock Welcomes Motorhomes | Tavistock

www.visit-tavistock.co.uk

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[DBK]

I’ll be interested to hear how you manage to find parking for the van whilst visiting. I looked up Salcombe park & ride and saw camper-vans not accepted and height limited too, waiting to hear back from the local council.

I used to live near Salcombe and it is not a MH friendly place. The Park and Ride could take MHs but they would be worried about folk turning up for months. All a bit, or more than a bit up market these days.

 

[royandsharont]

Yes the council replied to me today, offered no advice or info just confirmed I would be restricted at that car park

 

[Emmit]

As posted above just a short walk into town. Pay by RingGo.

Tavistock Welcomes Motorhomes | Tavistock

www.visit-tavistock.co.uk

Confused of Callington here, (For those Emmit's on here, Callington is on the other side of the Tamar, 10mls from Tavistock)

That quote above, "You can park all day for just £2 in Riverside Car Park – a pleasant, easy and flat walk into the town centre along the River Tavy."

When I look at the map provided on the quote, it's £2 FOR TWO HOURS!!! Hardly all day.!

 

[Jono]

Tavistock was our home town We left in 1972: but return often. We usually use the Pixon Lane Long Stay Car Park which allows Motorhomes. You have to pay for 2 bays if you need them £3 per bay for all day. It’s a great place. Enjoy

 

[Dolmen]

You are so close to Merrivale, sure you have been there a hundred times, I can’t drive past without re visiting

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[DBK]

We visited Merrivale this morning Dolmen and had an enjoyable tootle about. For those unfamiliar it is a smallish area on Dartmoor with a lot of old stones dating from about 4,000 to 3,000 years ago and with some newer stuff just a couple of hundred years or so old.

It is no Carnac but there are alignments of stones, a stone circle and other stuff.

There are two double rows of stones. This is one of them, the other, running parallel to it is about a hundred metres away but not easy to see in this shot.

But a bit clearer in this one.

Another view. There is also a short single row of stones.

The stone circle isn't the most impressive. It has 11 stones, 3 of which are in the foreground here with a standing stone in the distance. Excavations suggest it once had more stones.

The 3m high standing stone.

Most of the people who lived here cremated their dead but sometimes people of high status were buried. It would have taken quite a lot of work to build this cist, which is lined with granite stones and originally had a large capstone although it was split in half in a 19th century treasure hunt.

This is a later boundary marker. The letter "A" is carved on one side and "T" on the opposite face, which can be seen about two thirds of the way up on the right.

This is a leat, which would have taken water to the old tin workings, of which nothing remains to my inexpert eye. Clear water was still flowing in the leat and Charlie had a cooling paddle.

There are also the remains of about 50 Bronze Age roundhouses here, which we plan to visit tomorrow.

Afterwards we visited the nearby Cox Tor, which is a popular place.

On the way up we found one of these.

The trig point at the summit.

There were excellent views from up here. If you have good eyesight you can see the entrance to Plymouth Sound in this shot. The two headlands either side of it are just to the right of the middle of the photo.

We plan to have a pub lunch tomorrow.

 

[DBK]

I forgot to add this video of a Dartmoor lawn mower in action. This explains why the grass is so short.

 

[Figaro]

Charlie fan club here, can we have doggie pics tomorrow please ?
Great photos of Dartmoor though

 

[DBK]

Charlie fan club here, can we have doggie pics tomorrow please ?
Great photos of Dartmoor though

Apologies, should have taken some today! Oops.

Taken just now

 

[Devon Sue]

I don't think there are tin workings in that area, more likely to be a pot water leat supplying one of the farms

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[DBK]

I don't think there are tin workings in that area, more likely to be a pot water leat supplying one of the farms

It's shown on the OS Map as "Tin Workings (dis)" but all I could see were various bumps in the ground.

 

[L' Hobo]

I used to live near Salcombe and it is not a MH friendly place. The Park and Ride could take MHs but they would be worried about folk turning up for months. All a bit, or more than a bit up market these days.

I visited there last year, I was not impressed as it seemed to cater just for the rich.
(£4.50 for a ordinary takeaway Cornish Pasty. )

Nice town but I didn't eat much!

 

[Dolmen]

We visited Merrivale this morning Dolmen and had an enjoyable tootle about. For those unfamiliar it is a smallish area on Dartmoor with a lot of old stones dating from about 4,000 to 3,000 years ago and with some newer stuff just a couple of hundred years or so old.

It is no Carnac but there are alignments of stones, a stone circle and other stuff.

There are two double rows of stones. This is one of them, the other, running parallel to it is about a hundred metres away but not easy to see in this shot.

View attachment 924299

But a bit clearer in this one.

View attachment 924302

Another view. There is also a short single row of stones.

View attachment 924301

The stone circle isn't the most impressive. It has 11 stones, 3 of which are in the foreground here with a standing stone in the distance. Excavations suggest it once had more stones.

View attachment 924305

The 3m high standing stone.

View attachment 924306

Most of the people who lived here cremated their dead but sometimes people of high status were buried. It would have taken quite a lot of work to build this cist, which is lined with granite stones and originally had a large capstone although it was split in half in a 19th century treasure hunt.

View attachment 924304

This is a later boundary marker. The letter "A" is carved on one side and "T" on the opposite face, which can be seen about two thirds of the way up on the right.

View attachment 924298

This is a leat, which would have taken water to the old tin workings, of which nothing remains to my inexpert eye. Clear water was still flowing in the leat and Charlie had a cooling paddle.

View attachment 924307

There are also the remains of about 50 Bronze Age roundhouses here, which we plan to visit tomorrow.

Afterwards we visited the nearby Cox Tor, which is a popular place.

View attachment 924300

On the way up we found one of these.

View attachment 924312

The trig point at the summit.

View attachment 924315

There were excellent views from up here. If you have good eyesight you can see the entrance to Plymouth Sound in this shot. The two headlands either side of it are just to the right of the middle of the photo.

View attachment 924313

We plan to have a pub lunch tomorrow.

Very nice set of photo’s, currently exploring Neolithic sites on Dartmoor north of Ivybridge, fabulous weather

 

[DBK]

We went back to Merrivale this morning to have a quick look at the Bronze Age hut circles. I've seen these elsewhere on Dartmoor and they really need to be photographed from the air to get any sort of impression of what they look like.

But this one was reasonably easy to photograph.

My understanding is there would have been a low wall with probably a conical thatched roof. In some parts of the country the walls were made from woven hurdles but here I guess stone was used.

Much of the area is more chaotic.

I thought I had found another cist when I spotted this but it's a partially completed millstone, abandoned for some reason.

We then drove a short distance to the start of the track leading to Great and Little Mis Tor.

Little Mis Tor was the first to be reached, where we diverted off the path to look (successfully) for a geocache.

Then onwards and upwards to Great Mis Tor which had a large red flag flying from it. This marks the boundary of the Army firing ranges, marked on the OS Map as "Danger Area". We would be safe if we didn't go beyond the flag.

At the summit.

Views from the top.

Princetown is just the other side of the mast. There are several geocaches around the summit but the nearest were amongst the jumbled rocks, known as "clitter" which surround the summit. I left them to the more agile geocachers.

We had left the 'van at the Four Winds car park where this prominent sign warned us not to stay too long.

People do overnight on Dartmoor in MHs but you need to choose a quiet spot.

Charlie was glad to get back, after visiting the summit of Great Mis Tor he had decided he had walked far enough and needed a rest.

 

[DBK]

I forgot to add above that afterwards we had a pleasant lunch in the Plume of Feathers in Princetown. It has been closed for a while but recently re-opened under new management. It was a good meal with mains around £15 each. It has a camping area at the back and a place for MH parking but at £25 a night this is on the expensive side. However, I hope they can make a go of the place, running a pub is a challenge these days.

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[Just smiffy]

Perhaps Charlie just wanted to enjoy the view …

 

[DBK]

Perhaps Charlie just wanted to enjoy the view …

The only views he enjoys are of food.

 

[Jane And Rog]

The only views he enjoys are of food.

I know a very similar dog.

 

[CAB96]

You seem to be doing a decent amount of walking, is your hip better?

 

[DBK]

You seem to be doing a decent amount of walking, is your hip better?

Thanks for asking, things have improved since a visit to the GP, an X-ray and finally a session with the physiotherapist.

Exercises designed for gammy hips every morning have made a big difference. It seems counter-intuitive that for a joint wearing out exercise helps but it does. Apparently it improves blood circulation and strengthens the muscles around the joint which is what probably helps the most.

I walked a bit over 5 km today which is the most I've done for six months, I was struggling to walk at all for a while earlier in the year but exercise has made a huge difference.

There's still pain, especially at the start of a walk then it reduces to what might be called just discomfort. Ibuprofen helps too.

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[Figaro]

Ibuprofen helps too.

Watch out for nosebleeds, I start taking them for knee pain but ended up with a daily nosebleed
Only Paracetamol now, if anything is needed, the warmer summer weather seems to help a lot.

 

[DBK]

Watch out for nosebleeds, I start taking them for knee pain but ended up with a daily nosebleed
Only Paracetamol now, if anything is needed, the warmer summer weather seems to help a lot.

I'm very cautious not to use too much. Just a couple a day if I'm going walking, and sometimes none.

 

[DBK]

Just to close this thread off, we got safely back home yesterday, a 45 minute drive for us. We returned to Plymouth via Princetown to avoid the roadworks on the east side of Tavistock. The Princetown route is MH friendly apart from a couple of short narrow sections just before you get to Yelverton. These are so short you can see if anyone is approaching the other way before entering them so you shouldn't get into difficulties, which is all too easy on most of Dartmoor's roads.

I can thoroughly recommend the C&CC site at Tavistock. Good facilities but it has no drive-over grey water disposal so bring a bucket. Many of the pitches are a bit sloping so bring levelling ramps too. We are normally not fussy about being perfectly level but there are limits. Even with ours we couldn't get very level and because of the direction of the slope we couldn't fully empty the waste tank - I got two full buckets out of it when we got home and it was parked on the level.

I can also recommend the area of Dartmoor nearest the site, plenty of car parks, including one very big one which could take any sized MH and from which there were plenty of choices for walking to various tors and of course all the old stones which I've described above. However, at weekends in summer you would need to arrive early to be sure of a spot.

I'm still looking forward to France next month but given how close Dartmoor is to where we live we will be back with the MH soon.

 

[Jane And Rog]

Thanks for a very interesting thread.

 

[Jo662]

Enjoyed this thread thank you

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