2020 September – Devon and Cornwall

Three weeks into September we embarked on a week’s holiday at Harford Bridge near Tavistock (Devon). We have stayed at Harford Bridge many times before and used to camp although a few years ago we started to rent a mobile home. This year we had a different mobile home with views over the main camping area. The site was as beautiful as ever and indeed much updated since our last visit in 2017. There were far more (very smart) campervans and caravans than previously although there were still a couple of tents. Covid 19 meant there were a lot of new site rules but they all seemed logical and clear so presented no problem.

We managed a short walk on the Saturday evening around the camp site and adjacent roads but the next day we went on a favourite walk of ours to the Church on top of Brent Tor. St Michael de la Rupe which is the highest working church in Southern England was open and we enjoyed a few minutes of quiet reflection before continuing our circular walk. The rough ground up to and down from the Church reminded us that age is certainly beginning to tell us to think carefully about terrain and gradients! In the afternoon we walked at the National Trust site of Lydford Gorge. We had had to book a timed slot and found the number of other visitors and the need to socially distance somewhat limited our enjoyment. That certainly was not the case the next day (Monday) when we had booked a timed slot to enter Lanhydrock for our usual circular walk. In fact, we found out we needn’t have booked just for the walk which we did enjoy. However, on the way down to Lanhydrock, Annie suggested we visit Siblyback Lake on Bodmin Moor. It was lovely and we enjoyed a peaceful 3 mile walk around the lake.

The following day we enjoyed two walks with the first on Haytor. The aim of the walk was to visit the Haytor Granite Tramway built to convey granite from Haytor Down to the Stover Canal. It was very unusual in that the track was formed of granite sections, shaped to guide the wheels of horse-drawn wagons. The quarry has long since been abandoned but the Dartmoor ponies are still around.

Close to the abandoned quarry we found a beautiful bank of purple heather that was the finest we saw during our holiday. The walk was memorable because of the peace and quiet, the views and the marvel of the tramway. The only down side was that Haytor itself became shrouded in mist towards the end! From Haytor we drove to Chagford at the north eastern edge of Dartmoor. We enjoyed a picnic sitting on some lovely benches outside the Church. After lunch, and although the weather was getting “iffy”, we set off on a pleasant 2 mile stroll that followed the banks of the River Teign.

Later in the week we met up with Annie’s sister Pam and husband Neil for lunch at the Strawberry Fields Farm Shop in Lifton. The restaurant was well laid out with plenty of space between tables and clear rules to minimise the Covid risk. The food was good and a lot of catching up with each other’s news – who knows when we will be able to meet up again for a restaurant meal!

During our stay we waked across the fields and hills from Harford Bridge to Mary Tavy and then back on tracks and roads via Peter Tavy. The walks were just over three miles long and a nice way of rounding off or starting the day.

The weather broke on Thursday evening so we decided to return home on the Friday. We had had a great holiday and really enjoyed the walking despite, as said earlier, the need to think about the inclines and descents more than we used to!

Post Script.

On our Lanhydrock walk we passed through a gateway that looked as though it hasn’t been disturbed since the second photo was taken five and a half years before in March 2015.