This weekend we travelled down to stay with our very good friends in Devon. On Friday we made our way to Dartmoor to climb some of the Tors. We had hoped to manage 4 in one afternoon, but we didn't. We did, however, make it make the following day to climb the 4th! The weather was very mixed, and cold, but we all survived to tell the tale.The first hill we managed to climb was:
Haytor Rocks with Zack
Haytor Rocks (457m) is a popular spot on Dartmoor, and there were plenty of people around. 
Zack chose this as his hill as it is one of his favourite places on the moors. After a short but steep climb up from the car park, you can scramble up the rocks which have steps cut into them. From the top you get great views across South Devon to the sea. You can even see along to the Dorset coast. This was the first of my 40 hills where we had a view of the sea, and after a number of hills done in a cloud, it was fantastic to be out on a clear day. From here we could see all the other Tors we planned to climb that day, none of which were too far away, which turned out to be a good thing! After climbing up onto the rocks and admiring the views, we took a compass bearing, and headed off to:
Zack chose this as his hill as it is one of his favourite places on the moors. After a short but steep climb up from the car park, you can scramble up the rocks which have steps cut into them. From the top you get great views across South Devon to the sea. You can even see along to the Dorset coast. This was the first of my 40 hills where we had a view of the sea, and after a number of hills done in a cloud, it was fantastic to be out on a clear day. From here we could see all the other Tors we planned to climb that day, none of which were too far away, which turned out to be a good thing! After climbing up onto the rocks and admiring the views, we took a compass bearing, and headed off to:Howell Tor with Nick
To get to Howell Tor (402m) from Haytor, you have to cross the remains of a granite tramway.
This forms the start of the Templer Way. In 1722 James Templer was born in Exeter. After spending his early childhood as an orphan, he ran away to sea, making his fortune in India. He returned to England and, with his son James II, built a canal (the Stover canal) to carry clay between Teigngrace and Newton Abbot. In 1820, James II's son, George built the tram way to carry granite quarried from Haytor down to the canal for export. During the 1850s the granite quarries became uneconomic, and the tramway fell into disuse. The 18mile Templer Way follows the route of the tramway and then the canal from Haytor to Teignmouth. You can still see sections of the granite tramway today. We enjoyed the walk over from Haytor to Howell Tor, and climbed up the rocks when we arrived.
We then turned south to head for:
This forms the start of the Templer Way. In 1722 James Templer was born in Exeter. After spending his early childhood as an orphan, he ran away to sea, making his fortune in India. He returned to England and, with his son James II, built a canal (the Stover canal) to carry clay between Teigngrace and Newton Abbot. In 1820, James II's son, George built the tram way to carry granite quarried from Haytor down to the canal for export. During the 1850s the granite quarries became uneconomic, and the tramway fell into disuse. The 18mile Templer Way follows the route of the tramway and then the canal from Haytor to Teignmouth. You can still see sections of the granite tramway today. We enjoyed the walk over from Haytor to Howell Tor, and climbed up the rocks when we arrived.We then turned south to head for:
Saddle Tor with Lottie
This was a slightly longer walk than the one from Haytor, and we also had to cross a stream and a few marshy patches. 
While my feet remained dry in my walking boots, Rach was only wearing canvas walking trainers, and Zack managed to step into a puddle that came up over his wellies. There were, consequently, wet feet all around. Where the ground was dry, we found ourselves having to walk through prickly gorse and heather. While I am always up for walking 'off-path' I think everyone else decided that all future walks would need to stick to the main paths...
When we arrived at Saddle Tor (428m) we climbed up to the top.
The views were, again, fantastic, but also meant we could see the large, black cloud approaching at high speed. We had just decided to stop and boil some water for a hot chocolate, and thought we might have enough time to do that before the heaven's opened. We were wrong. The gas canister decided to loose pressure, and the water took rather a long time to boil (in fact we ended up not waiting, and drinking 'luke-warm chocolate' ...yum...) the cloud arrived and deposited a blizzard of snow. We managed to huddle together in the shelter of the rocks. By this point we were all getting quite cold, especially those of us with wet feet (Nick, Rach and Zack). It seemed that the 4th Tor was probably not a good idea, and we made a bee-line back to the car. We'd somehow managed to enjoy all weathers, and Nick commented that we'd seen four seasons in one day!
That night we managed to (almost) dry out our footwear, and so on Saturday we braved Dartmoor again for:
While my feet remained dry in my walking boots, Rach was only wearing canvas walking trainers, and Zack managed to step into a puddle that came up over his wellies. There were, consequently, wet feet all around. Where the ground was dry, we found ourselves having to walk through prickly gorse and heather. While I am always up for walking 'off-path' I think everyone else decided that all future walks would need to stick to the main paths...When we arrived at Saddle Tor (428m) we climbed up to the top.
The views were, again, fantastic, but also meant we could see the large, black cloud approaching at high speed. We had just decided to stop and boil some water for a hot chocolate, and thought we might have enough time to do that before the heaven's opened. We were wrong. The gas canister decided to loose pressure, and the water took rather a long time to boil (in fact we ended up not waiting, and drinking 'luke-warm chocolate' ...yum...) the cloud arrived and deposited a blizzard of snow. We managed to huddle together in the shelter of the rocks. By this point we were all getting quite cold, especially those of us with wet feet (Nick, Rach and Zack). It seemed that the 4th Tor was probably not a good idea, and we made a bee-line back to the car. We'd somehow managed to enjoy all weathers, and Nick commented that we'd seen four seasons in one day!
That night we managed to (almost) dry out our footwear, and so on Saturday we braved Dartmoor again for:
Hameldown Tor with Mel
We parked the cars in a very small car park and first headed up Hookney Tor (497m). From the top you get a great view of the Bronze-Age settlement of Grimspound. 
If you are interested in archeology and history, then it's well worth following the above link, as there is a wealth of information about the settlement. Essentially, Grimspound consists of a collection of 24 huts (or the remains of them) surrounded by a wall, enclosing the village. No-one knows for sure why the wall is there, it may have been for defensive purposes, or more likely to contain the livestock. We walked down and through the enclosure, checking out the hut circles before heading on up to Hameldown Tor (529m). 
We were blessed with some great views. Looking North West we could see clouds gathering over the higher points of Dartmoor, and the land was covered with snow. To the South and East we could see across to Haytor (see above) and also out across towards Exeter (East) and the sea (South). The highest point on Hameldown Tor is actually Broad Barrow. This is the largest barrow in the area, and Mel and I trekked through the snow to it with Lottie, going via the Hameldown Cross (remains of) on the way. While on the top of Hameldown Tor, we were on the Two Moors Way , a long distance (102miles) footpath from Ivybridge in the South to Lynmouth in the north. This path links both Dartmoor and Exmoor, crossing both from South to North. We retraced our steps back to the trig point, and then down to Grimspound before making our way back to the car for a much needed cup of tea.
All in all, we thoroughly enjoyed our few days in Devon, both for the company (excellent as always), the food (Mel, your cooking was up to it's usual high standard) and, of course, for the hills, which have been the most Southerly and Westerly ones done so far!
If you are interested in archeology and history, then it's well worth following the above link, as there is a wealth of information about the settlement. Essentially, Grimspound consists of a collection of 24 huts (or the remains of them) surrounded by a wall, enclosing the village. No-one knows for sure why the wall is there, it may have been for defensive purposes, or more likely to contain the livestock. We walked down and through the enclosure, checking out the hut circles before heading on up to Hameldown Tor (529m). 
We were blessed with some great views. Looking North West we could see clouds gathering over the higher points of Dartmoor, and the land was covered with snow. To the South and East we could see across to Haytor (see above) and also out across towards Exeter (East) and the sea (South). The highest point on Hameldown Tor is actually Broad Barrow. This is the largest barrow in the area, and Mel and I trekked through the snow to it with Lottie, going via the Hameldown Cross (remains of) on the way. While on the top of Hameldown Tor, we were on the Two Moors Way , a long distance (102miles) footpath from Ivybridge in the South to Lynmouth in the north. This path links both Dartmoor and Exmoor, crossing both from South to North. We retraced our steps back to the trig point, and then down to Grimspound before making our way back to the car for a much needed cup of tea.
All in all, we thoroughly enjoyed our few days in Devon, both for the company (excellent as always), the food (Mel, your cooking was up to it's usual high standard) and, of course, for the hills, which have been the most Southerly and Westerly ones done so far!
Thanks to you all for a great trip and for helping me with my 15th, 16th, 17th and 18th hills!
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