Dartmoor, Devon, England - Wild, Wonderful and Mysterious

Taking in the view 

In my imagination Dartmoor was a hostile, unwelcoming and, at times, spooky place. I had read Arthur Conan Doyle's chilling Sherlock Holmes novel, The Hound of the Baskervilles, and various other accounts of how bleak and inhospitable it was, so naturally that was what I expected. As luck would have it it was a glorious, hot, summer's day when I travelled through Dartmoor recently and the sweeping, vast landscapes looked anything but inhospitable.  

Located in county Devon, England and  covering 368 sq miles (954 sq kms) Dartmoor is a treasure trove of history and nature. There is everything for the nature lover from forest, farmland and heather clad open moors to wild flower meadows. For the history buff there are stone cists, burial cairns and hut circles. Also industrial ruins of tin mines, quarries and even the remains of a 19th century gunpowder factory.

Sheep up on the gorse and heather clad moors

The spectacular landscape was formed 300 million years ago by movement within the earth which forced granite up to the earth's surface creating granite tors, the tallest being over 2039 feet (621 metres) above sea level.  Human beings settled in the area around 4000 years ago and built villages, farmed cattle and sheep and mined tin. Today Dartmoor is a National Park, with a few tiny villages, farms and walking and cycling tracks popular with trampers and cyclists.  

Above and below:  Highland cattle and wild Dartmoor ponies

High up on the moors we stopped for a while to admire the expansive views out over the countryside and spend a bit of time with the wild life.  I was particularly delighted to get up close to Highland cattle (aka hairy coos), and the tame sheep.  The wild ponies were a bit more circumspect but were close enough for us to get photos, albeit not very good ones.

    

We drove past the infamous Dartmoor prison built originally to house French captives from the Napoleonic wars and known to have a harsh regimen for most of its 200 years.  Today the prison houses medium level offenders and proudly focuses on rehabilitation and counselling, however, if you want to learn about grim prison life here in times gone by there is now a very popular Dartmoor Prison Museum.

Post Office and General Store, Postbridge

 In the heart of Dartmoor is the tiny village of Postbridge where we stopped to admire the adjoining two bridges. The ancient Clapper Bridge was built around the 13th century in order to get horses and carts across the river.  It is a simple construction of granite pillars topped by huge granite slabs.  The word clapper comes from an Anglo Saxon word meaning stepping stones. 

The Clapper Bridge, Postbridge

Close to the Clapper Bridge is the Road Bridge (c1792) which carries modern traffic. There are many myths and legends around the Road Bridge the most famous being the ghost story called 'Hairy Hands'.  The story goes that numerous accidents have occurred caused by mysterious hairy hands coming from nowhere, grabbing steering wheels and causing cars to veer off the road.   They are colourful stories but investigations found that the accidents were most likely caused by motorists driving too quickly on the unfamiliar road and that the camber of the road was dangerous.  The camber has since been corrected. 

The Road Bridge

Our final stop on Dartmoor was at the serene and beautiful Burrator Reservoir (1898), its lush vegetation and expanse of water a contrast to the high moorland.  Water level in the reservoir was low due to a long hot summer.

Dartmoor was in some ways what I had imagined but due to perfect weather not the forbidding place I had expected it to be.  I am certain that a long, cold, wet winter on the moors would be an entirely different matter. It's a wonderful place and I can see why it is so popular with trampers and cyclists having a bit of everything - history, nature, interesting geography, tiny villages and wild life.

 www.dartmoor-prison.co.uk

You will get a good feel for Dartmoor by watching this short video by National Parks