A varied circuit with one of Dartmoor’s best known prehistoric sites, a scenic ridge and valley tin mine ruins.
It always surprises me on Dartmoor just how remote some of the old prehistoric settlements were. Grimspound lies in a particularly scenic area and a lay by just below it gives easy access these days, but it must have been quite desolate in winter.
It consists of a perimeter wall which was once about 3 m high, enclosing some 4 acres with 24 round houses. Most of these are now little more than round mounds but the large gateway has been rebuilt; we left through this and headed gently up to Hamilton Tor. The view back over the village really gave a good overview of the site. There were plenty of handy flat rocks for our picnic lunch at the Tor.
We carried on along the ridge on an easy path with fine views: Broad Barrow, Single Barrow and Two Barrows, all just little humps in the heather covered moors. The jagged silhouettes of the distant northern tors looked quite dramatic on the other side of the valley.
We skirted some cows at Two Barrows and turned right alongside a wall, heading down to a road. Girolles grew beside the little stream and Simon went foraging. Mealy nosed ponies grazed amongst the bracken.
A right onto the road and a quick left, picking up an amicable sheep on the way, took us to Challacombe Farm where we discovered the world’s friendliest pigs.
The farmer, in the midst of hanging out her washing, told us the smart black and pink Saddlebacks loved a tummy scratch. I think I’d just worked it out for myself by then as one had just sprawled over my feet in abandon. It would be hard to eat something this trusting but apparently they would be ready for the freezer by September.
The ruins of Challacombe medieval village lie just beside the track, solid stoned longhouses where the animals lived to one end and humans to the other.
We wandered on past the farm (water refill tap available) and rested on a stone seat overlooking a marshy pond for a while before heading up and around the hills on a faint old grassy track.
A section of forestry lay on the other side of a small valley. Tin ruins rested amidst the boggy floor and wild strawberries grew in profusion in one old building. Dozing ponies flicked their tails under gnarly trees whilst the foals slept.
Our route lay upwards to Bennet’s Cross, a small squat cross near the Postbridge road. From there we cut across the moor again to Birch Tor, a high rocky outcrop with a fine view.
A final descent took us through Headland Warren Farm and some flighty alpacas, before a trickling stream led back to our parking spot. A herd of Highland cattle grazed nearby – as well as superb scenery, we had certainly met a wide variety of animals on this walk.
NOTES
Walk from 1001 Walks in Britain, Number 45, Devon. 6 miles, 3.15 minutes. Map: Ordnance Survey Explorer Outdoor Leisure 28 Dartmoor
Parking just below Grimspound, grid reference 50°36′47.41″N 03°50′35.21″W
