Friday Walk - laughter at Laughter Tor and Bellever at last!

I finally reached the top of Bellever Tor (443 metres)

On Thursday we parked in Bellever Forest car park to walk to Bellever Tor. The Curate assured me we needed to go through the village before parking the car and I trusted him - after all - who had a GPS for Christmas?  So we followed the path through the trees and out though the gate onto the moor. It was a glorious afternoon and  the dogs were enjoying the snow. We climbed higher and only stopped to take in the view and there behind us was.......

Bellever Tor! Whoops! We were climbing the wrong tor! Someone had left their GPS behind. The only time we had needed it because of the tall trees, it was sitting on our kitchen table. 

We climbed on and enjoyed wonderful views of the tor we were meant to be on and wonderful views of the snow sprinkled countryside.

When we got home we discovered that the tor we climbed was called Laughter Tor - which was very appropriate.                                                                  If we hadn't climbed this tor, we wouldn't have seen some amazingly clear icicles and some tremendous views from laughter Tor. 

Having failed several times before, we knew we had to make a fifth attempt to climb Bellever Tor

So today, we parked in a different forest car park. We walked through the forest of Christmas trees and I hoped The Curate knew where he was going this time. It is very easy to lose your sense of direction among rows of tall trees.

When we reached the edge of the plantation, our elusive tor came into view. Having attempted to reach this tor from various directions and in various weather conditions and failed, we were glad of the most perfect day we could wish for. It was clear, crisp and bright - superb walking weather!
We didn't actually have much of a walk because the path was  so well trodden. This is a very popular tor and we had it all to ourselves. (We must be the only people to fail to find the right path.)

The Dartmoor ponies led the way.

Do we really have to go up there?

This is an enclosed area for breeding the native Dartmoor pony. There were plenty of ponies for us to see. This one was breaking the ice with her hoof to get to the water underneath. She wasn't bothered by dogs or The Curate and I.

And we all enjoyed the view from the top.














 
What better place for contemplation.........and sermon writing!













 

Roll on the snow - our sledges are waiting!

Could this be The Beast Of Dartmoor?

What a wonderful world!

Day break

An autism training course in Exeter, gave me the opportunity for a wonderful drive across Dartmoor.

Exeter Cathedral

Eclectic mix: -  Exeter Cathedral, Occupy camp, Richard Hooker, Japanese tourist

Old tin workings

No 'proper' snow on Dartmoor...yet.

 

We went looking for snow this morning. The weatherman had suggested that snow might fall on the higher moor so, as it was our day off, we went to see if it had. The skies certainly looked threatening enough for snow as we drove up towards Princetown. When the sun cut through the dense cloud, the countryside was startlingly vibrant with the light reflecting off the sodden ground and wet rock faces.

We had to get quite high before we saw some distant snow. Dartmoor prison in Princetown, looked bleaker than ever with its dusting of snow.

 

Even North Hessary TV mast, which stands above Princetown (1673 ft above sea level), didn't have much snow.

 

No snow here, just a covering of icy hail stones.

 

Then we saw the hail showers coming towards us, so dense that the bright sunlight was blotted out. The hail stones were flung with such force in the wind, that they stung any exposed skin.

 

Time to retreat to the car and head home. We were a little too keen to try out the sledges that had  been delivered in the post this morning. They would have to stay in the back of the car for another day.