Walk: Dartmoor Days - Paul Michael Photography

Dartmoor is expansive, wild, beautiful, and the perfect location to explore on foot. This 6-mile route is great for those who want to get some orienteering experience and to better understand the workings of the Moor.

It was just before the third COVID-19 lockdown and, thankfully, we managed to get a walk onto the Moors. There had been some snowfall over the previous couple of days, which left lovely wintery scenes all over. I was walking with the family on this occasion.

We parked at Norsworthy bridge, to the east end of Burrator Reservoir. From here we headed out in a SE direction, first along a pathway and then onto the open moor. It was a little slippery on foot, plus there had been a great deal of rainfall over many weeks. This made our way a little more difficult to avoid bogs and marshlands.

Although the walk is around 6 miles, there’s lots of history to see along the way, so prepare for more like 8 miles with stops. We headed out at about 10.30 am and returned to the car at 2.30 pm.

From the map above, where the route changes to a southerly direction and crosses over the river (there is an adit to find at this point), there are stone circles from ancient settlements. When the route veers SW, look for Stone Row, which is the pathway that heads down into Drizzlecombe.

Ditsworthy

Ditsworthy Warren House is at the most southerly point of the walk. Historically, it was built circa the early 17th century for the keeper of the rabbit warren breeding area nearby. You’ll see it boarded up with something of a roof on it today. It appeared in the film, War Horse. For this, it was renovated, at least to the outside, with green window frames and a thatched roof.

I think Dartmoor takes on a much more photogenic presence in winter than in the summer months. This is mostly to do with the low sunlight that gives it a morning/evening feel that would be achieved at 6 am or 8 pm in the summer.