Down beside
Bone Hill heading west into Widdecombe a steep narrow lane is entered between
two granite posts and bounded each side by boulders and a brook.
The hill on
the other side of the valley is a little steeper with few passing places for
oncoming traffic. I carry on by skirting
Hammel Down up past Grimspound. Along the way one farm notice warns of “lambs
on the road” . Expect the unexpected hazard, ponies wandering free, horses,
dogs, sheep and cattle. It’s time to stop
for a pint of Tribute Ale at the Warren House Inn before retracing my steps.
A few years
ago there were numerous derelict granite farmsteads around here, forlorn and forgotten
but today most have been renovated, acquired by the second home set and often seen are their four wheel drive Porsche Cayennes in metallic anthracite and
Landrover Freelanders in Santorini Metallic Black. They vie with supercharged air
conditioned tourist coaches deep into sleepy Devon.
At the
Warren house Inn many different accents may be heard beside the smouldering log
fire, kept burning all year round. Bristolian and Norfolk are my favourites but
in these parts one is just as likely to hear Australian. Time to down that pint.
Bridges
found on Dartmoor are often narrow and single track, some are set beside
narrower sister versions as is the case at Two bridges, Merrivale,
Postbridge and Dartmeet. Some are hard
to find and lost to view in woodland, others unavoidable and crossed by traffic
every day.
One of my
favourites is Huckaby over the Dart at Holn.
Another is a little hidden away bridge between Manaton and Bowermans Nose
preceded by a farm gate which must be opened and then closed behind you on
foot, unless your passenger will do the honours.
Almost
always set at the bottom of steep valleys and approached by a sharp bend. The
ancient routes on Dartmoor originate from footpaths, trackways and droveways.
The clapper bridge shown here is made of slabs of granite on rough shaped piers
that serve today as milestones to the past. Maps (2) - Pin-pointing these locations:
Now into the fifth week of hard labor on vital upgrades to our buy to let and about half way to completion.
Damp treatment started today, walls 90% re-plastered, Bathroom and kitchen about to be re-fitted.
After twelve years of ownership the fabric is fully investigated and found in need of much work beneath years of casual attention.
Encouraged by William and Sophia we are getting to grips at last.
Devon has several hills such as Wiscombe Speed Hill climb where the eager speeder can burn rubber. Cornwall has blue hills for the trials enthusiasts.
More appealing to me are the open roads closer to home, some steep, some quite narrow, some between high hedgerows, and others across the open moors.
Today I took the Mog up one such shady climb known as Blackbird Hill. Watch the video here, breath in on the narrow sections; hold tight around the corners, hazards include farm vehicles, cycles, and fallow deer that sometimes dash across the path.
Each month or so Helen and me visit Topsham to check progress of the renovation of Thames barge Vigilant. At least I do the checking while Helen wanders through a few of the nearby charity shops.
Looking through enormous gaping holes in the timbers of this historic vessel it seems a hopeless task to get her seaworthy again and yet it was towed here down the channel from the east coast and onto the mud of the Exe Estuary at Topsham by the shipwrights and rescuers of the barge.
On the mud berth waiting re-birth
Chaos on deck
And on the dockside are several classic yachts in much better shape
Three each en-route to the Falmouth Tall ships event to be held in August
A welcome break from our buy to let renovation permits a visit to the Brixham fish market to stock up the freezer. Filleted Place at £2 each makes the trip worthwhile but congestion slows the journey to one hour each way. Major works at the Kingskerswell by-pass. Brixham is not yet at its busiest but plenty of activity at the harbourside. The trawler Vigilance is being worked on. A gull snatched an ice cream cornet from a gent by the harbour-side that was consumed by a ravenous mob of gulls in seconds.
Amid the rusting fishing gear high and dry atop the sea wall are several small fishing boats and engine parts, oil barrels and baulks of timber. Lost within the clutter is a nut brown lady vagrant sunning herself - she is part of the harbour scene and chooses to watch the world go by, bare footed and unnoticed, camouflaged in her rust colored ragged clothes. Feeling embarrassed at first seeing her toes, then her foot and the reclining torso I suppose no more than one in a hundred passers-by become aware of her presence.
Here we are several months later for another plate of cod and chips. A force 7 westerly gale is blowing that is keeping many trawlers in the harbour this Saturday afternoon.
