Sunday 30th August 2020
At the start of this day I got out of my tent to gorgeous blue skies and cold northerly winds. I had camped near the top of the East Dart River, right in the middle of nowhere and with no sign of civilisation anywhere. After having my breakfast I crossed the river and battled through long tussocky grass as I slowly climbed the slopes of Black Hill veering south to the col with Cut Hill with the aim of reaching the top. Cut Hill is the joint third highest hill in Dartmoor after Yes Tor and High Willhays and is the same height as Hangingstone Hill, all of which I had visited the day before. After a boggy traverse I found a neat pile of stones at the summit with an animal skull perched on top. There are no outcrops on Cut Hill, but a short distance west is Fur Tor, which is littered with rocks, so as if they were drawing me on I headed in that direction passing a line of red and white posts that mark the boundary between Merrivale Range and Okehampton Range. Fortunately the firing ranges were not active at this time so I was safely able to cross the hillside and reach these impressive rocks. I had seen them the day before as I descended into the valley and was keen to make a closer acquaintance.
At the start of this day I got out of my tent to gorgeous blue skies and cold northerly winds. I had camped near the top of the East Dart River, right in the middle of nowhere and with no sign of civilisation anywhere. After having my breakfast I crossed the river and battled through long tussocky grass as I slowly climbed the slopes of Black Hill veering south to the col with Cut Hill with the aim of reaching the top. Cut Hill is the joint third highest hill in Dartmoor after Yes Tor and High Willhays and is the same height as Hangingstone Hill, all of which I had visited the day before. After a boggy traverse I found a neat pile of stones at the summit with an animal skull perched on top. There are no outcrops on Cut Hill, but a short distance west is Fur Tor, which is littered with rocks, so as if they were drawing me on I headed in that direction passing a line of red and white posts that mark the boundary between Merrivale Range and Okehampton Range. Fortunately the firing ranges were not active at this time so I was safely able to cross the hillside and reach these impressive rocks. I had seen them the day before as I descended into the valley and was keen to make a closer acquaintance.
The rocks at the top of Fur Tor are immense and it was really difficult to find a way up to the highest point, but despite this I circled around until I found a spot where I thought I could make an ascent and finally succeeded. Feeling pleased with myself I looked around at the tremendous views in the sunny weather and decided my next target would be the rather distant Hare Tor, which was the other side of the River Tavy. First, I needed to negotiate the complex array of rocks that defends Fur Tor before crossing boggy ground as I slowly descended into the valley to the meeting point of Amicombe Brook and Fur Tor Brook where the map indicates is Sandy Ford. However, I could not see an easy crossing of the river so it was only with difficult that I eventually managed to get across and followed the north shore passing through a mix of good, firm ground and more boggy ground to veer into the side valley of Rattle Brook.
Crossing the stream I found a trace of a path and some heather that was flowering delightfully, but it is a shame the plant is not more widespread across Dartmoor. Slowly I climbed up the hill to reach Hare Tor where I could see extensive views across the countryside to the west of Dartmoor and Sharp Tor followed soon after passing around some cattle and visiting an ancient cairn on the way. After having my lunch I ignored the large collection of rocks on Great Links Tor and instead followed almost non-existent paths over Rattlebrook Hill passing Chat Tor and across boggy ground to Higher and Lower Dunna Goat, which are also rock outcrops. Not far from there is Green Tor and the ruins of Bleak House, which must have been an amazing place with an awesome setting amongst the hills and tors. Turning my back on it I finally made my way across to Great Links Tor, which is the next highest hill in Dartmoor after Cut Hill and to celebrate I climbed to the top as I had done on all the previous hills on this walk, however once I had got to the top I saw there was another large rock tor across a gap and this was inaccessible. On the far side of that, perched on a low shelf, is a trig point, and if that is good enough for the Ordnance Survey it is good enough for me.
I visited this hill in 2007 in considerably worse weather, but despite a few clouds at lunch the good weather had continued so I made my way down to Little Links Tor, which I found to be easily accessible and soon climbed to the top. Turning around I crossed the slopes of Great Links Tor to reach a clear track that I had used in ascent in 2007 to take me gradually back down the hill. I assume this clear track was originally a tramway to serve the mine at the top of Rattle Brook and provided me with an easy descent before branching off to reach the trig point at the top of Sourton Tors. Returning to the track I started trying to find my way back to the village of Belstone where I had left my car, though this would require several hours of walking across the northern slopes of the Dartmoor upland, but initially I had to descend into the valley of the West Okement River. When I reached the bottom of the deep valley I found a delightful place with wooded surroundings such as are not found in the vast, open Dartmoor so was more appreciated than would usually be.
I visited this hill in 2007 in considerably worse weather, but despite a few clouds at lunch the good weather had continued so I made my way down to Little Links Tor, which I found to be easily accessible and soon climbed to the top. Turning around I crossed the slopes of Great Links Tor to reach a clear track that I had used in ascent in 2007 to take me gradually back down the hill. I assume this clear track was originally a tramway to serve the mine at the top of Rattle Brook and provided me with an easy descent before branching off to reach the trig point at the top of Sourton Tors. Returning to the track I started trying to find my way back to the village of Belstone where I had left my car, though this would require several hours of walking across the northern slopes of the Dartmoor upland, but initially I had to descend into the valley of the West Okement River. When I reached the bottom of the deep valley I found a delightful place with wooded surroundings such as are not found in the vast, open Dartmoor so was more appreciated than would usually be.
Unfortunately I then needed to climb steeply back out of the valley, though with good views across Meldon Reservoir below, and soon I had no path to follow as I passed over Homerton Hill and up Longstone Hill. With military tracks now appearing I was able to follow these over Black Down, which greatly eased my walking as I passed below Yes Tor and the other peaks I had climbed the day before until eventually I returned to Belstone. This was a great, epic walk around the hills in the north-west corner of Dartmoor and was really satisfying as I took in many of the rocky tors in the area. On my previous visits I hadn’t enjoyed good weather, particularly in 2007, but now I was benefiting from some awesome weather and the walk was consequently blessed.
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