Yes Tor and Hangingstone Hill

Saturday 29th August 2020

I plan my walks a long way in advance so in March this year I already had plans to go to the Cairngorms at the end of May and to spend two weeks in the Lake District at the end of August while all my accommodation and trains were booked for a week at Easter in Scotland walking from the Trossachs through Glasgow to the Falls of Clyde. However, these plans all fell apart as a result of the global pandemic that forced me to stay at home and once I was able to go for walks I was unable to go any further than day walks in the Peak District. Youth Hostels have opened only for private rooms which makes it prohibitively expensive for someone on their own. Eventually I realised my only realistic option was to camp and that was when the idea of going to Dartmoor came to my mind. Although wild camping is legal without permission throughout Scotland the only place in England where this is possible is in Dartmoor, but I had never taken advantage of this before and I had not even been to Dartmoor since 2008. After a frustrating delay, partly thanks to poor weather, I eventually left the East Midlands for the first time this year and drove to the West Country stopping in the village of Belstone near the northern edge of Dartmoor where I, luckily, managed to find a space in the packed car park.

The bank holiday weekend and good weather had drawn many people to the area, although a brisk, cold wind made the day’s walking more bracing than it could have been. Setting off through the village and up Watchett Hill I stayed on the track for some relatively easy walking rather heading through rocky ground towards Belstone Tor. Initially, I was walking through pleasant scenery beside heather and gorse, both in flower, but after crossing the East Oakmount River the terrain deteriorated into dreary grass, typical of Dartmoor, as I followed the maze of tracks eventually coming off to reach the top of Rowtor and, after that, West Mill Tor, which I had, hopefully, thought was Yes Tor, but once I was there it was obvious that Yes Tor was the next hill so I continued my slog along the northern edge of Dartmoor until, finally, I reached the prominent peak of Yes Tor. The views north throughout this traverse had been stunning thanks to the good weather which had also brought many other people out, including those who had driven their cars as far as they could go up onto the moor, which doesn’t seem right to me, though there was limited parking lower down and I had been lucky to have found a parking space in Belstone.

The top of Yes Tor was very windy, but it had been even worse when I first climbed Yes Tor in 2007, though the weather was better the following year when I climbed Yes Tor at the start of a traverse of Dartmoor. I have always climbed Yes Tor when in Dartmoor, partly because it is so prominent, but mainly because it is right next to the highest point, High Willhays, and used to be considered the highest point itself. High Willhays is a short walk across a wide ridge and the highest point is at the southern end of the ridge so I made my way along the ridge passing the fine cairn that marks the summit. There are no tracks south of High Willhays, but I could see a faint path through the grass heading towards the small Dinger Tor where I found a track that heads back north. As the weather deteriorated with overcast skies I followed this track until I reached a junction where I turned right as I resolutely followed these tracks rather than heading straight across the tussocky grass as I had done in 2008. Much of the northern part of Dartmoor is a live firing range and these tracks owe their existence to the army, who were not using the range in August so I was easily able to make my way to Okement Hill.

Continuing along the track I crossed the young River Taw and up to the top of Hangingstone Hill where the track finally reduced to a path. As I neared the top I realised I had been repeating my route of 2008 without deliberately doing so, probably because I didn’t really have a destination in mind and was just blindly heading south. The map indicates a path on Hangingstone Hill goes around the boggy top so I followed this rather than heading straight across as I had done in 2008 and this was better ending with a climb up a peat pass to a memorial stone on the southern top. I was so pleased at spotting this I tried to locate another one, marked on the map, further south on Whitehorse Hill, but despite repeated searching I was unable to find it. All I had achieved was losing the path and leaving me in the middle of a tussocky, boggy plain with no idea where I was going. As it was now late in the afternoon I drifted into the valley of the young East Dart River where I found a place to camp not far from the remains of the first tinner’s hut in the valley. With the weather clearing once more I had a lovely evening on my own, miles from anyone else surrounded by the vast open moor beside the stream.

The appeal of Dartmoor is the rocky tors that sit upon the peaks and the best walking involves exploring these tors if you can avoid the bogs. The main problem with this walk was that I had nothing really planned before I started, except a starting point, so I had wandered aimlessly around and went up Yes Tor simply because that is where I always go. However, it was enough for me to finally be able to get away and go on holiday with the actual walk being less important than the satisfaction of being out there.

The Eastern Edges of the Peak District

Monday 24th August 2020

For my holiday at the end of August I had planned to head off to the West Country, but events intervened and I had to stay at home, but at the beginning of the week the weather was so good I couldn’t stay indoors and drove up to the Peak District parking at the Curbar Gap car park. I have used this car park several times in the past including on my first walking holiday back in 1998 and on this occasion set off onto Big Moor walking along a path beside the rather shallow White Edge. I walked along White Edge in 1998 and again in 2004 on a walk that I have never written up and I don’t have any pictures so all I’ve got is my vague memory, though I seem to recall I had a young lady with me, but those days are long gone! The weather on this walk was fantastic, however there was a stiff, cold breeze at first that had prompted me to put on my cagoule, but it wasn’t long before this came off. It was lovely walking in the sunny weather beside the rocky edge with a gently descending terrain to my left and the purple flowers of the heather moor to my right.

Passing the 365 metre trig point I continued along White Edge until I reached a road junction where I crossed over and entered the National Trust’s Longshaw Estate under a continuation of the rocky edge following a wide track towards Longshaw Lodge. These edges run along the whole eastern side of the Peak District with the River Derwent to the west and open moorland eastwards, and I was following them north on a walk similar to the one I took in 2004. From my vantage point on this track I had great views down the Derwent Valley with the two peaks of Win Hill and Lose Hill clearly to be seen and Kinder Scout behind them in the distance as I remembered the walks that I had done just a couple of weeks earlier. Where the track enters a wood I veered off around the visitor centre to avoid the crowds and walk along the edge of the wood before finally entering to take a course not far from a main road. Eventually crossing the road I took a path that climbs onto another rocky edge heading towards Burbage Rocks on a great path that was fun to ascend as any rocky path is and always immensely enjoyable.

With great views across the valley of Burbage Brook and towards the rocks on Carl Wark I made my way around a sharp turn in the path and across a depression to climb up to Burbage Rocks with the vast Burbage Moor to my right. Finally I reached the road at Upper Burbage Bridge where my friend and I had started our walk in 2004 having driven over from Sheffield. Instead of turning south to copy that walk my eye had been attracted to the rocks at the southern end of Stanage Edge, which I thought would make a good place to have lunch, so I headed across the moor up to the rocks and stopped near the trig point on the unnamed 457 metre top. The highest point on Stanage Edge, High Neb, is almost as high at 458 metres, so perhaps you could call this South Neb or Low Neb? I had my lunch there gazing out over the stunning scenery before setting off across the moor, over a couple of roads before climbing to the top of Higger Tor where the crowds were immense. There had been loads of people all day brought out by the good weather, but now they seemed to have grown to overwhelming numbers that detracted from the enjoyment of the walk.

Doing my best to avoid everyone and keep a distance I came down off Higger Tor and made my way across to Carl Wark and then to Toad’s Mouth, whatever that is, and down to Burbage Brook. Walking along the path beside the stream was really tricky as it was packed with people, mostly families enjoying the weather. As the terrain steepened the stream drops through the stunning Padley Gorge and the woodland scenery became quite spectacular. Some of my colleagues from work had found a website that listed the ten best walks in the Peak District and Padley Gorge was number one even though I had never heard of it let alone walked through it before. Unfortunately there were too many people around for me to appreciate the surroundings and the path doesn’t afford any good views up the darkly wooded gorge. Eventually I crossed the Burbage Brook and climbed up into Yanncliff Wood heading south through Hay Wood on a path that couldn’t compete with the open vistas of the eastern edges, but at least I was now away from the crowds. After crossing a main road I took a path that climbs up towards Froggatt Edge and now my fun could start again.

There is stunning walking along this edge that I have visited many times in the past including that first walking holiday in 1998 and I enjoy it every time keeping to the rocks along Curbar Edge as I slowly made my way south taking many pictures as I went until eventually I reached the car park at Curbar Gap. This was a fabulous walk with stunning weather and was really enjoyable especially when climbing on a rocky path. It was disappointing that I was unable to do the originally planned holiday, but I hoped that I would eventually be able to get away and until then this was great compensation as I enjoyed some great weather and some of the best walking that the Peak District has to offer.