Dartmoor Walks - Over Hamel Down
I once did the following hike with the CEO of Dartmoor National Park Authority, Dr Kevin Bishop. The one-way route began at Widecombe-in-the-Moor, a place once made famous by a well known song. When I was young everyone knew Uncle Tom Cobley and All, but it seems the youth of today are no longer aware of Tom Pearce’s unfortunate grey mare which was expected to carry Bill Brewer, Jan Stewer, Peter Gurney, Peter Davy, Dan'l Whiddon, Harry Hawk - along with Old Uncle Tom Cobley and all - to Widecombe’s annual fair.
All along, down along, out along, lee... That is where they travelled before the Mr Pearce’s hapless mare “took sick and died”.
This walk retraces their journey, but taking us away from Widecombe, rather than towards it...
Kevin Bishop had invited me on the hike so I could learn about the modern challenges facing a national park. Our walk took us from the hills above Widecombe, north all the way to Grimspound, around Headland Warren to the Warren Inn, then south around Soussons Down to eventually terminate at Postbridge.
It wasn’t a circular route, but you could easily make it so if you were to swing left near Soussons Farm and head east to eventually cross Blackaton Down.
If you start at Widecombe - like so many lowland farmers who would have been heading away from the fair all those years ago, herding cattle or sheep in front of them - you’ll take the route we followed up over a ridge called Kingshead which looms north west of the village.
Take the Wooder-Natsworthy lane out of the heart of the picturesque community, then turn left up the track that ascends to the farmstead at Kingshead, and you will be on the right road. This takes you up to the wide empty acres of Hamel Down, which is crossed north-to-south by the Two Moors Way.
It’s this track that we follow, climbing all the while, until we reach the great curving summit crowned by the beacon. This wild place might seem like an odd place in which to find relics of war, but traces of WW2 are there in the form of a few wooden posts and a commemoration stone. The poles are what remain of a huge number planted here by local defence forces in the early 1940s when it was feared the down would make it an ideal landing place for enemy gliders.
Our route eventually descends north-west past Hameldown Tor to the remains of the ancient settlement at Grimspound. From there we skirted Hookney Tor to pass Headland Warren Farm and cross west over the hillside that gave the place its name.
As you walk west over the hill and into the valley under Birch Tor, more and more ruins and workings become evident. In the 19th Century there were any number of tin mines up here 1,400 feet above sea level - the two main workings being at Birch Tor and Vitifer Mines.
There's not much left now, but there are some walled enclosures built by the mining community for rabbiting and vegetable growing which are said to be set out in the shape of playing card symbols, known as Jan Reynold’s Cards. Legend has it that Reynolds was carried off by the Devil for gambling in Widecombe Church - and passing this lonesome corner he dropped his cards, which turned to stone.
We were heading for lunch at the Warren House Inn which was the hub of the remote mining community. Not only was extracting tin from these hills dark, damp and dangerous, it was also unhealthy because the men were wet-through from morning, noon 'til night.
Kevin Bishop, CEO of Dartmoor National Park Authority, and a colleague on Hamel Down
There's no actual record of deaths in the mines - although there was one lucky escape… It happened when men working one of the deepest tunnels were concerned about water backing up somewhere in the rock. They came up for their morning snack, and no sooner had they done so the wall burst under the weight of the flood. Had they still been below, they would have drowned.
After lunch we returned to the Vitifer Mine valley, but this time headed south downstream to pass what’s left of the Golden Dagger Mine before entering the pine forests that cover Soussons Down. Walking south, our track took us around the contours, past Soussons Farm, to eventually deposit us on the lane at a place called Ephraim’s Pinch.
Warren Inn in the lonely distance
Who Ephraim was, and why he got pinched, I have no idea - but I do know we walked west along the lane, only to leave it again by taking the track that heads directly onwards toward farm at Pizwell.
After this, the farm track took us west again - so that new we were in the low valley created by a young East Dart River. After a mile, close to the grounds of the Lydgate House Hotel, we found a footpath and followed it down to the riverside where it turns upstream to soon reach Postbridge.
This was the end of our 10-mile hike but, as I say, you might prefer to follow a route that takes you back east to Widecombe In The Moor. Whichever option you take, you will have enjoyed a fabulous walk in the very heartland of Dartmoor.