A taste of freedom

We realised that it has been over 3 months since any of us have been out on a non-essential journey.

I don't know if anyone else has been enduring incessant sibling bickering lately, but it's been quite a regular occurrence here. To be fair, all things considered,  they've gotten along fairly well quite a lot too. And I suppose anyone would get bored of the same playmate for 3 months. However, it has always been the case that when we take them out they generally  not only get along, but also secretly  quite enjoy themselves. Despite the normal battles of getting them to go in the first place. There wasn't a battle this time, I think they were as keen for this trip as we were.

So, we packed up some food and drinks, they took their little rucksacks filled with the necessities like (toy) daggers and crayons, and off we went. Our brief:  We want to climb rocks on Dartmoor. We headed for Blackingstone Rock first, near Moretonhampstead and Bridford, we hadn't been there before.  OS Grid map ref: SX 786855.

We wound steadily along the narrow country lanes, lined with overgrown Devon hedges, to the small free car park, a short walk along a lane, from the start of the footpath.  The footpath provides a flattish, grassy walk to the base of the rock.  The tor itself is 24m high and is 345m above sea level.  The granite contains large crystals of the mineral Feldspar.  Nearby is Blackenstone Quarry, the last operational granite quarry on Dartmoor, the granite was used in the initial construction of nearby Castle Drogo, and is still being used today.  

The steps up onto the rock (constructed around 1870) are pretty impressive and the view from the top is spectacular, with Heltor Rock just over 1km away (NE), the easternmost tor on Dartmoor, and Haytor to the South West.  

Panorama from Blackingstone Rock

A short drive away are the Kennick, Trenchford and Tottiford Reservoirs.  Tottiford is Dartmoor's oldest reservoir, and hides prehistoric stone rows, burial cairns and a stone circle, measuring 27m in diameter (discovered in Autumn 2009).  Some finely worked flint tools were also found, dating back to mesolithic times, about 8000 years ago.  Tottiford was constructed in 1861 (Kennick in 1881 and Trenchford in 1903), enclosed by earthen embankments with core walls of clay puddle carried across natural valleys.  They were built to supply Torbay with water and between them they hold 2156m litres of water (474m gallons).  The reservoirs are also popular for anglers, with Rainbow trout in Kennick, carp in Tottiford and pike in Trenchford.  Owned and managed by South West Lakes Trust, there is a car park with toilets, the charge is £2 for 2 hours and £4 for the whole day, coins are required.

We went on a circular walk around Tottiford, exploring through the forest.  The shores of all the reservoirs are lined with Rhododendrons, and the grassy banks look groomed.  

Tottiford was very low and we spotted a goose and a heron by the stream running through.  

After our walk we went down to the dam for our picnic, watching a duck teach her 11 ducklings to swim.