Dartmoor: 17 March 2007

We awoke to disappointing weather after a week of glorious sunshine. However, undaunted, we set off to Shipley Bridge with a mind to complete a 10.5 mile walk across Dartmoor.

Although Mr BlogWalker had walked in Dartmoor before, this was the first proper Dartmoor adventure for me, and I was very excited. We were joined by our veteran BlogWalker who we had jouneyed down to Plymouth to see for Mothering Sunday (and for her brilliant potatoes).

So, we parked up at Shipley Bridge with most of Devon and set off up a stony path and onto the 'Moors'. We followed a wall for sometime before escaping onto the wilderness. The track took us up to Spurrell's Cross and onto the Tramway which had previously hauled men and materials in trucks to the Red Lake China clay works.

It was cold but bearable on the moors and, for me, it was brilliant to see so much history in such a wild and desolate place.

We followed the tramway alongside boundary stones which marked the line between the parishes of Ugborough and Harford. This led us up to Three Barrows, from where there were fantastic views, and then to the ruins of miners' houses and the disused pit of Leftlake Mires where we had a heartly lunch.

There was then a long stretch following the tramway before we headed off past many ruined buildings. We took a detour to Petre's Cross where we met a man looking concerned about some expected school children. Petre's Cross had lost its arms when peatcutters had taken them to use as a lintel for a fireplace in 1847.

Having admired the cross, we took a track onto a grass tramway which made for a beautiful and easy-going path back down to Shipley Bridge.

In all, a beautiful walk with a lot to see.

The walk was courtesy of Country Walking's Down Your Way series (March 2005: Follow That Tram!).

The Fox Way: Day 2 - 4th March 2007

Rained all day. Not quite all day - for the last ten minutes the skies cleared a little, but for the preceeding six hours and twenty minutes, it rained incessantly. Sometimes heavily and sometimes not quite so heavily, it made the second day of the Fox Way something of a trudge.


We covered the remaining four 'links' from Ripley to Godalming without our international accompaniment, but with our fell-running pacemaker keeping us on our toes when morale dipped. Which was not too often, in fairness - for three soaking wet people, two of them aching considerably from the start, there was very little moaning and we got the job done.


From Ripley through to Shere we covered some familiar ground, passing the Surrey Hills brewery, crossing the North Downs Way and carrying on to Silent Pool. The last time we'd seen it (in the height of summer) there was no water at all, but now (possibly owing to the rain) it was full, in all its "eerie calm" glory (see http://www.mostparanormal.co.uk/html/silent_pool_surrey.html for some nonsense on the origin of the name).





Shere to Bramley was new to us, and would no doubt have been a very pleasant journey in more hospitable weather. Shere looks to be a village with some character, and we will certainly return to spend a little more time nosing around the streets and pubs. The route skirts underneath Blackheath Forest, and from this point you can allegedly see Guildford Cathedral:





- although we could not. Through this section we also got reacquainted with our old friend: ankle-deep oozing mud. This attempt to capture it in motion was not wholly successful, as the camera coped less well with the endless rain than its masters:





The final leg from Bramley to Godalming was a bit of a slog - with tired legs, soaked through and feeling quite cold, every step became an ordeal. Even the cajoles, entreaties and barkings of our Iron Man (who seemed unaffected by the day) couldn't rouse us, and we finished the last couple of miles with dragging feet.


Safely at home in the warm and dry, with a steaming bath and an Indian banquet to look forward to, the cold and the aching and the wet seem very far away.


All in all, an enjoyable and well-thought-out route (http://www.thefoxway.com/). Easily accessible with public transport, and with plenty to keep you interested. Possibly approach it over three days though... And at a drier time of year.
19 miles in 6.5 hours - not bad.

The Fox Way: Day 1 - 3rd March 2007

Well, we had been planning this day for weeks, after we had decided that we needed to get in some multi-day walking trips. We had bought the Fox Way guide, dug out the map and made the lunch. All we had to do was walk 20 miles from Godalming to Ripley. Hmm.

We were to be joined by our fell-running pacer and 2 friends who are also keen walkers. One of them had completed the Camino de Santiago and both of them are incredibly fit. They arrived at 9.00 and we were parked at Godalming Station and on our way by 9.45. The day began bright and sunny and we were all in good spirits.

The path to Wanborough station was incredibly muddy and we were regularly wading through watery mud up to our ankles. However, despite warnings to turn back by other walkers, we perservered and made our way to the station via the beautiful village of Puttenham.

We then had to make our way through Merrist Wood and the golf course to Worplesdon station. The path became even muddier and one of our team did a fantastic slide through the mud and only just stopped herself from a certain drowning by sacrificng her dignity and sitting on her bum. Our spirits dipped a little when it began to rain but, thankfully, it was only a short shower. They were raised again by an exciting sighting of two deer. In fact it was a very wildlife friendly walk: we saw squirrels, rabbits, Aberdeen Angus cows, normal cows and some pigs that apparantly bit!

We stopped at Merrist Wood college and perched on a wall to eat a hearty lunch and share out a very welcome flask of tea. We were entertained by a mad woman asking where the golf course was and was horrifed when we suggested that she walked to it (it was about 2 minutes' away). We also saw a man walking around with a falcon attached to his glove which was slightly unexpected.

It was then a much more pleasant walk back to Ripley, following the River Wey. Although we were all quite tired, we couldn't help but appreciate the warmth of the sun on our back as it sank.

We arrived home tired but pleased with ourselves. We had done the 20 miles in 7 and a half hours, which included a long lunch and very tricky walking conditions.

Tomorrow: only 19 miles. Easy.