Walk With Me: Wild Camping On The Moors, Standing Stones & Stone Ro...

Back On The Moors

So today I'm back on the moors for a couple of nights, heading to some different locations and snapping pictures as I go. But first let's take a look at the river I photographed last time and observe what a difference a drop of rain can make. So the first picture was taken on a previous trip.

And below is taken after a summer rainstorm. When you come down here after a winters storm it's nothing short of frightening, the river sounding like an express train roaring through the valley.

Anyway, it's time to head off across the moors and on towards pastures new.

So we arrive at my first destination, hidden in a remote and isolated corner of the moor is the house (and backdrop) that was used in the film war horse.

I love all the crumbling doorways and passageways that are hidden around this old farm.

The Door To Nowhere .. although the actual house was built at a later date, some of the walls and doorways (including this one) date back to the 1400's.

So its time to leave the house and take a walk further into the moor, searching for ancient standing stones and stone rows.

These stone rows are pretty spectacular and unlike Stone Henge you usually have them all to yourself, allowing you to soak up the atmosphere and ingenuity of their construct. Indeed when you climb up on the top of the hill and look back, you can see how the rows could (potentially) have been used as some form of calender .. measuring the movement of the sun and seasons. The picture below is the only one that isn't mine, but it was taken on a better day and thus captures one of the rows in a better light.

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This one is my favourite and it stands shy of 5 meters tall, the whole area simply oozes atmosphere and history and it never fails to inspire the imagination.

So one last look back at the stones and it's time to continue our walk.

But first lets take a stop at the river so Echo can take a drink.

And on we press towards the tor at the top of the hill and onwards towards a room with a view, well a wall anyway.

So after a long day on the moor my next days objective was hike that linked several tors and led me into the writhing, contorted sea of trees that is the legendary Wistmans wood.

These windswept, gnarled woods are linked to numerous legends and ghost stories. Indeed, it's said to be the most haunted place on Dartmoor, which for these moors and their wealth of stories (both old and new) is quite some feat.

Maybe its just my imagination but as I wind my way through this knotted mass of trees it begins to feel as though I'm being watched.

The way all the ferns and mosses have woven themselves into the trees is beautifully captivating.

These ancient woods are unique in that they are one the only surviving woodlands to be found on the high moor. Legend tells that that Wistman was a sacred druid grove and within these trees they held pagan rituals.

It's said that at night the denizens of the "wood of the wisemen" (wistmans wood) search for human souls. The wood is also said to be the kennels of the devils own ‘Wisht Hounds‘, huge black dogs with blood red eyes and drooling yellow fangs. On dark and misty nights travellers have reported hearing the hounds howling and baying for human flesh, it's no mistake that Sir Arthur Conan Doyle set his Hound of the Baskervilles story on these moors.

Sometimes the ghost of "Jumbo" can be seen scurrying between the trees and boulders (Jumbo was a small terrier that died in the woods). At night and as he continues his perpetual search for his master, the poor dogs cries are said to echo through the valley. Can you see a face in the trees below?

At the northern edge of the wood you will find the ancient Lych Way or ‘Way of the Dead’. It was along this track that corpses were carried for burial at Lydford village. Over the years there have been many reports relating to a silent procession of ghostly men dressed in white monk habits. The old mans beard certainly gives the woods a beautifully haunted look.