Note that all maps on this site are only indicative. You should
never set out without the correct OS map.
Here's a walk that will take you into
some of the most open wilderness areas in the south west, and yet
the area is less than half a dozen miles from the centre of Plymouth,
the region's biggest city.
Indeed, much of the walk escorts the stream that gives the city
its name. The River Plym rises in the heart-lands of south-western
Dartmoor, and the 3,300 acre Trust-owned property at Trowlesworthy
Warren stretches from the edges of the moorland to the source of
the stream.
Basic hike: From the banks of the Plym near Cadover
Bridge, upriver to Ditsworthy Weir, then along the Lee Moor Leat
to Spanish Lake and up to Great Trowlesworthy Tor - returning via
Trowlesworthy Warren Farm.
Distance and going: three-and-a-half miles, easy
going but maybe boggy in places.
Getting there: take the road from Ivybridge to
Yelverton. Having passed Lee Moor China Clay Works proceed north
along the road to Cadover Bridge.
The area of Dartmoor verging on the
northerly limits of Plymouth is remarkable for its extraordinary
range of stone remains, many dating back some 2,500 years. Stone
rows and circles can be seen, as can the low remains of prehistoric
settlements. But the landscape is not all primeval - at Trowlesworthy
Warren the terrain is covered by the pillow mounds which were once
burrows where rabbits were bred for meat and fur.
The moorland is almost entirely open access land so you can wander
wherever you wish, but this particular route will introduce you
to the wide lonely spaces of Dartmoor and take you up to the Tors
for breathtaking views of Plymouth and the South Devon Coast.
To find the beginning of the walk go to Cadover Bridge on the
moor-hugging road that wends its ways from Ivybridge to Yelverton.
A paved road (not marked on the OS map) appears to run into the
moors and, after following it a few hundred metres, you'll notice
a track that meanders east alongside the Plym. In summer this is
a popular haunt for picnicking Plymouthians.
At a wide space near the bend where the Blacka
Brook stream descends to join the Plym there's plenty of space to
park. The warren rises gently to the west in an almost featureless
plain until it meets Little Trowlesworthy and, further beyond, Great
Trowlesworthy Tors.
Our route follows the track along the Plym towards Trowlesworthy
Warren Farm. After a few hundred metres the track swings right towards
the farm buildings, but we strike off to north and continue following
the river. Soon there's a turn to the east - as you walk along the
side of the stream look out for the extensive pillow mounds just
to the north under Legis Tor. These were man-made warrens which
once dominated the landscape around here.
Rabbits were bred for meat and fur on Southern Dartmoor from Medieval
times up until the 1950's. The banks of stone and soil provided
ideal breeding conditions for the rabbits.
Walkers may also spot 'vermin traps', designed
to catch pests like rats, weasels and stoats. The low walls would
encourage vermin to forage ever closer to the centre where slate
shutters set around stone traps would be operated by the animals
tripping mechanisms of levers and string.
At a place where another stream, strangely named Spanish Lake,
enters the river from the east, the valley of the Plym swings north
again. Our route continues alongside it for another mile or so.
Eventually we come to Ditsworthy Weir situated between Eastern Tor
and Shavercombe Tor. This introduces the walker to an extraordinary
man-made waterway known as the Lee Moor Leat. It was originally
built to provide power for a tin mine at Bottle Hill, but was later
adapted for use in the china-clay quarries.
Our route follows this leat, doubling back on our
previous course, albeit higher up the hill. We're now heading south
to Spanish Lake once again. Having reached the stream, leave the
leat (which swings away to the west following the contours of the
hill in a big curve) and head directly up the moor to Great Trowlesworthy
Tor, which is the left hand rock stack you'll see directly to the
south.
This is a good place to see moorland birds like skylarks, meadow
pipits, wheatears and stone chats.
On top of the tor you will be treated to huge vistas, both towards
Plymouth and the sea, and into the great southern hinterlands of
central Dartmoor. But most apparent of all are the massive china
clay workings which dominate the scene to the south. Man-made lakes
glint in the sun and the general whiteness of the great scars gave
rise to that inevitable phrase - lunar landscape.
Now turn to the west and walk the three or four
hundred metres to Little Trowlesworthy Tor. On the way you will
come across a curious lump of rock - a massive cylindrical piece
of granite which lies at a jaunty angle as if someone once tried
to move it and had then given up. Which is exactly what happened.
Quarrymen cut and shaped the rock in the quarry at the lower tor
back in the early 1800's when Plymouth and Devonport were separate
places. The two towns were forever vying to out-do each other in
those days, and this huge cylinder was intended to be the base for
an enormous flagpole that would dominate the centre of Devonport.
There are two arguments as to why it never reached town - one is
that the mean spirited burghers failed to collect the necessary
funds - the other is that it was simply too heavy to move.
Now it's simply a matter of walking back down towards Trowlesworthy
Warren Farm which you will see some half-a-mile down from the tor.
From there, rejoin the track and follow it back to the car park.
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