Sunday, April 15, 2007

Another Walk with the gals:
Having sussed out the Merrivale Route with the family on Mother's Day (see the post on 17.03.07), I took the Book Club members (Cath, Susan, Cheryl, Dawn and Mon and not forgetting your trusty trail blaze, me!) on the same path yesterday, with some refinements. Showers were forecast, but it was hot, hot, hot and hazy.
Susan and Cheryl reach the first ford, Vixen Tor just peeking up in the background centre. Instead of walking around the Tors and down to the road, we went over Feather and Pew Tors and then down to the road. Much more interesting and spectacular panoramic views all round.
Look at that blue sky! Cheryl, Susan and Cath standing on Pew Tor.























This is everyone, and Dotty the elderly dalmation walking down from Pew Tor toward the road, where we were greeted by two hissing geese:
At Sampford Spiney (I always thought it was 'Spinny' but Mon corrected me - and she was right! - bit like reading 'Polite notice' as 'Police notice'.) We saw lots of alpacas again - the "Sampford Manor alpacas". The llama from Terri my secret pal, was very interested in his relatives.
Colour coordinated! Sampford Spiney is a beautiful hamlet, however you pronounce it...














The hedgerows are still full of violets and primroses, with bluebells just starting to open up. Couple of weeks and the woods around here will be awash with them. I'll post some pics when they are.
From Sampford Spiney we strolled on down to The Ward Bridge for a picnic by the River Walkham. Dotty was incredibly fast and opportunistic and stole half of my sandwich from under my nose. My Syd just looked envious.
These moss covered trees adorn the hedgerow coming down to the river.

After the picnic we strolled up hill back to the moors and Sweltor Quarries. Then, instead of walking along the Railway line like we did on Mother's Day, we took the footpath straight across the valley floor. The afternoon became increasingly hazy so I didn't take many pics. Here are some Dartmoor ponies with the Quarries in the background.

From the old disused railway line, we walked down to cross the river again then up to the famous Merrivale antiquities - several standing stones, burial chambers and three long stone rows. What was it all for? When in doubt, blame the Druids. (For a more informative link, see the Mother's day Walk post). S'cuse Syd's bum in the bottom left of the pic. The final stroll up the road was a bit of a drag. If you ever decide to do this circuit, be advised to park somewhere near the Dartmoor Inn and then do this bit at the beginning, not the end.

Following the walk, we drove back to the Warren House Inn where we had a traditional cream tea - inspired choice! So, do you put the cream on the scone first? Or the jam? 5 of us put the cream on first (nyah nyah DH!) and only Mon put the jam on first. The former is apparently the Devonshire way - the Cornish put their jam on first. Whatever - t'was a brilliant end to a good day's walk. Now I really must get 'Persuasion' finished before the next Book Club meeting at Mon's...

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

Gorgeous landscape! Wow.. and those alpacas are sooo cute! Sounds like you had a wonderful day.. love all your pictures!

Terri said...

Loved looking at all your awesome photos. Very, very nice!

Ang said...

Oh what wonderful photos, you live in such a beautiful area, loved the violets and alpacas...

Mumov2 said...

what gorgeous pictures and I put the jam on first, my DH and Tina's DH put the cream on first so there you go we are two against two in our household.....
and i'm from OOp North so jam on first must be a northern thing as well :)
hope to see you soon...hashing Tuesday???

Piglottie said...

What a wonderful day out TutMut and stunning pics - thanks for sharing. I love the alpacas, but love the gorgeous scenery even more. I've noticed a lot of violets out this week, including lots of self seeded ones in my mum's garden.

Btw, I put jam on first too - must be a bit of Cornish mixed in with the Yorkshire! :)

Terri said...

Ah well, my Cornish ancestry rings true - definitely the jam first. :o) Gorgeous photos, gorgeous part of the world you live in. :o)

Hellbelle said...

What a great day out, although it does look warm out! I love walks with lots of interesting things to look at on the way, like the druid's stones.

The Imperfect Knitter said...

What incredibly beautiful scenery , it makes me feel like dusting off my walking boots ( but I think that the layer of dust will need pressure hosing off ) .
I chose the knitpicks options for several reasons . The join is very smooth and , once they are screwed together they are very firm , the Boye knitmaster often unscrews ,a dn when you have over 400 stitches of lace work on , losing a needle tip is no laughing matter. The knitpicks cable also has hardly any memory and so are very flexible, also you can buy really long cables ( brilliant for moebius knitting) , I have a set of Denise , but find that the knitting doesn't really move along the cable freely . I love the knitpicks to pieces, haven't stopped knitting with them since I got them , my only gripe is that they don't ship to UK . Hope this helps .

Joanna said...

Looks like a great day, lovely weather for it too!

belaybunny said...

you've been busy, I like your socks and the old wip. Looks like you had a great walk. The alpacas are so cute!!

blog-blethers said...

What stunning photo's and an absolutely glorious walk! This time of year is my favourite for being outdoors - I love wild primroses and banks of bluebells. Years ago, when we went away in a caravan at this time, the banks of wild azaela's and rhodi's on some Scottish hillsides used to take my breath away! And with all that exercise, you'll be having to change to a svelte, streamlined canoe!!

picperfic said...

oh how I wish I had your energy! You are amazing....have you seen this at all http://picperfics.blogspot.com/2007/04/thinking-blogger-award.html ?

Artis-Anne said...

Fantastic post and great pictures Love those alpaca. Sounds like you 'gals'had a great day out :)

sibtigre2 said...

What beautiful countryside! I so want to visit! And the alpacas are soooooo cute. :)

gilraen said...

Oh Wow!!! Breathtaking indeed. Thank you for sharing such a beautiful journey :)