Walk: North Bovey to Easdon Tor

For a heady shot of invigorating country air and a great perspective on your surroundings, nothing beats a brisk stomp up Easdon Tor – the hill you see from the main bedroom window in the cottage. From the triangulation point at the top, you’ll see 360-degree views of Dartmoor, including many of its most famous tors, and there’s the chance of spotting birds of prey and wild Dartmoor ponies who come here to graze. 

Time: Up to three hours (return)
Level: steep
Footwear: hiking boots or wellies
Take: the OS map (in the drawer in the living room) and a good sense of direction. Sheep make new paths all the time so these directions can’t be relied on! 

Route 1

1) Departing from Moorland View’s garden entrance (with the white door), turn left and enter the churchyard on the right through the lich gate. You may be interested to read the names on the war memorials here; those who served, on the board on the right; those who fell, on stone on the left.

2) Go through the gate at the far end of the churchyard into the church path which leads down a narrow lane to the road. Walk over the lovely stone bridge ahead and keep on going up the steep hill and on, to the hamlet of Yarde where two former farmhouses sit, one on either side of the road.

3) There is a turning to the right here but don’t take it, rather keep on going as the road climbs with fields on either side of the road and eventually the road flattens out.

4) On the left you will find a narrow track with a wooden sign showing it as a right- of-way. It is up this narrow track with its high banks and bushes that you now must pass. This is called Langdon Lane and amazingly, it used to be the driveway to two ancient farms! Those farms now have a more modern driveway on the other side of the hill.

5) After just over half a mile, the main track continues but there is a little turning to the left and it is along here that you need to go, where there is a gate on to open moorland.

You are now on Easdon Hill and if you look from the gate, to the highest point, you will be able to see a clump of rocks - Easdon Tor - and possibly, the straight concrete post of the triangulation point on top. You need to aim for this. There are many little paths through the gorse, heather and bracken but if you keep the tor in view as far as possible, you will eventually arrive on top.

6) The views from here are magnificent. To the west is Shapley Common and King Tor. Due south is a ridge, with Honeybag and Chinkwell Tors; slightly east of that, the craggy outline of Hound Tor comes into view, well known for its association with Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s, Hound of the Baskervilles. When you have drunk your fill of these views, you will need to head down the other side of Easdon, until a long, straight, drystone wall comes into sight in front and to the left of you, heading down the slope. It is to the bottom corner that you now need to aim and as you get closer, you will see a gate there with a lane either side.

7) Having reached the gate, don’t go through it but turn right along the grassy track bordered by gorse bushes, which leads away from it. Several hundred metres later will bring you to another gate. Go through here and along the stony track the other side, passing a farm and a cottage close by the lane. You will then emerge at a T junction on the road.

8) Turn right here. This is Long Lane, made famous by the song of Widecombe Fair, in which it features as Long Lea; lea being the old Devon word for lane. For of course, it was along this lane, going in the opposite direction to you, that Tom Cobley and his motley crew, rode the unfortunate grey mare to the fair. After about a mile you will come to a cross- roads but continue along this road, passing a driveway to a house called Everley, on the right and then over a bridge. You will now see a turning to the right, opposite Barramoor Farm.

9) Take this right turn, into a quiet lane, passing some white cottages on the left and then, a bit later, a farm on the roadside. This is Hele Farm, - ‘hele’ meaning valley.

10) Turn right at this farm and on the left you may notice Hele Cross, an ornate and ancient waymarker. Further on down this road, Bowden Mill is on your right and a bit further, a delightful wooded area with a bridge over the river, where you may see a dipper by the water. Keep on the road, up a steep hill through beech trees. This road comes, after a few hundred metres, to a T junction which brings you back to the hamlet of Yarde again.

11) Turn left and retrace your steps downhill, crossing the River Bovey on the 17th century bridge and heading up the church path, through the churchyard and back to Moorland View.  

Route 2

Follow the path that leads through our churchyard and straight down the wooded track. 

At the bottom of the hill, turn left, cross the river and walk up the steep hill, past the mill cottages. Near the top of the hill, you’ll see a wooden gate on the left leading into the woods. Go through this and follow the flat, wide track through a pine forest with sweeping views of our valley. 

Towards the end of the flat, you’ll follow the path around a right-hand bend and the path will start to get steeper. At the top, at very end of the track, take the left-hand fork. This will lead you to a wooden gate where the forest ends. 

Once through the gate, take the path that leads straight up and to the left slightly. After about half a mile, you’ll come to a stone wall on the left and then shortly after that you should see a large pile of rocks on the slope on the right. Head towards this on one of the sheep tracks. 

 Pass the stones and continue in the same direction as you were heading, taking the main path. You should soon see the triangulation point ahead of you. Descend the same way (or take an Ordnance Survey map if you want to be more adventurous – it’s in the drawer in the living room)