Autumn Walk

The Autumn walk this year took place on the 11 Oct 2008, starting from the car park at Venford Reservoir on Dartmoor.

Leading the walk and talking about the hut circles, enclosures, field systems, crosses, Iron Age settlements and mining on the moor was John Hodgson.  Beginning at the Holne Moor leat and following it to the site of Iron Age man, we carried on up through a field system and, crossing a marsh below Hangman’s Pit, followed the stream around below Combestone Tor; then up the steep hill to the tor and a lunch break.  After lunch, John went on to Horn’s Cross with half the walkers and, as it was a very hot sunny day, the rest decided to stay and explore or just relax and cool off.  On John’s return, we set off back down the hill, across streams, passed more Iron Age sites and into the woods high above the River Dart.  The sunlight shone through the trees and cast long shadows over the moss-covered stones, playing tricks with the eyes.  Look out for the faces in the stones!  The party now split into three sets of walkers; the first group got clear of the woods and waited for the rest to catch up, myself in the middle lot taking lots of photos, with the last group starting to catch me up.  Now all were out of the woods and taking a rest before the last part of our journey up around the hill and back to the reservoir.

Twenty-two people and pets took part in the walk this year on a very fine day.  Many thanks to John Hodgson for his time and leadership.