A handful of tors, an ancient grave and a standing stone are highlights of this walk which has stunning views over the moors and west Devon
DISTANCE: 7 miles moderate walking (or 2.3 miles easy, about 10 miles difficult)
NEAREST REFRESHMENTS: Tavistock or Princetown
CAR PARKING: Large car park on Pork Hill at SX 531751.
PUBLIC TRANSPORT: Bus Services 98 and 272, between Merrivale and Tavistock.
Some of this walk is within the Dartmoor Firing Range so check times before heading out.
This is a very scenic walk with lots of high views and if you want to put your head down and walk up some speed then there are nice even-ish stretches of moorland to do this on.
From the car park you will see Cox Tor towering in front of you across the road, so head straight up the slope to the top. This tor differs slightly from most other tors on the moor as it’s composed from greenstone rather than granite.
[For the easy walk take a path to right about a third of the way up and head to Beckamoor Dip, then circle back over the Staple Tors to the car park.]
Once at the top go around to the right and to the next granite outcrop where you will find a triangulation point (SX 531763) and a hut circle as there are many ancient settlements on the slopes of the tor.
There are also amazing views of the moorland and West Devon which made me feel like some sort of benevolent being surveying the land. However my powers didn’t extend to the wind as it was a very blustery day and I was nearly blown off the top!
From here you should be able to spot Beckamoor Dip (SX 532752) which looks like a large pond lying between Cox Tor and Great Staple Tor. Follow animal tracks down to it and once there you can see White Tor in the distance which is roughly north of you.
Follow the stream down and the path will eventually disappear but your destination is clear so head in that general direction - just left and down from White Tor you will see some buildings which are Wedlake. To the right of this is a field and a path through it clearly defined (it was during summer anyway!) As you get closer to this path you’ll see a gate in the wall which is marked Wedlake (SX 538772).
Walk across this field to the far end and another gate and then you can cross over Colly Brook. Follow the wall up and around to the left until you hit the track. Then head straight up to find a path which will take you to Stephen’s Grave (SX 536781).
People who commented suicide were buried at crossroads to prevent their souls from wandering. The legend goes that over 300 years ago a local man called either John or George Stephens fell in love with a girl who did not return his advances so he took poison and killed himself. It is rumoured his ghost can be seen on dark nights haunting this site. Luckily I was there in bright sunshine!
From here you are on the main track with easy walking to the next point which is the Langstone standing stone at SX 550787. [For a more difficult route go via the top of White Tor.] Both tracks take in an ancient landscape with remains of old tin workings, stone rows and on top the tor itself, a fort.
The standing stone lies within the firing range and leading up to it you will see the distinctive red and white poles across the moorland. If the flags are flying you won’t be able to see the standing stone.
The Langstone is the third highest menhir on the moor at 434 metres and if you look closely you can see bullet marks on the stone where Americans used it as target practice during WW2. It stands at the end of a stone row which is barely visible today.
[For the difficult route circle around to Great Mis Tor, Roos Tor and the Staple Tors.]
From the Langstone you’ll need to retrace your steps for a short time, before the path splits and heads down to the left to the end of the field system at SX 547781. Here you will cross Colly Brook again and also spot a boundary stone marked PT. I have yet to discover what this means so please email me if you do! There are a few boundary stones in this area so this stone could mark the parish of Peter Tavy.
From here it’s a mainly straight walk, if a little marshy at times, uphill to Roos Tor. Just before you reach the tor you will come across a boundary stone marked B, which indicated the former Duke of Bedford’s land. There is a circle of these around the tor believed to have been erected to protect it from granite workers in the late 1800s. There are also other boundary marks on stones around tor, that of a circle with a line through it which also indicates that the stone should be left
alone.
Once you reach Roos Tor you have lovely views back across to Cox Tor and around to Great Staple Tor and Great Mis Tor. There is also a flagpole on top of the tor and if the red flag is flying to indicate the firing range is active you are still able to visit this tor.
I walked over the top of the tor and a little to the left and then back around to the right to hook up with the path to Great Staple Tor. There is also another boundary stone on the way, this time with a P on one side and W on the other, marking the boundary between Peter Tavy and Whitchurch parishes.
After the boundary stone is Great Staple Tor - one of the three ‘Staple’ tors. It’s a nice looking tor spread out over the hill top with lots of granite stacks and a gateway-like gap enticing you in.
Head on to the next tor in the row which is Middle Staple Tor, a bit smaller than the last one. Walking on Dartmoor is way of de-stresing from the week for me and on this occasion I’d brought along my iPod. So facing the lovely views of the south east towards Merrivale I ate the last of my lunch and listened to Miserere Mei which is a very dramatic piece of music.
Suitably refreshed I was ready for the final tor of this walk - Little Staple Tor, which lives up to its name. It does, however, look very nice with Dartmoor ponies grazing in front of it.
I went over the tor and down to the right where you can see the path head back to the car park with a little gully on the way once you get onto level ground.
View a map of the walk here
Watch a slideshow of walk highlights here
© Gillian Adams 2011
For information on where to stay, eat and visit on Dartmoor, please see www.visitdartmoor.co.uk
To view my Dartmoor walks ebook click here, and my Dartmoor colouring book click here