For as long as Paul Fox can remember he has loved running through the great outdoors, usually with his mad and muddy collie, “Spook”. Now, Paul, a former member of the Tavistock Section of the Dartmoor Rescue Group, offers courses on navigation, compass, map work and hillcraft skills, based on Dartmoor, so that anyone who has ever wanted to go and explore off the beaten track can learn or develop existing navigation skills so they can experience the beauty of Dartmoor and discover its many mysteries for themselves.
From Ninney Lake to Knackersmill Gulf By Paul Fox
IN November, 2009 I set up a running blog, largely as a form of training diary but also as an excuse to get out on the moor and take photographs. Over this time other runners have left their comments and an enduring theme is the poetry (and comedy) of some of the place names. I must admit that over the years, this has become lost on me until recent comments have made me look at them anew. I would like to dedicate this month’s article to the regular contributors to my blog who have rekindled my appreciation for Dartmoor place names.
Lynch Tor features regularly in my running routes, usually as part of a trip to Fur Tor or Cut Hill in the northern fen. The River Walkham, rising to the east of Lynch Tor and flowing south, is notable for its first tributaries: Ninney Lake and Spriddle Lake. Close to Ninney Lake (which is not marked on the OS map) are the granite pillars which supported the roof of the Turf House, where peat cut for use at Wheal Betsy was stored. Spriddle Lake has a quiet atmosphere all of its own and appears at first glance at the OS map to have escaped the attention of man. Appearances and the OS map can be deceptive as both a cist and tinner’s hut can be found near its banks.
At the confluence of Spriddle Lake and the Walkham are the scant remains of a wooden bridge connecting the nearby Wheal Prosper to the Walkham Head peat works. This was unimaginatively called Timber Bridge. To the south, the wonderfully named Black Dunghill looks over the Walkham Valley to the west and the equally wonderfully named Cowsic to the east. No list of notable names on the south moor would be complete without Mount Misery, the highest corner of a newtake of Fox Tor Farm which seems to attract more than its fair share of wind, rain and mud. It looks over the sullen Fox Tor Mire and Childe’s Tomb, a cairn and cist with a granite cross built over it.
Further south, the Langcombe Brook is home to both Deadman’s Bottom and Grim’s Grave but the Erme Valley provides a rich supply of colourful names. Starting with the extensive tin workings at Erme Pits the river flows south past Hortonsford Bottom and Stinger
26
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40