Buckfastleigh has two public parks, a swimming pool, skate-park, tennis courts, and a bowling green. Local events include Lamb Pie day in the spring, and the May Fun Day. Within walking distance are Buckfast Abbey, South Devon Railway, the Butterfly/Otter Sanctuary and the Valiant Soldier Visitor Centre. Nearby is the old racecourse with various events and the very popular Pennywell Farm attraction. Buckfast Abbey is where the monks make the famous mead wine, keep bees and run a farm. There is an exhibition tracing story of the Abbey, and the new outstandingly attractive Murals, created by a resident Nun, depicting life at the Abbey.


Cornwood is a rural community made up of two other villages of Corntown and Lutton. The Cornwood Agricultural Show is held in August; nearby the Dartmoor Zoo at Sparkwell is one of the best DAYS OUT in west Devon.


Ivybridge has the River Erme providing a wonderful feature for the town centre. Crossing the river at the northern end of the town centre is the medieval packhorse bridge named the “Ivy Bridge”. Spanning the valley a little further upstream, the railway viaduct provides a striking backdrop to the town. This is the start of walks south along with Erme Valley Trail and north to Dartmoor. Ivybridge has many shops, an arcade, a number of good food pubs, and being on the Devon Expressway it is very useful as a base for touring.


Mid Dartmoor Princetown has the High Moorland Visitor Centre, where every


thing about Dartmoor can be seen, and the infamous Dartmoor Prison with a museum telling the fascinating stories of past inmates and bygone prison life. Two Bridges has excellent walks to see Crockern Tor, a little further on there is Postbridge with a fine example of a ‘clapper bridge’ as seen all over the Moor and an inn with a fire in the bar that has been burning continuously for one hundred years. At the moorland village of Dartmeet the west and east Dart rivers meet and the Dartmeet Stepping Stones can be seen. Amongst the many Tors to visit in this part of Dartmoor, there is also an ancient clapper bridge & popular beauty spot known as Badger’s Holt.


Widecombe-in-the-Moor is one of the most well known villages in Britain. The famous Widecombe Fair is held annually on the second Tuesday of September, and there are arts & craft sales plus weekly markets. This together with the other attractions, amenities & food pubs etc. attracts hordes of people to this picturesque village throughout the summer. A place of homage is the magnificent church known as ‘The Cathedral of the Moor’ dedicated to St Pancras, with its peel of eight bells rung by a dedicated local team of campanologists each week. The relaxed ambience of this village is shared by visitors seeking an idyll that is not available in so many other places.


Nearby are the famous ‘haytor rocks’ in the hamlet of Haytor Vale with a great food inn and at nearby Lower Dunstone there are two granite artefacts, one is a granite cross which has a hollow at its top, this was for the tenants to place their rents and where the local chiefs held a court, the other is a huge boulder called ‘The Dun Stone’.


East Dartmoor Bovey Tracey is a picturesque villages and being close to the A38


Expressway the English Riviera is within easy reach. Parke Estate is situated within a short walk from the town centre and offers beautiful strolls in woods, parkland and along the riverside. There is a good range of amenities and two nearby golf courses. This town with its working weaving loom, glass blowing and pottery making attractions is an alternative DAY OUT to the coast.


Lustleigh is an idyllic Dartmoor village, and with much of the village thatched it has an aura of ‘time stood still’. There are numerous circular moorland and woodland walks starting in the village. These include the Ridgeline walk for stunning views at Harton Chest and Hunter’s Tor, and to the south of the village are many of Dartmoor’s most famous Tors including Haytor Rocks and Hound Tor and Bowerman’s Nose. Similar cleaves or valleys that cut through the fringes of the Moor are the Teign Gorge, Belstone Cleave and Lydford Gorge and Waterfall.


Manaton is a village located in one of the most beautiful areas of Dartmoor, within easy


reach of Bovey Tracey and Moretonhampstead, the village offers access to Lustleigh Cleave and Hayne Down


where there are the extraordinary Bowerman’s Nose and views across to Haytor Rocks.


There are some great walks to attempt, try the Ridgeline walk from Hunter’s Tor (Lustleigh Cleave)


down to Harton Chest, the views from here are exceptional. Explore Manaton Rocks via the path behind St Winifred Church; once again, the views are superb with Cosdon Hill to the northwest. Walk in one of the many woods in the area, try the East Dartmoor Woods. Heaths National Nature Reserve, and Becky Falls Woodland Park where you can be sure your visit is going to be fun as well as stunning. There’s something for all ages with one admission charge to cover all the things to do, so bring the whole family and the dog.


North Bovey is a truly chocolate box village in the heart of Dartmoor. There is a great walk of around eight miles from the village to Manaton, through, and then eastwards to Nutcracker Rocks, on to Hunter Tor then Barne court before walking back into North Bovey.


Chagford is a small condensed moorland town with no fewer than thirty-four shops, a post office, two banks, four public houses, two churches, one chapel, and excellent leisure facilities, including an open air swimming pool so big its like being at the beach. This is the perfect place for anyone who is looking for a special place to stay or somewhere to ‘get away from it all’. There are walks on the surrounding wooded hillsides, fishing at the nearby Fernworthy Reservoir and of course access to the moors. Three miles north east of Chagford is Castle Drogo, the last castle to be built in the UK.


Moretonhampstead lies on the north eastern slopes of the central granite mass of Dartmoor. It is surrounded by fine wooded and hilly countryside offering many spectacular views and opportunities for exploration. Although this is a small moorland town it is essentially a place of character with a surprising range of sporting and recreation facilities including fishing, archery and golf. In August the Moretonhampstead Carnival attracts thousands, other annual events include a dog jamboree, a secret gardens weekend and flower shows. The local TIC will be happy to help with dates.


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