Two Bridges, Wistman's Wood Short Walk

Another Dartmoor excursion was under way, I decided to do two walks today, including this short taster of Dartmoor. The walk starts in a place called Two Bridges slap bang in the middle of Dartmoor, there is a free but small car park opposite the hotel so you may have to get there early especially in holiday season. I had the pleasure of walking with my father again, a very good companion and a very observant one, spotting all sorts of natural wonders that most people would walk past.

 

The Route

The route starts from the car park, go right, through the gate and head along the track, your are instantly transported into the heart of Dartmoor. The walk is quite flat but with a few boulders to scramble over if you wish. as you head towards a farm house, on your left hand side behind the wall in a mini valley. at the time of our walk the trees were teaming in bird life, there were what looked like hundreds of Fieldfare which were pretty ravenous, stripping the trees of the hard grown berries, I thought this was quite early in the year for them as I usually see them in January/ Febuary in Oxfordshire, they must have just migrated in on the latest storms.

The Valley of the Fieldfare

Fieldfare.

To your right hand side were the moors in there stunning iconic bleakness, old farm wall boundaries still litter the landscape giving a sense of history and kind of harsh bleakness to the place especially with old ragged, wind blown trees in the mix.

The Moors

As you skirt past the farm the path splits, the main track heading to Longaford Tor, the track on the left leads you to Wistman's Wood. The valley soon opens out and the wood comes into view, at first sight it looks quite small and unimpressive, just like a copse etched onto the side of a council estate.

The Valley of Wistman's Wood

As we headed towards the wood, the path kind of disappears, you can just make it out as you look at the worn rocks and the trampled plants. after about ten minutes we made it to the wood. Wistman's Wood is a rare relict example of the ancient high-level woodlands of Dartmoor, its name probably derives from Wisht-man's wood, the vernacular word wisht meaning pixie-led or haunted. It is mainly made up of ancient stunted oak and the floor of ancient moss clad boulders, it does amaze me how trees grow out of this eerie boulder landscape. In Devon, the Wild Hunt is said to be that of hellhounds chasing sinners or the unbaptised. The dogs, in the Devonshire dialect, are known as Yeth (Heath) or Wisht Hounds. This legendary hunt is particularly associated with Wistman's Wood hence the name. It really is a truly eerie place and very similar to a previous walk I have done at Black a Tor Copse. Forgive me at this point as I got carried away with my camera.


 

Wistman's Wood.

Moss Strewn Boulders and Trees.

The Eerie Tree Witch Pointing the Way.
 

Amazing Lichens on the Gnarled Oak Forest.

Had to do another black and white photo.

 

Once we had taken in the atmosphere and enchantment of the place, we had a quick bite to eat and made our way back whenst we came. the weather changed slightly and gave another light on the landscape.

 

On the way back.

 

Rule of thumb is always look behind you especially if you are into photography, the landscape may stay the same but the environment and the feel changes, especially when low clouds come rolling in.

We then passed the wildlife haven and fieldfare valley, I decided to change my lens and get a close up.

 

Fieldfare we thinks.

 

We trudged on for another 15 minutes and made it back to Two bridges, and walked around the hotel and took a view of the Cowsic River, not the most pleasant of names, definitely looks beautiful though.

 

Cowsic River.

 

The Two Bridges Hotel looked a lovely place, probably out of my price bracket, it was formally known as the Saracen's Head which was built in 1794 and was built as a coaching inn, an ideal spot on the only thoroughfare across the moors as it is slap bang in the centre. I bet there were a lot of stories and characters residing in this place.

 

This was the end of the walk, a short but pleasurable walk, no really height gain and no navigation issues. This is a great taster of the moors and may give inspiration to people who have not hiked before to get into the glory of the great outdoors. I definitely recommend this and bet it is even better in the twilight hours of the day to give an air of mystery in the woods and the night sky here would be amazing for all those stargazers who crave no light pollution. this truly was a glorious start to a wonderful day on the moors.