Where to begin …. maybe I should start with the fact, that it seems crazy to start a journey on a Sunday at four in the morning. It may seem even more crazy, when said Sunday is the first of January, after a night out. Let’s just say it was an early start into 2017. So, after a long journey my friend and I felt right at home when welcomed by “a patch of rain”, as it said on the weather forecast. It did not matter though, since Belstone looks lovely come rain or shine, and our hosts provided everything we could wish for, including a very warm welcome.
Of course, being Swiss, the first thing to do was to go uphill. Since it was raining, the clouds hid most of the views, and it seemed as if the weather was trying to keep up the tension for the next day – our first whole day in Belstone.
A good night’s sleep later, with compass, map and sunshine we went out on our first adventure.
Grassland, moor, water, sheep and a cold wind – the perfect place to clear your head. So, with the exception of one day, when we went to Exeter by bus, we tried out different routes starting directly from Belstone. I think you could fill more than a week, with Belstone as a starting point for walks, and would seldomly have to take the same paths. Fact is, we did not rent a car, and had to walk to the service station shop or Okehampton to get groceries, which was quite a good experience in our fast-forward world. I would recommend it to anyone who wants to slow down a bit…and by the way: for the rest of our stay the English weather was disappointing. It was not English at all. Three sunny days, one cloudy day and only a bit of rain when we got back to Gatwick Airport. Thank you. We will be back!
Below you will find our approximate routes:
River Taw – Steeperton Tor – Okement Hill – Oke Tor – Higher Tor – Belstone Tor – Belstone Common
Watchet Hill – Nine Stones – past Rowtor on the southern side, past West Mill Tor on the eastern side – Ford – Yes Tor – High Willhays and back down – Black Down – Okehampton -Belstone
River Taw – Cosdon Hill – Stone Circle and White Moor Stone – Little Hound Tor – Hound Tor – Wild Tor – Steeperton Brook – Steeperton Gorge – Okement Hill – Oke Tor – past Higher Tor and Belstone Tor on the western side
So, if you ever believed in the cliché “Swiss People are born with hiking shoes” – there you go. It is true 😉 But there is nothing more satisfying than standing on a hill/mountain (whichever height it may be) and let the wind carry away your thoughts. (Only the bad ones of course.)
