A Walk In The Park

Recently we took a long weekend and went to Devon to walk in the Dartmoor National Park. We had heard that it was a place of natural beauty and terrific walks. This area is between the north and south coasts of Devon. It is composed of tors, which are granite formations weathered by ice wind and rain., leats (man made canals),  crosses, and the famous wild ponies that have been on the moors for thousands of pyears. Dartmoor is also where the hound of the Baskervillles was known to roam in the mist that ths area is famous for. We were warned that if we did walk on the moors we should take a compass.

We stayed in the market town Tavistock in the center of Darmoor. It has remains of an abbey, a church  and an impressive town hall. Sir Francis Drake was born and lived nearby. More on him later.

We drove through the moors and settled on a 3 mile walk that ticked all the boxes : Leat, cross, and tor. Ponies are everywhere we couldn't miss them. 

Scenes from our walk

After our hike on the moor we visited Buckland Abbey, home to Sir Francis Drake. It has been a Cicstercian Abbey until the Reformation then itwas bought by a wealthy landowner then Sir Francis Drake bought it when he returned from circumnavigating the globe!! He went on to be second in command in the Spanish Armada in the late 1500's. The house is very well curated, and I was reminded of my history lessons of explorers fom 4th grade! 

We also enjoys walking the grounds and gardens surrounding the Abbey. 

Lovely weekend!