Dartmoor with the guys!

Goodness me, I seem to be spending all my spare time walking on Dartmoor at present. Last Saturday was the 'monthly' planned walk of the guys from church, and again Chris, Colin, Lee (and Sparky) and Lee's friend Rhodes all squeezed into my van for the winding drive up to Postbridge on the Moors. We had a great day for the walk, up the valley towards Sittaford Tor, passing the 'Beehive Hut' en route (see piccy), then up to the restored Grey Wethers stone circles, quite impressive, before leaving the paths and walking up to visit Sittaford, Lower White and Higher White Tors, with a pleasant stop by a waterfall on the East Dart River for lunch.

Foxy business!

There were foxy goings-on last Saturday. The occasion was the first training camp for the Ten Tors group from Dartmouth, camping near Gutter Tor after a days walking. A delighted walkster let us know they had spotted a fox whilst getting water from a stream, the same fox that shone its eyes at me a little later. Also the same fox that stole a hydration bladder, sinking its teeth in it and ruining it. A phone call at 11.30pm informed a sleepy me that the fox was prowling at=round the tents. "Don't worry, they won't do you any harm, they'll be afraid of you," was my sleepy reply. Morning revealed many guy ropes chewed through, two tents and at least one rucksack bitten into, and numerous items of food pilfered! Lovely little thing!

With Lynn on Dartmoor in Feb

A rare day indeed, with nothing in the diary save 'walk with Lynn', so off we went. The warm and dry, if overcast weather in Dartmouth translated into overcast with showers and a cool wind up at Princetown on the moors. Cool wind was laughed at as we donned our Buffalo Mountain Shirts {Google them!) and set off to conquer Hart Tor, before following the mighty Devonport Leat, with a short detour to visit Crazy Well Pool, until we finally arrived at the ancient Nun's Cross. A fine walk of over 10km was rewarded with cheesy chips and tea for two at the Fox Tor cafe, all for less than a fiver!

On Dartmoor in the snow - then rain

Chris was keen to continue his quest to conquer the moors, so he grabbed Colin and I by the scruff of the necks and we all trundled through snow flurries to Dartmoor. A snowy and icy landscape soon gave way to blowing rain and poor visibility. The mountains conquered today were Little and Great Mis Tor, White Tor, Roos Tor and Great Staple Tor. All survived.

Visit to baby Isaac

Isaac Peter Durdin was born on 18 January. We took a week off to travel to Brighton to see Isaac, his big sister Sophia and their mun and dad Hannah and Dan. Proud grandparents both, we enjoyed the week with our two lovely grandchildren and their parents.

Chris's new boots

What better way to spend a wet and windy Saturday in January than to head out for Dartmoor with three friends from Church, plus a dog of course. Chris, who had just bought new boots that needed dirtying, together with Lee and his dog Sparky, and Colin to make up the quartet all piled into my yellow van to trundle up to Princetown. We parked in a windy, wet and misty scene, donned waterproofs and set out, visiting Nuns Cross, Eylesbarrow Tin Mine, Combshead Tor, Down Tor, and a couple of crosses standing to declare us a Christian country on the stark moorland. The wetness, bad a first, eventually gave way to grey skies, and Burrator Reservoir became visible. Good walking (9+ km), good company and a few calories burned to boot - oh yes, and Chris's boots christened.

Window seat storage

As a pause in boat building was enforced, Lynn seized upon the opportunity to keep my woodworking skill honed and set me to build some window-seat storage units. Fortunately, our neighbours were having an extension built and the builders, friends of mine, were delighted to pass all their scrap and waste wood over the fence for me to burn. Some of course, was too good to burn and became the frame for the seat.