dittisham and cornworthy

May 18, 2021 by Mark Seymour in dart valley trail

SOUTH HAMS, DEVON

wednesday, 12th MAY 2021

For May it looks like it’s going to be pretty cold today and although the winds seem to have died down it looks like it is going to be pretty damp.

For a change, I won’t be going anywhere near the sea today so no need for any tide times.

Our holiday cottage for the week is Higher Dinnicombe near to Dartmouth in the South Hams of South Devon. I leave our cottage early and head up the track towards the golf course of the Dartmouth Golf and Country Club where I pass the chickens and the sheep belonging to the owner of Higher Dinnicombe. The track is looking lovely, covered in spring wild flowers.

I pick up a public footpath but go in the opposite direction to the previous three days. I amble through fields of flowering rape on my way to Allaleigh Cross.

At Tideford Park Farm I come across camellias, hellebores and a nice collection of tulips.

My plan was to pick up a footpath down to Capton Mill. I’m presented with a choice of two footpaths. I choose the first one but ambling for a little bit it is clear that this one is going in the wrong direction so I retrace my steps and choose the other footpath instead. After a little while it is clear that this one is going in the wrong direction as well. Oh well! I might as well stay on this one now.

I wander along a minor road to Broadridge and then pick up a bridleway which takes me down to Barberry Water Bridge. I enjoy the wildflowers on either side of the bridleway.

I join a minor road at Barberry Farm and follow this for a bit before finding a footpath which takes me over grassed slopes full of sheep.

I now have fine views over the River Dart.

I continue along the footpath to reach Higher Dittisham.

It’s time to turn back in the other direction and head for Cornworthy. I’m now on the Dart Valley Trail so I walk along the road for a bit next to the River Dart before following a footpath towards East Cornworthy.

Just before Dittisham Mill I turn right over a wooden footbridge and climb some stone steps before following a footpath along a field edge and then a wooded area covered in wild garlic.

I turn left onto a minor road and climb up after a bridge at East Cornworthy before turning right at a signpost pointing to Coombe.

Here I come across a sign promising me that there will be loads of hedgehogs about. Needless to say I didn’t see any!

I pass Coombe Farm Studios and Gallery and Fingals Luxury Country House B&B, where I come across some lovely camassias.

I pass by Old Coombe Orchard.

At Barberry Cross I carry straight on before turning right down Broadgates Lane which is covered in bluebells and wild garlic.

I follow the lane which becomes a road. I should cross straight over at Longland Cross but the road is closed so, instead, I turn left and head for Butts Cross where I pick up a bridleway which takes me down into the village of Cornworthy. I come across housemartins nesting in the eaves of a house and enjoy the centaurea montana on the edges of a number of the front gardens.

As I enter the village the church clock starts to chime ten ‘o’ clock.

I stop at the wisteria covered Hunters Lodge Inn. The inn was closed when I passed it two years ago but was just about to open with new tenants Grahame and Sue Nutt. I’m glad to see that the inn is indeed now open even if the times are challenging.

I pass through the rest of the village passing more wisteria covered houses.

The Dart Valley Trail heads off to my right but I continue straight on through the village. As I’m leaving the village my first swifts of the year fly over me screaming.

I pass the ruins of Cornworthy Priory, standing alone in the middle of a field. The gatehouse is all that remains of the 13th century priory. The convent was abandoned in 1539 when Henry VIII dissolved the monasteries.

I continue along the road leaving Cornworthy behind me and come across a couple of early purple orchids on top of a bank by the side of the road.

I leave the road at Coomery and wander along the ancient track, Allaleigh, which was once important for transporting timber. Nowadays it is just a muddy, rutted track.

I pass a flyer for a guided walk taking place on Thursday the 27th of May hosted by Valerie Belsey. Coincidentally, there are a couple of books by Valerie in our holiday cottage. One is ‘Exploring Green Lanes in the South Hams’ and the other is ‘The Buzzard and the Bikers’ which I have now read.

It is now a pleasant amble along Allaleigh where I enjoy the wildflowers.

I pass by the Green Lanes Centre, set up in 1984, an education centre where young and old could learn about the local heritage, wildlife and ecology.

Towards the end of Allaleigh I pass a group of ruined buildings where a chapel once stood.

I leave Allaleigh and head up a minor road before recrossing the rape fields back to our holiday cottage where I am serenaded by an awful lot of skylarks. What a beautiful end to the day and somehow I’ve got back pretty early and managed to avoid the deluge of rain that would pour down shortly after I get back.

FLORA AND FAUNA

Flora and fauna encountered on the walk today includes :-

swallows
squirrels
swifts
rabbit
primroses
common dog-violet
red campion
greater stitchwort
bluebells
rape
camellia
hellebores
tulips
cow parsley
garlic mustard
wild garlic
welsh poppy
green alkanet
celandines
herb robert
camassias
forget-me-not
euphorbia
red valerian
wisteria
cowslip
early purple orchids
wood anemones
shiny crane’s-bill

PODCAST

The podcast of today's walk is now available. You can subscribe via Apple Podcasts or listen using the player below.

MARKS OUT OF TEN?

According to my phone I've walked 9.9 miles which amounts to 23162 steps. It has taken me four hours. What a thoroughly pleasant walk and despite a dodgy forecast I’ve managed to stay dry. Ten out of ten!

WALK DETAILS

My Ordnance Survey app for showing elevation details has actually WORKED for a third day running but the two other tracking apps I use failed me today, including my normally extremely reliable backup myTracks app.

MAP

herons rest to dittisham via kingswear and dartmouth

May 12, 2019 by Mark Seymour in dart valley trail

dart valley trail

saturday, 4th may 2019

thursday, 9th may 2019

When I attempted this walk on Saturday I kept running out of Dart Valley Trail signs and so kept getting lost and ended up walking miles out of my way. I attempted the walk again on Thursday and made my way all around without getting lost this time. This account is an amalgamation of both walks but based on not going wrong.

The weather forecast looks pretty good today with sunshine all day long but I don’t like the look of those northerly winds which should make for a pretty chilly day.

Greenway Quay high tide 07:10

Greenway Quay low tide 12:58

I start the day at our holiday cottage, Herons Rest, set high above the River Dart and Dartmouth. I leave the cottage and head along the road before heading along a track beside some cottages.

I walk alongside a field of wheat before climbing a stile which takes me into Long Wood which is largely owned by the National Trust. The wildflowers in the hedgerows are looking at their finest.

Near to the start of Long Wood I come across a patch of dreaded Japanese knotweed. It’s only a small patch but I wonder how long it will take to spread.

I amble down through the wood enjoying the masses of bluebells and other wildflowers and I have fleeting views of the River Dart and its creeks.

I leave the wood and briefly join the road down to Noss. Phillip and Son Shipyard used to be located here until 1999 and is now the home to Noss Marina. Swallows are flying all around the marina.

The shipyard was attacked by German bombers on the 18th of September 1942, killing 20 men and women who were building military vessels to assist in the war effort. There should be a memorial stone here in honour of the people who lost their lives during the bombing but I failed to find it.

“THOSE WHO LOST THEIR LIVES ON 18 SEPTEMBER 1942

Frederick Clarence Adams, aged 22
John Richard Ash, aged 21
David Bott, aged 29
Jack George Charles Bustin, aged 52
Rosie Annie Crang, aged 20
Thomas Farr, aged 58
Richard Franklin, aged 26
Lionel Edgar Holden, aged 44
Walter Lewis, aged 40
George Herbert Frank Little, aged 17
Henry James Luckhurst, aged 70
John Martin, aged 48
Ernest Poole, aged 51
Sydney James Alfred Pope, aged 17
Hubert Ernest William Putt, aged 37
Ewart Edgar Trant, aged 27
Nella Eileen Trebilcock, aged 28
Samuel James Veale, aged 21
Frederick Thomas Skinner Vickery, aged 28
Hazel Joan Weaver, aged 20”

I retrace my steps and cross a road and pass Coombe Cottage before continuing along the path towards Kingswear. I come across a patch of early purple orchids.

A sign warns me about killer pine cones! I joke but the cones are monsters and could do some serious damage if one lands on your head.

I now have magnificent views over Dartmouth.

I drop down to the road that takes me to Dartmouth Higher Ferry.

I join the railway track of the Paington to Kingswear Railway and follow the railway track in to Kingswear. As I reach Kingswear I have a lovely view of the steam train pulling into the station.

I follow the footpath over a footbridge above the railway line and into Kingswear where I pass the Steam Packet Inn, the Ship Inn and the railway station.

Here I take the Dartmouth Lower Ferry over to Dartmouth. It costs me the princely sum of £1.50.

The crossing offers lovely views of Dartmouth, Kingswear, Britannia Royal Naval College, Dartmouth Castle and the open sea.

I alight the ferry below Bayards Cove Fort, a Tudor fort built between 1522 and 1536.

I can’t find any Dart Valley Trail signs so I’m going to have to make up the route through Dartmouth. I walk along the Embankment passing many canons and also the, now closed, Cottage Hospital and Dart Marina and Dart Marina Hotel and Spa.

I walk through Royal Avenue Gardens, enjoying all of the varied flowerbeds.

I pass Dartmouth Visitor Centre and head behind the health centre where I find a set of stone steps, Cox’s Steps, heading upwards. This takes me to Clarence Hill which climbs steeply up to Tounstal Hill and then to Church Road where I pass St Clement’s Church, clad in scaffolding and plastic.

I can see where I went wrong on Saturday now. There’s a Dart Valley Trail sign on a lamppost on this side of the road but I’d already crossed the road so I completely missed it and there isn’t a corresponding sign on the other side of the road.

I cross the busy A379 near to the entrance to Britannia Royal Naval College and walk down Old Mill Lane behind the college.

I reach the end of the road and come across more signs pointing across Tounsal Crescent. I cross the road and find some steps next to Archway Cottage which takes me down to the next part of Old Mill Lane. I amble along this lane for quite some time until it takes me to Old Mill Creek.

At Old Mill Creek I cross over a bridge and turn right and follow a road which becomes unmetaled Lapthorne Lane where I pass Distin’s Boatyard and Creekside Boatyard, which looks like it might be up for sale.

I come across a signpost, next to a Raleigh Estate information board, which shows me that the Dart Valley Trail takes two different routes. On Saturday I took the shorter route but Thursday I take the longer route to my right.

I amble through a woodland area which turns into a pine forest, passing, what my notes tell me is a lake on my right, but I’m sure it must be just part of the creek.

The woodland alternates between broadleaf and pine and the edges of the path are covered in mint for some reason. There are wildflowers everywhere, including some foxgloves not quite in flower yet and some wild strawberries.

I leave the forest and cross a steeply sloping field where I have lovely views back over the River Dart.

I climb up a path next to fields. I hear the steam train chugging back to Paignton and I have lovely views over to Noss Marina on the other side of the river.

It’s a long climb upwards before I reach Green Lane, although it’s not marked on my Ordnance Survey map, which is covered in stinky wild garlic.

I turn right into fields and cross a field with no discernible path through it but the Dart Valley Trail sign is pointing right across the field. I follow a deeply rutted track which is full of yesterday’s rain until I join the road at Fire Beacon Hill. It must be a stinky old path after some proper rain.

I briefly follow the road before climbing over a stile and along a track and I’m now on the outskirts of Dittisham, where I climb down Rectory Lane. I detour left to visit the church as the photo I took of the church on Sunday was overblown.

I retrace my steps and amble steeply down through Dittisham.

At the bottom of the road I reach the gaudy, pink Ferry Boat Inn and Anchorstone Cafe on the banks of the River Dart.

Here I catch the Greenway and Dittisham ferry which takes me over the river to Greenway. The ferry fare is £2.

I head up the road briefly and then head through a side entrance to the Greenway Estate, once the holiday home of Agatha Christie.

“One day we saw that a house was up for sale that I had known when I was young... So we went over to Greenway, and very beautiful the house and grounds were. A white Georgian house of about 1780 or 90, with woods sweeping down to the Dart below, and a lot of fine shrubs and trees - the ideal house, a dream house.”

— Agatha Christie

I spend a bit of time enjoying the edge of the gardens of Greenway Estate before heading for home.

I pass through a field on the outskirts of the estate before I enter a field where I have magnificent views high over the River Dart towards Dartmouth.

I follow a road past the Maypool Youth Hostel and from here it is a short walk back to Herons Rest.

FLORA AND FAUNA

Flora and fauna encountered on the walk today includes :-

skylarks
buzzards
honesty
red campion
bluebells
greater stitchwort
japanese knotweed
herb robert
celandines
wrens
whitethroats
chiffchaffs
navalwort
bugle
garlic mustard
gorse
lords and ladies
common dog-violet
oaks
holly
pheasants
swallows
wild garlic
early purple orchids
common bird’s-foot trefoil
orange tip butterflies
green alkanet
mint
foxgloves not quite in flower
buddleia
wild strawberries

PODCAST

The podcast of today's walk is now available. You can subscribe via the iTunes store or listen using the player below.

MARKS OUT OF TEN?

According to my phone I've walked 12.6 miles today which amounts to 25494 steps (on Saturday I managed to walk 14.2 miles with 29679 steps). It has been magnificent walking today in what turned out to be not too bad weather. The walk had ferries and trains and helicopters. Ten out of ten!

The total ascent today has been 997 feet or 303 metres.

MAP

dittisham to totnes

May 11, 2019 by Mark Seymour in dart valley trail

dart valley trail

sunday, 5th may 2019

It has been pretty nippy overnight and although I should be getting a fair amount of sunshine today it’s not going to be particularly warm.

Totnes high tide 07:41

Totnes low tide 14:02

I start the day at our holiday cottage, Herons Rest, set high above the River Dart and Dartmouth. I leave the cottage and turn left to head along the road towards Greenway.

I enter a field where I have magnificent views over the River Dart towards Dartmouth.

I head across another field and drop down towards the Greenway Estate, once the holiday home of Agatha Christie.

“One day we saw that a house was up for sale that I had known when I was young... So we went over to Greenway, and very beautiful the house and grounds were. A white Georgian house of about 1780 or 90, with woods sweeping down to the Dart below, and a lot of fine shrubs and trees - the ideal house, a dream house.”

— Agatha Christie

I walk along the edge of the gardens of Greenway Estate admiring the wildflowers and the rhododendrons, azaleas and camellias.

I pass through a gate and walk through the entrance to Greenway and head down the road towards the river where I catch the Greenway and Dittisham ferry. I would have rung the bell on Greenway Quay to summon the ferry but the ferryman was already there waiting.

The ferry putters its way over the river and takes me over to Dittisham. The ferry fare is £2.

I alight at the rather gaudy, pink, Ferry Boat Inn, known locally as the FBI.

I walk up through the village passing the Red Lion Inn.

At a T-junction next to St George’s Church, I turn sharply right down Lower Street and follow the road quite a long way out of Dittisham down to Dittisham Mill Creek.

Just before Dittisham Mill I turn right over a wooden footbridge and climb some stone steps before following a footpath along a field edge and then a wooded area covered in wild garlic. I turn left onto a minor road and climb up after a bridge at East Cornworthy before turning right at a signpost pointing to Coombe.

Here I come across a sign promising me that there will be loads of hedgehogs about. Needless to say I didn’t see any!

I pass Coombe Farm Studios and Gallery and Fingals Luxury Country House B&B.

At Barberry Cross I carry straight on before turning right down Broadgates Lane which is covered in bluebells and wild garlic.

I follow the lane which becomes a road and I cross straight over at Longland Cross, underneath a flying buzzard, and walk down into the village of Cornworthy. I come across housemartins nesting in the eaves of a house and enjoy the centaurea montana on the edges of a number of the front gardens.

I stop at the wisteria covered Hunters Lodge Inn. The inn is closed at the moment but new tenants Grahame and Sue Nutt, from Holmfirth, have just moved into the village and are hoping to have the pub opened towards the end of May.

I had wandered down through the village with a couple of friendly villagers and, seeing that I was taking photographs, they beckoned me over to the back of the pub to show me a mural painted on the back wall.

I pass through the rest of the village passing more wisteria covered houses.

Next to Court Prior Farm I turn right onto a footpath and pass a row of cottages where I have a final view over Cornworthy.

I enter Charleycombe Wood, managed by the Woodland Trust, and then drop down to the banks of Bow Creek.

I turn downhill through a kissing gate and then follow a signpost pointing to Tuckenhay half a mile away. I walk alongside Bow Creek and then climb steps steeply up through a newly planted area.

I pass through another kissing gate and rejoin the road at Tuckenhay Bridge and follow the road through the village of Tuckenhay where I pass the Maltsters Arms (@TheTuckenhayPub).

I follow the road out of Tuckenhay next to Bow Creek, passing, according to my Ordnance Survey map, Springfield House, but I must have missed it. I pass Perchwood Lime Kilns set in the wall by the side of the road and dating, apparently, from the 1940s. The rooks around here are making an awful racket.

At Bow Bridge I come across the Watermans Arms.

I retrace my steps and turn left down steps to some stepping stones which I’m supposed to use to cross over the creek. My fear of water gets the better of me and I retrace my steps back to the Watermans Arms even though the water is only a few inches deep!

I cross Bow Bridge and turn right and follow the road into the village of Ashprington where I pass the Durant Arms (@DurantArms).

Ashprington was recorded in the Domesday Book as the Manor of Aisbertona, and until an auction in September 1940 most of the greystone houses, with characteristic latticed windows and bargeboarded gables, belonged to the Sharpham Estate.

I pass the Church of St David on my left and amble along Sharpham Drive.

I come across the pillars of Sharpham House where Sharpham Vineyard can be found. At the pillars I turn left down a footpath where I have magnificent views over the River Dart and which proves to be a popular cycle path.

Sharpham House was built between 1770 and 1824 for Captain Philemon Pownall, with prize money from the capture of a Spanish treasure ship, and the estate is now a working vineyard, situated on the warm south-facing slopes above the Dart.

I leave the footpath, climb over a stile, and steeply drop down through a field. I climb over another stile at the bottom and then turn left past a field of cows.

I pass through Lower Gribble Plantation and then turn right over a stile and then amble along a path through fields, passing Higher Gribble Plantation and Linhay plantation.

I come across some early purple orchids in a particularly murky section of the wood.

I rejoin the banks of the river and walk through a wood and next to some fields before arriving at the wharf in Totnes. Unfortunately the path seems to have been re-routed behind the wharves through a scabby patch of ground, presumably because of the construction of Baltic Wharf housing development.

I leave the scabby patch of land and I’m now in Totnes next to the Steam Packet Inn.

I turn right and amble along the riverside path before rejoining the road which leads me to The Plains, a riverside area in the heart of Totnes. Since I’m here I’ll attempt to continue my walk along the Totnes Town Trail.

totnes town trail

It’s now time to explore Totnes a little bit. I’m stood by the Wills Memorial on The Plains. The granite obelisk commemorates William John Mills, A British surveyor who was born in Totnes, and was part of the first expedition to cross Australia from south to north.

Many of the buildings here were originally warehouses.

I turn left into Fore Street and admire the Tudor and Victorian buildings which line the street.

I detour left down Bank Lane where I find a brightly yellow painted Gothic House whose facade features castellations and sharply pointed windows. It is built in a style known as 'Strawberry Hill Gothic'. It also has the unusual distinction of having a Public Right of Way pass right through it.

I rejoin Fore Street and climb up it until I reach the Mansion, a red brick Georgian building built in 1795. It was once the old grammar school and is now a community facility.

I continue along Fore Street and pass the teeny Atherton Lane, full of colourful flower pots (and wheelie bins!).

The Brutus Stone is set into the pavement exactly opposite Atherton Lane. In the 12th Century the historian, Geoffrey of Monmouth wrote about the landing in Totnes of Brutus the Trojan. It was believed that Britain takes its name from him. Royal proclamations over the centuries have been read out on the stone by the mayor and the custom continues to this day.

I continue up the hill and reach Totnes Museum on my left, once an Elizabethan merchant’s house and now a museum housing period furniture, costumes, toys and games. It also houses an exhibition about Charles Babbage whose link with Totnes seems to be rather tenuous although he did attend the grammar school here for a short while.

I can now see the East Gate Arch, spanning Fore Street, once the gateway to the medieval town and faithfully reconstructed after a devastating fire in 1990. The gate house houses English in Totnes, founded in 1980 and offering English language courses.

I continue my walk along Fore Street which merges into High Street where I turn right up some steps to follow Ramparts Walk which follows the line of the old town walls.

I turn left to enter the churchyard of St Mary’s Church. The church was completed in 1450 on the site of Totnes Priory which was dissolved in the sixteenth century and there is no longer any trace of the priory.

I walk down some steps to the right of the 120 foot red sandstone tower of the church which leads to the Guildhall, built in 1553 and over the years it has been used as the town gaol, boy's school, magistrates court, and is still used today as the Council Chambers and Mayor's parlour for Totnes Town Council.

I pass Guildhall Cottage and then turn left into Church Close and regain the High Street.

I turn right into the High Street and climb upwards. The covered walkway in front of the shops is known as The Butterwalk. In Tudor times the shops were open fronted stalls with accommodation above. The Butterwalk was built to protect the dairy products sold here from the sun and rain, whilst the covered walkway opposite protected poultry stalls.

I turn right into Castle Street and just before the North Gate I come across Totnes Castle, a classic Norman motte and bailey castle.

I return to the High Street and turn right to walk through the Narrows towards the site of the old West Gate.

I turn left across an open space area called the Rotherfold.

From here I should be able to amble up Leechwell Street to come across the Kingsbridge Inn, allegedly the oldest pub in Totnes. Unfortunately, and confusingly I fail to find the pub. I walk in both directions but just can’t seem to find it so maybe I just didn’t walk far enough.

That’s the end of the Totnes Town Trail for now. I’ll have to come back another time and explore the trail more thoroughly when I’ve got much more time. I retrace my steps to the North Street car park where my lift awaits back to Herons Rest.

FLORA AND FAUNA

Flora and fauna encountered on the walk today includes :-

robins
chiffchaffs
cuckooflower
wild garlic
bluebells
greater stitchwort
red campion
garlic mustard
rhododendrons
azaleas
camellias
hawthorn
primroses
swans
song thrushes
orange tip butterflies
pheasants
no hedgehogs!
cow parsley
celandines
a red admiral butterfly
squirrels
blackcaps
chaffinches
green alkanet
a buzzard
housemartins
wisteria
speckled wood butterflies
a peacock butterfly

PODCAST

The podcast of today's walk is now available. You can subscribe via the iTunes store or listen using the player below.

MARKS OUT OF TEN?

According to my phone I've walked 13.2 miles today which amounts to 26331 steps. It has been a lovely day’s walking today and although it was a cold start the fleece didn’t stay on for long. Just a shame I failed to complete the Totnes Town Trail. Nine out of ten!

The total ascent today has been 664 feet or 202 metres.