CLASSIC WALK TEIGN &

Mark is a globetrotting freelance travel journalist TURRETS and photographer writing for many national news- papers and magazines. The Teign is ’s most iconic river. From a bleak He lives on Dartmoor moorland spring, it meanders some 50km to the South with his partner and two coast at Teignmouth. This four-hour walk in its upper valley takes slightly naughty horses. in wonderous views and the glorious vision of a certain Mr. Drewe

lies shortly before Dogmarsh precipitous v-sided gorge into Bridge near Sandy Park where the Teign. Walking eastwards, you’ll find a fine inn and the juxtaposition of conifers accommodation. and deciduous trees resemble a Beyond the A382 crossing patchwork quilt. we enter the National Trust’s I often walk this stretch 240ha Castle Drogo estate and around late April to find holly continue ahead keeping the blue butterflies and rare pearl- Teign to our right. The estate’s bordered fritillaries with wing raison d’etre, the castle, looms patterns resembling stained-glass high on your horizon to the left. windows. Conservation work But before reaching it our walk completed by the National Trust along riverside pasture enters along here has created a mosaic a billowing forest of oak, hazel of bracken and heather to foster and birch, which is as beautiful this rare insect. Dartmoor as any British woodland. There is a refuge for many of our are inspiring views along this most endangered butterflies wooded gorge yet first its time including the High Brown and for a spot of hard work. Before Heath Fritillaries. And don’t be the Teign’s newish suspension- surprised to see other natives, footbridge, a multiple signpost Dartmoor ponies, pop out of the leads us uphill first signed woodland along this path. ‘Hunter’s Path’, then ‘Castle Decision time? At the next Drogo’. This climb is breathless signpost junction go straight both in energy and anticipation. ahead towards Fingle Bridge. I defy even the craggiest But for the sake of an hour’s cynic not to be moved by diversion it would be a pity to such imperious views once miss out on the anachronistic the ‘Hunter’s Path’ levels out. Castle Drogo itself: a ten-minute The spring and early summer stroll uphill to your left. canopy is vibrantly lime-green; it In the early 1900s self-made

Photo: NTPL/John Millar NTPL/John Photo: tumbles nearly 100m down the millionaire decided

ith pubs, restaurants, or grey herons stalking the and accommodation, crystalline flow. More recently Wthe 14th-century I surprised another paid-up tin-mining stannary town member of this feathery anglers of is the perfect club – a little egret. launchpad to commence our Another surprise soon walk. Heading northeastwards waits with an enchanting out of Chagford past the Primary sculpture called Granite Song School, hikers first encounter the positioned on a little river island. Teign when crossing Rushford Resembling a cleft boulder, local Bridge before joining it beyond sculptor Peter Randall-Page Rushford Mill Farm along the Two is one of many internationally Moors Way Regional Trail. I’ve renowned artists who draw lost count how many times on inspiration from Dartmoor. His this alder and willow vegetated work can be seen along the stretch of river that I’ve seen Thames in London and at The

the turquoise flash of kingfishers Eden Project. This sculpture Millar NTPL/John Photo:

1014 ACTIVE DARTMOOR CLASSIC WALK the nearby and partly eponymous FOOT FILE village LENGTH: 12km (7.5 miles) represented his ancestral home. TIME: 3-4 hrs Not only did he purchase the START/FINISH: Chagford Square woodland you’ve been strolling SUITABLE FOR: Moderately fit through but also employed the MAP: OS Explorer OL28 most famous architect of his PUBLIC TRANSPORT: Service generation, Sir , 173 from Exeter Bus Station to construct the last castle ever PARKING: Chagford car park finished in England. near Jubilee Hall (GR702874)

Julius Drewe died shortly after NTPL/Robert Morris Photo: its completion in 1931 but he must have been rightly delighted with this Grade 1 listed castle OF THE that was gifted to the National Trust in 1974. Besides an on-site BEST café and toilets, walkers can pay Both are calf-straining yomps Drogo estate once generated 5 to enter the stylish castle with uphill but let’s save these for hydroelectric power from the CASTLE DROGO its forbidding portcullis and another day and enjoy a quick Teign and if he were alive today, England’s newest castle octagonal towers or can mosey half of cider while watching old Master Drewe would be finished in 1930 is an eclectic mix of native brown trout and salmon delighted with the National around the manicured Arts and architectural styles. Crafts-inspired gardens that milling in the Teign’s heather Trust’s recent installation of feature a circular croquet lawn tannin-coloured flow. woodchip burning technology PEARL-BORDERED enclosed by a mighty yew hedge. It’s now around 5km back to to power his castle. Some of the FRITILLARIES This rare butterfly’s favoured Excursion over, head back Chagford. Immediately before woodland you’ve passed through habitat is woodland glades down to the ‘Hunter’s Path’ the bridge is a gate accessing will provide this sustainably and its larvae require signpost to continue eastwards hikers onto the right-bank harvested fuel source. decaying bracken to thrive. (turn left then keep right) (although a flatter if less scenic Eventually you’ll recognize the HUNTER’S PATH VIEW through oak plantation towards path alternative runs parallel on suspension-footbridge reached One of the best viewpoints Fingle Bridge. On this descent, the left-bank). The ‘Fisherman’s earlier and you must retrace in all Dartmoor. I always pause upon Sharp Tor’s Path’ is one of Dartmoor’s your footsteps back to Chagford. rocky promontory to soak in loveliest footpaths: tracing the But just before it is a salmon KINGFISHERS blistering views and listen to Teign through dappled oak and leap where every November This resident fisher has upward of 8,000 pairs in the clucking ravens while sightings hazel woodland. On sunny days Atlantic salmon pursue epic UK. Listen out for its shrill of buzzards wheeling above are the river sparkles ethereally and journeys upriver to spawn in the piping birdsong. commonplace. you’ll almost certainly encounter moorland Teign. This really is a Fingle Bridge is reached by dippers hopping between the walk for all seasons. n FINGLE BRIDGE Centuries of wagons have mossy rocks while nuthatches turning right when the ‘Hunter’s trundled over this bridge. Path’ eventually intersects a fuss around oaks. Halfway along small road. There’s been an inn is an old pumping station on the at Fingle Bridge since the late opposite bank. 19th-century while the arched E is at least mid- G 1600s and probably well beyond. H Either side of the valley F lays two ancient Iron Age hillforts: Cranbrook D and Prestonbury stretching back millennia.

C

B A Leave Chagford taking first left junction past school (GR704880) B Right turn through Rushford Mill Farm (GR706885 C Follow sign to Dogmarsh Bridge crossing (GR713894) D Foot suspension bridge take left junction signed ‘Hunter’s Path’ A Shortcut (GR722897) One hour can E Sharp right junction through gate after 700m signed ‘Castle Drogo’ be shaved off from the return (GR720902) section between Chagford and Signed left fork junction to Castle Drogo excursion (GR726901) Dogmarsh Bridge by parking near F the bridge on the A382 or in G Hunter’s Path meets road – turn right (GR743901) Sandy Park. But roadside parking is H Right onto signposted Fisherman’s Path at Fingle Bridge (GR743899) strictly limited.

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