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. A two-hour OCTOBER 2017 OCTOBER garrulous river chatters Lyd its , of entirety desolate l Next morning, truck on east for 10 minutes and you’ll come to one of the grandest of Dartmoor’s tors, the Hay of massif mighty, must-ascend A 20-minuteTor. scramble up slopes, of views stirring brings stone, then distant to the north, and south the to Channel glittering the Crowds often throng the top, but walk few a hundred metres, and it’s just you and the ever-present watching. And Circling. ravens. black l Now head arrow-west to . Quite possibly the Britain, in settlement forbidding most the entire place its by is dominated notorious prison, which feels like the mad black palace of a local despot Serious jailbirds deemed too old and inert to escape are kept here. Check out the prison museum (dartmoor- prison.co.uk; £3.50), with its creepy guns, and shivs DIY historic of hoard made by evil cons. Brrr. l No tour of moody Dartmoor would be complete without a yomp to Wistman’s Wood, just minutes by car survival rare a and Princetown from of stunted oak trees, proving that the entire moor was once forested (and warmer, and drier). ancient The gnarly, and pelts with adorned are trees ribbons of fairy-tale moss fevered the from something daydreams of a drunken Tolkien. l Your trip is nearly so over, spend that very somewhere afternoon second (nationaltrust. Gorge, different: the on £9.80), org.uk/lydford-gorge; far western edge of the moor, where the way down wooded cataracts and cascades bosky round-trip begins at the White Lady Waterfall and ends at the Devil’s Cauldron. Legends abound in between, as do picnic spots. l End this mystical weekend with a twilit, half-hour clamber up nearby with its eerie, redolently , Neolithic remains, Iron Age hill fort, and Michael St Victorian of peculiar church de Rupe. But really it’s the epic views that inspire, with Sound to the south, Cornwall to the west, and the rearing to the sky, right behind you.

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Pony Tales Dartmoor’s Dartmoor’s ponies are a bit of a mystery, possibly here introduced as far back as 3500BC. Though to appear they roam wild, each has an owner somewhere on the moor I Ha North Bo

ord Ne Mistical magic: in morning early Widecombe-in- the-Moor; below, one of the wild live that ponies St Dartmoor; on Michael de Rupe Church, Brentor

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lympt National Park W ey P ’s Gr do . With its sepia photos on ock y 10km & vist Wistman orth ee Ta Yelvert d Gorge N S l The name alone, Grey abridge Gulw or dfor Ly Horr 0 Brent the granite heights granite the . Try and do it at dusk when the moor has a unique and spectral light, known as ‘dimmity’ to lyrical locals. Wethers, is occult enough, and the reality is a great introduction to Start desolations. mystic Dartmoor’s the weekend by parking your car in the hamlet of Frenchbeer, then do hike map-and-compass two-hour a through the conifers of Fernworthy Forest, to the swathe of moorland sedge, and you’ll find these twinned delicately melancholic, stone circles, huddled together bleakness infinite and rolling in l Not spooked enough? Drive 25 minutes east, through , to rugged (nationaltrust. org.uk/castle-drogo; £12). Famously ‘the last castle built in Britain’ (for the mega-rich Drewe dynasty), it was completed in 1930. Its lush gardens and a merit definitely salons aristocratic tour. But the silent, aching heart is the slain son, eldest an to belonging room in the Great War of lost and gilded youth, it feels like generation. entire an memorial to the l End your first day by blasting historic cobwebs at Dartmoor Stables (01364 www.dartmoorstables.com; 621281, £59 for two hours; book ahead), in Widecombe- cob-n-thatch cute in-the-Moor, half an hour south of Drogo. Kids, novices and jockeys alike can all hack real Dartmoor ponies onto ✂ GUIDE CUT-OUT-AND-GO Dartmoor

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instant escapes 140 Eerie mists, ancient tors — get nature back to at its mystical wildest

As national parks it’s go, the not biggest: can you drive it in across an hour, both) ideally, and the see But (or, it car best in of by or a weekend. on foot it’s adventure: a real savage moorland, misty mires, barrows, Age Stone Enigmaticand eerie and granite intriguing tower). tors the (from for Celtic southern to ’s— welcome last true wilderness. Thomas Sean By Mysterious ✂ instant escapes

CUT-OUT-AND-GO GUIDE I MYSTERIOUS DARTMOOR

Eat DRINK l Proper local market l Proper pub FOOD Farmers’ Market basics Rugglestone Inn Because: This Farmers’ Market Self-caterers Because: It has pies and crab sarnies showcases top produce — perfect for who need more and a lovely garden in one of the area’s than picnicky a picnic. Get your carbs from Bread nibbles can shop prettiest villages, yet maintains the air of , meats from Pomeroy Rare at Tesco, Waitrose of a genuine local. Travel’s tip: Fallen for Breeds, jellies and chutneys from and Sainsbury’s in the place? You can stay in a converted Kingston Preserves, and much more. nearby towns barn next door. Widecombe-in-the- such as Tavistock Travel’s tip: It’s open on the second, and Moor; rugglestoneinn.co.uk. fourth and fifth Saturdays every — the moor has no month. Or try Chagford’s delis and supermarkets of l Rambling Victorian coaching inn any decent size butchers. Bedford Square, Tavistock; Two Bridges Hotel tavistockfarmersmarket.com. Because: It’s good for Princetown and Wistman’s Woods, and serves Jail Ale l Atmospheric pub grub and worth-a-pitstop lunches, with log Warren House Inn (Mains fires and moorland all around. Travel’s about £6) tip: It’s rightly popular — book ahead Because: In sweeping moorland, it for a supper table. Cream-tea-time radiates solitude, 15 minutes’ drive is even busier. Two Bridges; 01822 from Princetown. Go for Warreners 892300, twobridges.co.uk. rabbit pie and a local Tanglefoot beer. Travel’s tip: Settle in by ye olde peat l Child-friendly stop-off DAY-TRIP fire, said to have been burning since TIP The Inn the 1840s. Nr ; warren Add this pub to Because: It’s in one of Dartmoor’s houseinn.co.uk; closed Mon and Tues. your itinerary enticing, less-touristy villages. Dogs with Lydford and hikers all welcome. Travel’s tip: Gorge and/or l Very decent bistro Brentor — it’s There’s a playground at the back for Whiddons (Two courses from £23) handy for both infants. Look out for steak specials on Because: Chagford brims with good and perfect Saturdays. ; thelondoninn for a cold pint eating and this cosy bistro does reliably horrabridge.co.uk. delicious food (eg, confit duck leg with plum sauce) at fair prices. Travel’s tip: Sip aperitifs in the Three Crowns Hotel Stay l Devonshire serenity l Great value luxury Get me there down the road. Dating from the 13th ASK THE l Exquisite self-catering Moorland Garden Hotel CAR-HIRE Boringdon Hall (Doubles GO INDEPENDENT CLEVER century, it’s said to be haunted by LOCAL Widecombe Cottage (From £395 (Doubles from £99, B&B) Here you’re 5km from £149, room only) Great Western Railway (0345 700 0125, Cavalier poets. High St, Chagford; Paul Rendell has been a week, sleeping two, ie, £57 a night) Because: Handily situated on the from the moor, so Because: This is a Grade 1 Elizabethan gwr.com) runs to from whiddonseatery.co.uk. guiding on the moor for Because: On a lush, wooded hillside, Lydford edge of the moor, where the if you’re planning armour-in-the-lobby manor house, Paddington from £92 return; from more than 20 years this stone croft has been imaginatively rocks and bracken surrender to pastoral to explore by hire with a Great Hall and minstrels’ gallery Manchester £120. See nationalrail.co.uk (paulrendelldartmoor. car, note: roads l Serious restauranting co.uk) converted into a romantic bolthole, all hills, this quiet concrete-but-cute are narrow and (Elizabeth 1 herself stayed here), and for national connections. Meet-and- Horn of Plenty (Three-course open-plan exposed-oak rustic chic. hotel also boasts one of the area’s twisty, bridges two spiffing restaurants. Travel’s tip: greet car hire can be arranged at dinner about £49) If you want to really get Travel’s tip: Rugglestone Inn (see Drink) better restaurants — try the Elston Farm barely two metres The spa, with its heated pool, saunas Newton Abbot through Budget (0808 wide. Rent the Because: Food at this Jane Austen-ish away from it all, then it is a five-minute walk, but shops are off sausages. Travel’s tip: Get an upstairs and ultra-luxe gym, is the best of its 284 4444, budget.co.uk). The nearest smallest car Georgian manor house is tip-top, doesn’t get better than Lower Barn at the moor — so stock up. Widecombe- room for just £6 more. They have you can kind in southwest England — you won’t airport is Exeter, with services from notably the Cornish partridge in Sherberton (anton-coaker.co.uk), a in-the-moor; 01364 621466, www. sizeable balconies with generous regret a wallow. , Plymouth; Manchester, London City, Belfast and Earl Grey jus. Travel’s tip: Stroll around self-catering cottage, with no wi-fi or exclusivelydartmoor.co.uk. views. Yelverton; 01822 852245, 01752 548058, boringdonhall.co.uk. Edinburgh. Flybe (flybe.com) has the gardens, with their views of the mobile reception. Amazing isolation. If I C moorlandgardenhotel.co.uk. Edinburgh-Exeter returns from £130.

Tamar Valley. ; 01822 you like fly-fishing, contact the Arundell l Happy hostel GRAPH l Moorland grandeur O 832528, thehornofplenty.co.uk. Arms Hotel (arundellarms.com) — it’s YHA Postbridge (Doubles from l Location, location, degustation Bovey Castle (Doubles from Further information got almost as much river as Prince £89, dorm beds from £19, room only) Hotel and Spa £180, B&B) With tundra-like eco-systems on the HEAD CART HEAD l For a real splurge Charles. A real problem in Dartmoor is Because: Bang in the middle of the N (Doubles from £145, B&B) Because: It’s PG Wodehouse meets northern tors, and subtropical nooks DE

Gidleigh Park HOTEL (Three- if you’re people who drive too fast and hit the moor (ie, near Two Bridges), and A I Because: It’s a sprawling Edwardian Beowulf, a ’20s-esque resort for in the sheltered south, there is no one

walking… M : course dinner about £125) Beware: chunks wild ponies. There’s a speed limit beautifully remote, with a games hotel, squirrelled away in its own grassy Bed and board: golfers in tartan (the course is right perfect time to visit Dartmoor. While

Because: It serves up the best food in of Dartmoor are for a reason — stick to it. Do take a room, wi-fi, laundry, a decent bar, Y MAP precincts, yet superbly located for clockwise from top outside), yet it has huge antler-hung winter is brutal, autumn and spring are Devon, even the southwest: Cornish used by the Army guided night walk along the Lych Way and everything from kayaking to some of Dartmoor’s highlights. Travel’s left, stay at Gidleigh lounges with leaded windows, making low on crowds, displaying the moor in as a firing range Park Hotel — for the brill with hazelnut praline, Lakeland — where locals once hefted coffins to rock-climbing on your doorstep, this tip: The spa and pool are lovely for rainy the most of the moorland views. all moods. You can escape to Plymouth (see gov.uk for AGES, GETT food; manicured lamb with ‘parsnip bark’ — all amazing. off-limits times). Lydford church, right across the moor. hostel is a real bargain. Travel’s tip: days (there’s not much else to do here exterior of the Travel’s tip: Exploit the free facilities in 20 minutes, or the ‘Devon Riviera’ Travel’s tip: Come out of season for Other hazards It’s a spooky thrill, even if I do say so if you’re travelling en famille, book but walk), and don’t ignore the hotel Moorland Garden (pool, falconry displays). It also offers ( to Dartmouth), which is wooded weir walks — it’s convenient include floods. myself (I guide them!). one of the doubles sleeping four. restaurant, one of the best on Hotel; Bovey Castle; art classes, hot-air ballooning, and temperate year-round. For more Break an ankle in fine dining at the for Grey Wethers and Drogo, too. a remote mire, Postbridge; 01822 880227, the moor. Ilsington; 01364 661452, Horn of Plenty; yoga-on-the-moor. ; information see visitdevon.co.uk

Gidleigh; 01647 432367, gidleigh.co.uk. and you could die yha.org.uk. AWL IMPHOTOGRAPHS: ilsington.co.uk. Rugglestone Inn 01647 445000, boveycastle.com. and visitdartmoor.co.uk.

142 Sunday Times Travel OCTOBER 2017 OCTOBER 2017 Sunday Times Travel 143