Yesterday was a great Sunday. I got up pretty early and did quite a lot of work on my Forest of Dreams quilt back. Forget everything you think is great about mere bacon and eggs. When Steve got up, we started our day with bacon loin steak, scrambled eggs and toast.
Breakfast of the Champions
Then we decided to walk to Grey Wethers, a Bronze Age double stone circle on Dartmoor. We got our walking gear on, packed a lunch and drove to Fernworthy Reservoir, just 15 minutes from home.
Fernworthy Reservoir
We had our OS map, which is a good thing to have. Still, we got a bit lost. There’s a huge managed pine plantation called Fernworthy Forest that we had to cross in order to get onto the open moor. We ended up in a network of logging roads in the woods, which were on the map, but we couldn’t figure out which point on the map corresponded to where we were on the ground.
Steve has a compass on his iPhone and we got high enough above the treeline to orient ourselves to a couple of tors, so we knew the general direction to take. It was slightly irritating, but I felt OK (I normally have an irrational fear of getting lost). Steve’s done a lot of walking and knows how to navigate with a contour map.
We finally made our way out of the forest onto open ground.
Lost and found
It was my idea to walk to some higher ground so we could see landmarks and it was Steve who spotted Grey Wethers off in the distance.
So off we set across some quite boggy ground and reached our destination. It was well worth persevering. We were the only people for miles around and the stone circles are quite special.
Navigator Steve Coxon
We sat next to a wind-blocking stone and had our lunch.
Ham, apple & Babybel cheese
Before we headed back, we climbed up a rise to get a bird’s eye view of Grey Wethers.
This time we were in sync with the map and had a public footpath to follow back to the woods.
Towards Fernworthy Forest
I always love to stop and look at things which catch my eye along the way.
Someone’s dinner
Dartmoor granite, moss, lichen & meadow buttercups
Hot pink spray painted fern
Two leaf clover
When we got back to the water, we stopped to visit some beautiful iris growing at the edge of the reservoir. In the Victorian language of flowers, yellow iris convey passion.
Budding passion
Tranquility
As we drove back to the main road, we passed a herd of Dartmoor ponies who seemed very used to having their portraits taken.
I was pretty tuckered out when we got back. While I took a nap, Steve made a delicious roast beef dinner. What a way to wake up and finish a fabulous Sunday!
