Of late I have been neglecting ‘walking’ blog posts in favour of pursuing other landscape stories that have piqued my interest. But that doesn’t mean I have stopped walking. Last week I had a walk around a peripheral part of south Dartmoor , following the Erme through Longtimber Woods and then circling back across Hangar Down and Henlake Down. Here are the 7 Interesting Things I noticed along the way …
7 Interesting Things
1. The Brunel Viaduct
I started my walk by parking on Station Road, diverging onto a footpath, and heading north under the railway viaduct towards the Erme. This viaduct was constructed in 1894, with a double standard track gauge, designed by the engineer Sir James Inglis. Mirroring this valley-spanning structure, which is still in use today, are the granite piers of an earlier viaduct by the more famous Brunel. Built in 1848, this first viaduct was for a single broad gauge track, which ran on a timber trestle structure across the tops of the piers.
There are a number of drawings, paintings and photographs of the earlier of the two viaducts from different perspectives, all of which are delightful. I have chosen this one, dated 21st August 1848, as it was drawn in the year the viaduct was opened. I also chose it because it shows the road I parked on – Station Road. This road does not appear on the 1840s Tithe Map, and, as its name implies, this road was also constructed as part of the new ‘railway’ landscape.
2. White Bridge
A short distance beyond the viaduct, on the path leading through Longtimber Woods, is a stone flanked track that heads to the riverbank. There is no bridge across the Erme at this place today; the track now ends where the Erme gushes through a deep rocky gully. This former footbridge site is not an ancient crossing but one that seems to have arisen as a result of the railway.
According to the information board on the entrance to the woods, this footbridge, known as White Bridge, was built in the 19th C, to allow pedestrian access to old Ivybridge station. The station was on the west side of the viaduct, and was awkward to get to for people living on the eastern, Stowford and Harford side. Without this footbridge they would have to divert about 450 m south, to find the nearest bridge, and then ascend back up the steep hill a similar distance to the station. Shaving 15 minutes off the time to get to the station, it is easy to see why the footbridge was added when the railway came to Ivybridge.
3. The Swimming Pool
On the flat floodplain next to the Erme is a sizeable pound; not an old pound, for it post-dates the 1840s tithe map. Within this is a muddy pool containing whose water are far removed from being potable. However, this pool was originally built as a reservoir in 1874, serving Ivybridge with drinking water until 1916.
Newer and improved reservoirs made it redundant, but during WW2 it took on a new lease of life, as a swimming pool. American troops stationed at Ivybridge, ahead of D-Day, used it for training, and subsequently, many local children were taught to swim here right up until the 1960s. The pool was even furnished with a changing hut and diving board. Now, with the pool silted up, it is hard to believe that splashing bathers once boinged off its diving board, having summertime fun. The only bather I spotted was a spaniel; but it was November.
4. Hanger Down and its ‘Clump’
Many of the downs of the Dartmoor fringes retain a ‘moory’ feel, with gorse, bracken and hawthorn. Hanger Down isn’t like this. There is some bracken but, on the unfenced part, it is mostly rough grass pasture; fairly featureless apart from the distinctive circle of trees ringed by a wall, known as the Hanger Down Clump.
When I walked across the down there were many horses and ponies of assorted sizes, including some big ‘shirey’ looking ones. There were also ubiquitous cows. Most ignored me but one was not happy, its body language jittery and its eye contact intent. I veered from the path to give it a wide berth and, once I had got beyond it, the cow calmed.
Hanger Down takes its name from the farmstead of Hanger to its west. According to the Oxford English Dictionary ‘hanger‘ is an Old English word for a wood on the side of a slope. With few trees now, this name speaks to a medieval time of more abundant woodland.
5. Saffron Fields at Uppaton
Saffron Cake and Saffron Buns, with their warm yellow dough, dotted with dark currants, are considered to be very Cornish cuisine. I don’t want to get into a turf war about buns, but saffron was not exclusively grown and used in Cornwall (I offer up Saffron Walden!). This is testified by some fields at Uppaton Farm. Just south of the farmhouse, were two fields used to grow this expensive golden dye – Saffron Park (field 264) and Little Saffron Park (Field 265).
Saffron comes from the orange-red stigma of the crocus, which, when dried, have a long history of being used in bakery, confectionary, liquors, medicines and fabric. It was used, not just as a dye but also to impart flavour and for medicinal properties. The word is ultimately an Arabic one – za’farān – and is also known by this name in Turkish, Persian and Jewish Aramaic. The name speaks to the fact that, at some point in history, it was introduced to Britain from the Mediterranean; possibly by the Romans, with a re-introduction as a consequence of the crusades (1095-1291). This accords with the first mention of Saffron in the Oxford English Dictionary, which is from c. 1200. However, the first mention of crocus appears in c. 1000.
Saffron is labour intensive and therefore, per gram, a pricey product. It was grown and harvested by people whose profession was called ‘croker’, which might explain why this surname is one that is common in the south west. Throughout the 18th and 19th centuries, the market for saffron plummeted in the face of industrial dyes and new medicines. Presumably, the days of saffron growing in the fields at Uppaton were impacted by these trends, and their days were numbered.
6. Post Knocker at Sherrell Farm
A common countryside sight, spied when walking footpaths, often tangled in brambles or guarded by nettles, are archaic bits of farm machinery. I love these treasures of bygone agricultural technology. Unlike fly-tipped TVs or washing machines, agricultural discards don’t carry any of this negative baggage; they feel like they belong in the hedges.
Normally I can take a stab at working out what the rusting equipment used to do – an old harrow, a hay turner or mower. In the hedge, as I passed through Sherrell Farm, was an erect rusty tool, dangling its redundant chain. Unable to work out its function my agricultural partner was able to shed some light – it is a ‘Parmiter three legged post knocker’. It attached, through a three point linkage, to a tractor, connected to drive a powerful ‘ram’, to knock fence posts into the ground. Before the days of mechanisation, hammering posts into the often shallow and hard Dartmoor soil must have been an absolute pig of a job. I bet, in its day, this bit of kit felt like the best thing since sliced bread.
7. Metalimestones of Henlake Down
Whilst most (but not all) of high Dartmoor is granite, around the edges are lots of other rocks, doing interesting things. The western part of Henlake Down is such a place where the rocks stand out, mainly because they look more like timber than rock. Scattered about are big lumps of finely laminated rock, that gives the appearance of tree rings.
In fact, in the very distant past, these lamina were, just like tree rings, organic. They were laid down as limestones, in the Carboniferous, in the warm waters of a tropical sea known as the Rheic Ocean. However, as the old continent of Gondwana pushed up into the Laurussia plate, this ocean closed, burying and pressurising the ancient limestone so that it metamorphosed into the hard micro-stratified rocks that we see today.
The Route
- Parking on Station Road, head north and divert onto the footpath to the right, under the viaduct [1].
- Follow the footpath besides the River Erme, noticing the location of the former footbridge ‘White Bridge’ to the right[2] and then the reservoir, sited within a walled pound, to the left [3].
- Keep following by the river until the path briefly turns westwards. At a footpath t-juntion, head north (to the right) across an eastward limb of Hanger Down.
- The footpath crosses a boundary into woodland. Take care here to vere to the left, as there is another, more obvious track to the right which its is easy to stay on and go wrong.
- It was November when I walked this, but I found the path, past the King’s Barn and towards ‘Hall’, very wet and muddy. Notice the sign on the gate as you emerge onto the road. It says ‘Today will be yesterday tomorrow’.
- At Hall, walk along the road westwards (i.e., turn left), until you get to the juntion called Hall Cross on the OS map. Turn left again here to head roughly south across Hanger Down, heading for Whingreen [4].
- Walk along the road until you almost get to Uppaton [5], then take the footpath eastwards on the bend, across fields to Sherrell Farm [6].
- Carry on the track until you meet the road at Sherrill Cottage, turn left to head for the reservoir on the southern part of Hanger Down.
- Turn right at the reservoir and take the footpath that cuts through to Henlake Down [7]. Different footpaths cross the down so take one of these, heading downhill and back to the viaduct and Station Road.
Bibliography
British Geological Survey, BGS Geology Viewer. https://geologyviewer.bgs.ac.uk/
Caiola, Maria Grilli; Canini, Antonella (2010). Looking for Saffron’s (Crocus sativus L.) Parents. Functional Plant Science and Biotechnology. 4 (2): 1–14.
Collingwood, J. 2022. Geology of Dartmoor. Tavicinity.
English Saffron. The History of Saffron. https://www.englishsaffron.co.uk/history-of-saffron
Historic Environment Record. Reservoir in Longtimber Wood, Cornwood. HER Number: MDV46769.
Ivybridge Heritage. Ivybridge Viaduct. https://ivybridge-heritage.org/archive/ivybridge-viaduct-station/
Oxford English Dictionary. 1989. 2nd ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Saffron Walden Museaum. Saffron and Walden. https://saffronwaldenmuseum.swmuseumsoc.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Saffron.pdf
Saffron Walden Museum. Saffron and Walden. https://saffronwaldenmuseum.swmuseumsoc.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Saffron.pdf
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