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| Shaugh Beacon |
The day after the 'heavy snowfall' hit the south-west resulted in idiots queuing along the B3357 and B3212 roads to reach the 'high moor', but today, we opted for a gentle stroll to bag a straggler which has been bothering me for a while now: Shaugh Beacon.
We parked up at Cadover Bridge, heading west-south-west through North Wood, passing the beautiful Little Cadover Tor first visited
here.
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| Little Cadover Tor |
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| Little Cadover Tor |
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| Little Cadover Tor |
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| Little Cadover Tor |
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| Little Cadover Tor |
The pipeline track through North Wood is very picturesque, providing the odd glimpse of unnamed (to my knowledge) crags across the Plym as it creases the valley. I photographed these on the way back as part of this walk wasn't circular.
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| North Wood |
Exiting North Wood we immediately turned left up a faint track ascending the hillside. It wasn't obvious at first but the lack of bracken sure made it a lot easier than it could've been. To my surprise, Shaugh Beacon isn't at the top of the hill but it sure does feel like it.
The tor itself is stunning, exhibiting a fine rock basin with good geology including quartz. The views are magnificent, best remarked by Eric Hemery:
"..the west escarpment of Shaugh Moor bends to form a spur thrusting its foot into the Plym at Shaugh Bridge six hundred feet below; the plateau top of the spur is known as 'Shaden' (that is, Sha Down) and the remnant of a tor on its brow as 'Shaugh Beacon', its extensive clitter being cast upon the precipitous slope of West Down. This, the very brink of high Dartmoor, is a thrilling place to stand on, with glimpses north-eastward of greater heights and, at one's feet, of the rolling Plym in the gorge below and the dominating crag of Dewer Stone."
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| Shaugh Beacon |
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| Shaugh Beacon |
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| Shaugh Beacon rock basin - frozen |
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| Shaugh Beacon more rock basins |
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| Shaugh Beacon quartz |
The tor is quite compact and its lower rocks spread down the hill beside a well-worn trail.
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| Shaugh Beacon lower tor |
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| Shaugh Beacon lower rocks |
The trail only gets more distinct as it descends into the woodland. We were going to visit West Down Piles, but after seeing how far up we were decided 'nah'; instead, heading the opposite direction would soon see us at the impressive West Down Tor.
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| West Down Tor lower |
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| West Down Tor lower |
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| West Down Tor lower |
Then, the south rock, resembling a logan stone.
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| West Down Tor south rock |
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| West Down Tor south rock |
And West Down Tor upper.
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| West Down Tor upper |
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| West Down Tor upper |
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| West Down Tor upper |
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| West Down Tor upper |
Back on the pipeline track, we exited the woodland where we viewed the striking Dewerstone Rock, or Rocks, as it should be called.
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| Dewerstone Rock |
Before re-entering North Wood, we caught a glimpse of those crags below Oxen Tor which I mentioned earlier. They don't look fun to reach.
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| Oxen Tor |
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| Unnamed crags below Oxen Tor |
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| Unnamed crags below Oxen Tor |
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| North Wood |
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| North Wood |
Back in North Wood, I noticed a large, isolated boulder up to the right.
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| Isolated Boulder |
It was a very simple walk back past Little Cadover Tor to the car park.
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| Stream near Dunstone |
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| Little Cadover Tor |
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| River Plym |
