Great Links Tor,
Panoramic views of including the Tamar Valley, Bodmin Moor and Plymouth Sound, plus much industrial history, make this fine walk memorable.
Dartmoor
estern Dartmoor is studded with a dramatic line of weather beaten granite tors. This rewarding trail includes two of the best: Brat Tor, crowned with Widgery Cross, erected in 1887 to mark Victoria’s Golden Jubilee and Great Links Tor – at 586m almost a mountain. En route is a pretty gorge cut by the River Lyd and many poignant industrial remains from tinning and peat cutting. Deep trenches around Doetor Brook between points 2 and 3 witness the labours of generations of Dartmoor tinners, as do the extensive spoil heaps along the east bank of the Lyd, where tin was streamed.
WAptly named Bleak House near point 4 was the home of the manager of Rattlebrook Peat Works, where a hundred men once worked. Six companies dug peat here between 1868 and 1955. They, like the tinners, scarred the land, but time has healed the wounds. Part of our route follows the intact embankments, cutting and bridges of Rattlebrook Tramway, which carried peat from the Rattlebrook Works, seven miles to Bridestowe station. Operating from 1879 to 1932, the tramway used horse traction until its final days, when a converted petrol lorry ripped out the rails for scrap.
FITNESS Good for beginners, can be completed in half a day. TERRAIN Tracks and open moorland. Parts wet and rocky underfoot. One steep ascent near star. NAVIGATION Strong natural and man-made features make up for lack of paths in some parts of route, though a compass is essential.
SX525854 Follow the track ahead from the car park, keeping the stone wall on your left. Cross the River Lyd by stepping stones or bridge. Head east up the flank of Brat Tor (marked Bray Tor on some maps), aiming for Widgery Cross on the summit.
SX540855 Walk north-east from Brat Tor for 750m; following a faint path until you strike a distinct west-to-east path. Turn right onto this old tinners’ track, worn deep in places like a trench. Extensive overgrown workings show how hard Dartmoor tinners worked with hand tools in the pre-industrial age. Follow the track east, ignoring side turnings. After 700m, look out for a characteristic Dartmoor boundary stone (marked ‘BS’ on OS maps), inscribed ‘L’ for Lydford parish. Keep following the main track east and ignore side turnings.
SX557861 Bear left when abreast of Lower Dunna Goat (do not go as far as the Dartmoor Range markers). Walk north-north-east with two small tors, Higher and Lower Dunna Goat on your left. Across Rattle Brook is Bleak House.
GET THERE SX525854,
Walk above the left bank of the brook to meet the Rattlebrook Tramway.
SX556871 Turn left. Just beyond the summit of the tramway, climb a peaty track to Great Links Tor and stunning views.
SX551867 Return to the tramway and turn left. Follow it downhill for 2km to a sharp bend. Here, trucks stopped and reversed down the next section.