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Bellever
Bellever
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The Moorland Dart
The Moorland Dart
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Bellever
Bellever
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Crockern Tor with Bearsdown tors in distance
Crockern Tor with Bearsdown tors in distance
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Postbridge
Postbridge
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The Judge's Chair
The Judge's Chair
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The Powder Mills
The Powder Mills
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West Dart
West Dart
As you watch the lower ferries criss-cross between Dartmouth and Kingswear, it can be difficult to imagine that this beautiful and influential river started its life just 46 miles away as two tiny streams amongst the windswept granite tors of Dartmoor.
During its journey, the river displays many moods and changes character from a torrent of bubbling water cascading over moorland boulders to a gentle meandering river quietly passing through green meadows.
The marvellous attraction of the River Dart is not only its variety and beauty but its accessibility. All you need for the upper stretches are a pair of walking boots and for the lower stretches a boat or preferably a kayak! If you haven’t got the latter we are very fortunate in having access to other modes of transport such as ferries, open topped buses and a steam railway.
The aim of this article is to demonstrate pictorially some of the diversity you will see over the Dart’s course and to provide some interesting background information. I propose starting from the two sources of the river and gradually working south to its mouth. I hope you will enjoy the adventure.
THE TWO SOURCES OF THE DART
The East Dart and West Dart, together with a number of smaller tributaries, effectively act as a mechanism to drain a vast area of upland Dartmoor where annual rainfall can approach 100 inches. It is interesting to note that the East Dart rises south of Cranmere Pool , only 500m from the source of the River Taw which drains north to Barnstaple.
The West Dart rises in the bogs to the north of Beardown Tors and at that stage is only separated from the East Dart by less than a mile. They then separate to nearly four miles apart before eventually meeting at Dartmeet.
EAST DART
From its source the East Dart river flows past Bronze age stone hut circles, the remains of field walls and enclosures and of funeral cairns. These features date from around 1500BC when the climate was both drier and warmer than it is today. The power of the East Dart like many moorland rivers was often “tapped” by running leats (channelled waterways) from the river to waterwheels which were the main motive power for mining and other industries.
The hamlet of Postbridge grew up from the river crossing over the East Dart which was used by post-boys on horseback to take mail from Exeter via Chagford to Truro. The famous clapper bridge can still be seen today and has spanned the river for than 500 years. The clappers are the huge horizontal slabs of stone placed on and spanning the piers. It did occur to me that the phrase “going like the clappers” may have originated from this but it would appear that it has more to do with bell ringing! There were no wheeled vehicles on the moor until the late eighteenth century when the “modern” road bridge was built as part of the turnpike road from Moretonhampstead to Tavistock. Postbridge is a popular place for visitors and has a large National Park information centre within its car park.
Just two miles down stream is another fine clapper bridge at Bellever. It is less complete than the one at Postbridge as the central span is now missing. However, it is a wonderful quiet place to have a picnic and wander amongst the extensive coniferous forests. The view from Bellever Tor is also spectacular, particularly on a clear day.
WEST DART
Nestled on the eastern slopes of the West Dart river stands a wood of dwarf oak trees known as Wistman’s Wood. Once you walk into the tangled web of trees you are transported into a mystical world of moss carpeted boulders, lichens and finger like oak branches, all engulfed in a wonderful earthen smell.
Many writers have described the wood as being “the most haunted place on Dartmoor”. Legend has it that the woods contained the kennels of the diabolical ‘Wisht Hounds’. These were a pack of fearful hell hounds who hunted across the moors at night in search of lost souls and unwary travellers. It is said that they were huge black dogs with blood red eyes, huge yellow fangs and an insatiable hunger for human flesh and souls. The dogs were led by the Devil or occasionally by the ancient spirit of Dartmoor known as ‘Old Crockern’ who lived nearby on Crockern Tor.
Crockern Tor was chosen as the seat of the Stannary Parliament. Stannary referred to a tin-mining area and the tor was approximately equidistant from the four stannary towns of Chagford, Ashburton, Tavistock and Plympton.
The first meetings were probably in the early 1300’s and the last around 1750. After that they were said to be held in more comfortable surroundings in a Tavistock inn. The presiding “judge” or chairman was said to have his own “chair” which apparently was brought down to Dunnabridge Pound after the meetings finally ceased. It was presumably subsequently used by the keeper of the pound whilst guarding the animals.
To the east of the West Dart a tributary called the Cherry brook runs through some deliberately isolated buildings known as The Powder Mills. For obvious reasons the buildings were kept well apart as it was here that gunpowder was manufactured for use in the quarrying industry. Each mill contained a water wheel and whilst the walls of the buildings were constructed of massive granite blocks, the roofs were intentionally made flimsy. The basic idea was that if there was an explosion the roof would blow off, leaving the walls intact and preventing the explosion spreading to the neighbouring mills.
DARTMEET
The actual meeting point of the two Dart streams takes place at the well known beauty spot of Dartmeet before carrying on its southern journey to Totnes and beyond.
First published April 2009 By the Dart