Brown's Bog barefoot blast

Spook was giving me the 'look' as it was a couple of days since he had been out for a run. The break from barefooting was also at an end after a few dings and scrapes I had picked up had healed and I was missing the feel of peat under my feet.

Initially I had planned to set off from Two Bridges but changed my mind at the last minute (no idea why) and parked up at Postbridge. I marvelled at the walkers kitting up with all manner of stuff despite it being almost too hot to stand up by 10:30 and set off in vest, shorts and mincing slippers up Drift Lane.

Mincers off at the newtake gate and I picked my way up onto Broad Down following the newtake wall to the Cherry Brook, stained with peat and limonite (the brook, not me, yet). From there it was up to Lower White Tor and the traditional look round for the elusive Fairey Battle crash site. No luck today - maybe next time.........

Down to the West Dart (mincers back on because of that harsh wiry stuff which could be heather) before strapping them to my Camelbak again for a squishy sprint through Brown's Bog. Always makes me smile to see walkers picking their way gingerly around bogs when they're missing all the fun!

A herd of stroppy cows with calves forced a diversion up onto Wildbanks Hill, from where these shots were taken.













From there a narrow sheep track leads above Brown's House and up onto the Broad Down outcrops. A touching memorial to a young boy is now permanently sited on the top, having been placed unattached lower down the outcrop for a number of years.












I had heard that the Dartmoor National Park Authority are not too keen on memorials of this type, although this is probably not the case as they were more than happy when Charlie wanted to airlift a memorial to his mate Ted Hughes to a spot near Hangingstone Hill.

Remote it isn't. Barren it isn't. Rugged it isn't (just spent two hours running barefoot over it), but Dartmoor makes you stop and think sometimes........