3 - Holne Weir to New Bridge

I explored a 7 mile loop around Holne Chase this morning. I hadn’t set out expecting it to be such a big walk, but there was a fair amount of initially unintended trespassing involved and it became one of those walks where it was better to just keep going, than to turn back. You know when there is no sign stating that somewhere is private until you are a fair way along and the sign relates to the area you have just left, oops. So what I now know, is that most of lower Ausewell Wood, is privately owned and should you wish to walk here you should obtain permission first. If you do then it is also worth noting that there are quite a lot of open mine shafts in this area and some incredibly shear drops to the Dart far below.

At Holne Bridge there is pretty much always someone in or on the river. There were no canoeists this morning but two brave swimmers. For miles on this stretch of the river there are large deep pools that are perfect for swimming (but it would need to be a very warm sunny day to tempt me!)

A boundary stone marked MAR. 4 1937 and very carefully peering down over Lover’s Leap.

At Buckland Bridge the River Webburn joins the Dart. The woods that run alongside this river are now Blackadon Nature reserve, owned by the Devon Wildlife Trust and I would highly recommend exploring this area as it looks really interesting on the map. That wasn’t for me today though as my feet were already hurting at this point and I was still very much heading away from the van!

There is a footbridge marked on the map but this is also private, so at this point I realised I was definitely going to have to make this into a round trip. Onwards to New Bridge! Fortunately Henry loves a big walk!

This is Spitchwick on the right. I remember lots of days spent here as a child, exploring the pools and islands. In the summer it is heaving. There’s quite a good size carpark at New Bridge so people come here in droves to picnic, swim and play ball games. The main drag of the river is very deep so you will often see people floating downstream on inflatables and body boards. You can just see the top of Leigh Tor poking through the trees.

View over Holne Chase, with Buckland Beacon and Auswell Wood in the distance.

I’ve started talking to lots of people about my book plans now which is making the project come alive and feel more tangible. I have my template completed and I am starting to fill in some blanks, but mostly at the moment I am just adding to my to do list. If anyone would like to join me on one of my adventures then let me know, there are going to be plenty!