Aloha to Belstone - A Dartmoor Village (Devon, England)

It's been some time since I posted on my travel blog - life was busy with a high school student! Alas, he graduated and headed off to Florida. I "retired" from the PTA and went back to work full time. The college freshman is home for self quarantine ... and I am working from home.

I finally downloaded pictures from two trips to England in August 2018 and August 2019. For both trips, I escorted by aging mother back to her "homeland" - Devon, England. I had a day here and there to myself.

One of my favorite places in Devon is Dartmoor National Park. From its website at dartmoor.gov.uk:

Dartmoor is beautiful, wild, and full of incredible places to explore. The granite that forms it was produced, in the depths of the earth, over 300 million years ago, and humankind has shaped it over the last 10,000 years. Together, they have made Dartmoor into a wonderful landscape, full of varied habitats, from wooded valleys and haymeadows to magnificent mires and the wild open moor.

Numerous "quintessential" villages are located on and around Dartmoor ... and let me introduce you to Belstone.

From the Belstone website at belstonevillage.net:

Nestling 1,000 feet up on the northern edge of Dartmoor, above the Skaigh Valley, where the river Taw tumbles over the rocks, lies a little haven of peace – Belstone. A village of only 250 inhabitants, this close and friendly community ranges in age from toddlers to those in their nineties.

I parked in Belstone with the intent of hiking out onto the Moor to see the "Nine Maidens" stone circle on the nearby moor. I stopped in the Tors Inn at thetorsinn.co.uk for directions. I spotted the cat above and the dinosaur below in the windows.

On the way to the moorland gate, I spotted this former telegraph office ... 

... I don't know if it found a new purpose ...

... but the telephone box did! How clever to become a defibrillator location!

Once on the moor, I walked along the bridle path in the direction of the Nine Maidens ... but the fog came over the rolling hills. I followed another couple back to Belstone so I would not become lost. You can learn more about the Nine Maidens at this link - I will have to meet them on another trip.

Back in the village, I popped into the Church of St. Mary the Virgin. Like many churches on Dartmoor, it was built from the gloomy granite that actually ensured it stood for centuries to come. I found the Coat of Arms for Charles II on the wall.

On my way of of the village, I found a cottage ...

Determined to find some prehistoric stones, I followed the moorland map through winding lanes to hut circles in the direction of Gidleigh. Along the way I spotted a "local" enjoying the fresh air.

I pulled into the designated parking area and met Sue - she raises llamas for their wool. She and her dog led me the hut circles encased in the overgrown bracken.

What is a hut circle? From Legendary Dartmoor at legendarydartmoor.co.uk:

It is estimated that on Dartmoor there have been about 5,000 round houses identified so far. The majority of these features date to the Middle Bronze Age (MBA) which would date them to between 1400 to 1000BC.

I know it doesn't look like much, especially with the overgrown bracken. But I walked through the entrance and envisioned a prehistoric family living inside the rocks with a thatched roof. I'll share better pictures later of hut circles and stone rows from Grimspound - the largest prehistoric site on Dartmoor.

Have you visited any prehistoric sites?

Mahalo,

Kim

Next:  Afternoon tea in Gidleigh.