River Walkham

I've been exploring Dartmoor for 30 years, and if there's one place on the moor I've visited more than any other, it would be the Walkham River and Valley. Maybe it's the layers of memory which now overlay it, or maybe it's just familiarity, I think it's more than that though, whatever it is, I've felt a connection from the first time I descended into the dappled Valley and followed the Walkham rivers course. I love it here. I've walked up, I've walked down, I've walked alone, with family and with friends. I've never been disappointed, and I wasn't today. I approached the valley from a different direction than I'd usually, from Merrivale. I followed a moorland track which ran some ways above the river around the hillside, as it entered the wooded valley the track crossed a rivulet cascading down the hillside, a near continuous cataract raced through the woods, downwards towards the Walkham River. In all those years of walking here, I've never seen it before, the cascade was about 50m beyond the point we usually exit the valley. Lovely surprise. I continued down the river, past the old quarry, over boulders, past pools, through the rough fields which flank one side for awhile, there's a camping pod type thing in one of them, and a large metal fire-pit in another.  In all the years I've never met or seen another person along here, although it's clearly someone’s land and they're using it. I continued down the river for about 2km, through woodland a lot more noticeably managed that the woods we walked through 30 years ago. I arrived at Ward Bridge and went a little ways beyond. We'd often park here, though it's not so easy nowadays. Rising up out of the valley I return up stream along the moorland track, until I reached Hucken Tor with it's views over the valley and towards Vixen Tor beyond. What a stunning Walkham walk. Finally, it was off across rough moorland back to Merrivale. I tell you what, it's dry, man, really dry, at this time of year it should've been a much trickier walk than it was.  Still, lovely.