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Bananas at Minions: Cornwall – 04/09/2021

Making the most of some of the recent September sunshine, Emily and I went out with my sister and her family to Minions in Cornwall. All being busy people, it isn’t too often that we all have calendars that align these days. And there really is nothing better than sharing a family adventure. So spending the free time we do have together is really made all the more special by being able to visit such beautiful places. All the better that they are not too far from our homes.

Beautiful Bodmin Moor

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An Old Favourite: Dartmoor – 28/08/2021

Getting a kitten and ongoing restrictions to international travel has made Emily and I pretty inactive recently. Maybe one day the world will be fully back to normal and a vanity project travel blog will feel a little less of a vanity project, but as it stands at the moment we don’t have too much motivation to post and provide updates. Over the past bank holiday Emily and I did visit one of my favourite hikes on Dartmoor however, and it was the first time she braved the ridge at Leather Tor! Slowly but surely she is catching me up on all of my old haunts. You can read about the full hike here.

Plenty of dramatic views with this hike

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Lukesland Gardens – 11/04/2021

Sometimes you find out about places purely by chance and Lukesland Gardens was one of them. Emily and I planned to go to Endsleigh Garden centre in Ivybridge and find a Dartmoor walk that started not too far away to make the best use of our Sunday. While trawling google maps for suitable parking places, points of interest and routes to walk, I stumbled across the Gardens. Intrigued, having never heard of it before, we decided to roll the dice and check it out.

Magical

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A New Hope…Cove – 02/04/2021

After a few months off, Emily and I were keen to use our recent (government approved) freedom to get back on the coastal path this Easter weekend. Taking our car on its first longer drive (longer being further than Sainsbury’s!) we headed out early to Hope Cove, planning to arrive before the beach-goers.

The early start paid off with Hope Cove all to ourselves

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Lockdown 3.0… But with Castles – 23/01/2021

It’s been pretty quiet here recently. Life events have taken over since my last post. Emily and I have moved into our first house together, and have been decorating that with the overzealous enthusiasm that only first time homeowners have. This has eaten away our weekends to a large degree and work of course hasn’t stopped in between! Throw in the seasonal bad (terrible) weather, and another national lockdown, and I’m left with not much to write about.

It’s not always bad weather though!

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Beautiful Burrator – 28/11/2020

Grumpy with the disappointment of our moving day being delayed again, Emily and I decided to walk off our Thanksgiving food babies on Dartmoor. Not giving the trip much thought, as we assumed we would be doing car journeys filled with crap back and forth all day, we headed to the Janner favourite: Burrator Reservoir. Which is no bad thing; considering it is my preference to visit quieter spots, Emily had never actually been up Sheeps Tor – which is definitely a must!

Wild paths en route

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Black Tor Birthday – 12/11/2020

What better way to celebrate turning 30 during lockdown than with a hike? I’m so glad this time around we have use of our local National Park, so Emily and I took the time between our other birthday plans to go and visit somewhere that promised 2 waterfalls and a Tor. Quite the punch for a small area and a very special walk! Parking on the B road between Yelverton and Princetown we found our spot and headed out.

Mystery winter funghi

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You Bellever Believe It – 08/11/2020

After driving blind through thick sheets of fog on Saturday and settling for a walk on Roborough Down, Emily and I headed back out to Dartmoor this Sunday just gone for a full stretch of our legs. Parking at Postbridge, with much better weather, we started our hike taking the trail up the hill and through Bellever forest.

Moss covered woodland

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Beautiful Bigbury – 26/09/2020

With October rains fast approaching and the last weekend spent driving up and down the motorway in preparation for a house move, Emily and I were keen to make the most of this past weekend’s beautiful weather. Fancying another stretch of the coastal path we rose early to be out to Mothecombe in the crisp morning air shortly after the sun rose. It was cold but glorious, and we had the place almost to ourselves for 20 minutes before setting off along the cliffs to Bigbury-on-Sea.

An empty Mothecombe – as beautiful and as cold and crisp as it looks!

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Wild Camping: Dartmoor – 12/09/2020 to 13/09/2020

If you follow what Emily and I you will know that Dartmoor is one of our most regular haunts. So when old university friends Simon and Maisie mentioned coming down to visit for an overnight wild camp, we were thrilled. I was tasked with sharing some Dartmoor highlights during an afternoon walk, as neither of them have seen or done much hiking in the National Park. So we drove to Venford where we shared one of our favourite walks that covers the brook, waterfall, Bench Tor and ridge line before circling around the reservoir.

Back again

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