Outside 15
Bench Tor (692716), then southeast to
corner of stone wall (692715). Keep wall
on right; in 300m, follow it left (695713),
very steeply down beside wall through
woods to River Dart (697715). Left along
track to Sharrah Pool (696717). Return
along track and on. In 1¾ miles, hairpin
sharp right (711703, FP on right) up
Two Moors Way back to Holne.
Conditions Very steep descent toA good walk Holne, Bench
Tor and River Dart, Devon
T
he painted saints
contemplated one another
from their rood screen
panels in the Church of
St Mary the Virgin at
Holne. Looking at their
long, expressive faces and
richly coloured robes, we wondered what
could have persuaded an artist of such
talent to come in Tudor times to this
obscure village church under the eastern
rim of Dartmoor. Whoever he was,
he left a remarkable legacy here.
Holne lies sunk in a hollow above the
young River Dart. A churchyard path
led out of the village, and soon we
were descending the narrow road to
Michelcombe under a hot afternoon
sun. Cooper the golden retriever bounced
out of a house to bark us on our way
up a clinking stony lane that climbed
towards the moor.
Sheep lay panting on a heap of soil
in a gateway as the views broadened
all the way, south and east over steep
pastureland, to where the sea lay
beneath a grey haze in Tor Bay.
A gate led out on to the open moor.
We crossed the granite bars of an
ancient cattle grid over Wheal Emma
Leat, once the power source for the tin
mines of this area, now a low ditch
half-hidden among sedges.
A path wound through the bracken,
heading northeast, its dry peat surface
stamped with the prints of sheep’s
hoofs and pony shoes. Soon it joined a
moor road that ran between banks of
devil’s-bit scabious and wild thyme.
A dozen moor ponies were hanging
out in the car park at Venford Reservoir,
moodily swishing their long tails as they
waited for tourist sandwiches. We made
for the flat granite boulders of Bench
Tor, a grandstand from which to admire
the giant view and to spy out the
homeward path.
A precipitous scramble down beside
a stone wall into the depths of the River
Dart’s gorge, a delicious cool plunge in
the peat-dark waters of Sharrah Pool,
and we were heading back to Holne on
the riverside track through oak woods,
where the declining sun dappled tree
trunks, pathway and the shallows of
the river in the quiet valley.
Start Village car park, Holne, Newton
Abbott TQ13 7SL (OS ref SX 706695).
Getting there Holne is signposted
off B3357 Two Bridges road, west
of Ashburton (A38).
Walk (7½ miles, moderate/strenuous,
OS Explorer OL28): From west end
of church, left through hedge gap;
right (fingerpost/FP) across field.
Cross road (705694); on to Michelcombe.
Right at junction (697690), follow
“Bridleway” up stony track. In ½ mile,
ahead through gate (687690) on to
access land; same direction to cross
stone bars over Wheal Emma Leat
(685691). In 150m, right on grass track
(685692); in 500m, meet and follow
wall (687697); in 400m, join stony road
(690698). Cross stream (692699); in 150m,
sharp right at junction (691700) to road
(694701). Left to Venford Reservoir car
park (688709). Aim across moor toRiver Dart — for surefooted people.
Unwaymarked paths across the moor.
Lunch The Tradesmans Arms, Scorriton,
Buckfastleigh TQ11 0JB (01364 631206,
tradesmansarms-dartmoor.com).
Advanced booking recommended.
More information Totnes tourist
information centre (01803 411183);
visitsouthdevon.co.uk.
Christopher SomervilleThe views
broadened
over steep
pastureland
to where the
sea lay beneath
a grey haze
in Tor Bay
A
n exotic bird is drifting
about in England, although
not many people see it. It
is exotic right down to its
beautiful name — the
golden oriole. The adult males have
a brilliant golden body with contrasting
black wings; the females have a greener
yellow body and are equally elegant.
I came across one once in
Oxfordshire in May. Dusk was falling
and I suddenly heard its loud fluting
song, which I had previously heard in
Spain. It is a rich song, although I can
only transliterate it inelegantly as
a ringing “woodley-woop”.
I went off in pursuit of the song,
but orioles are notably elusive of
humans and it kept moving away
from me, always somewhere high in
the tree, and I did not catch up with
it that evening. I heard it as soon as
I awoke the next morning, and set
off after it again. The same thing
happened, though — as soon as I got
anywhere near the call, it stopped and
I heard it somewhere else.
Eventually, I was lucky. I heard the
call coming from a small wood, and
there the bird was perched on top of
a cypress tree. However, it was not
golden, but green — a female, or
maybe a juvenile. I had a good view,
but after that it was off again.
Golden orioles may turn up anywhere,
but the best place to look for them is in
poplar plantations in East Anglia. They
were found quite often for some years in
and around the RSPB’s Lakenheath Fen
Nature Reserve.
Nowadays they appear to be scarcer,
and can be extremely hard to spot in
trees, not least because many mature
poplars have been cut down for timber
— poplars are used to make boxes and
veneer, although their use for this
purpose is not as widespread as before.
Consequently there is always the
chance of that cheerful “woodley-woop”
coming down from the treetops.
Lakenheath has much else to offer
too — marsh harriers, bearded tits and
even common cranes.
Derwent MayPETER BROWNThe view from Bench TorALAMYThe birdwatcher
The exotic
golden
oriole is
a sight for
sore eyes
HOLNE
startPMichelcombe
The
Tradesmans
ArmsChurch of
St Mary
the VirginSteep
descent
by wallBench TorWheal Emma Leat
dry channelVenford
ReservoirRiver
DartSharrah
PoolDEVON500 metresBarnstaple
TorquayPlymouth