Please be sure to follow the Country Code at all times so others may enjoy the countryside too.
- Guard against all risk of fire.
- Leave all gates as you find them.
- Use stiles when provided.
- Keep dogs under close control.
- Keep to paths across farm land.
- Avoid damaging fences, hedges and walls.
- Leave no litter of any kind.
- Safeguard water supplies.
- Protect wildlife, plants and trees.
- Go carefully on country roads.
- Respect the life of the countryside.
- Take only photographs, leave only footprints.
For more information about Dartmoor please visit the 'beyond
Ashburton' section of this site.
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| Short Walks In and Around Ashburton |
For the visitor
who enjoys a walk this page provides a choice of five. All walks start from the Car Park unless otherwise indicated and good walking shoes are always the recommended choice.
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Crossing Kingsbridge, turn left into North Street and walk 250 metres, with Cleder Place and the River Ashburn on your left. When an opening appears in the high stone wall on your right, cross over the road, up the steps, through the kissing gate and into a very steep field known as The Terrace. A well trodden path follows the contours of the field, paralleling the many other smaller terraces (cattle walks) formed over the centuries by hoofs of cattle and sheep. Take advantage of the seats to view the splendidly wooded valley stretching up to the Dartmoor foothills. The final 100 metres of Terrace Walk is along a lane exiting into Roborough Lane. Turn right and walk downhill into East Street. Turn right at the bottom of the hill to reveal the view of North Street shown on the front cover of the Town Guide.
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Start as in walk 1 but take the lower path in Terrace Walk, alongside the River Ashburn. Negotiate the granite stile in the hedge ahead and then set course for the granite stile which appears in the distant hedge beside Cuddyford Bridge. Cross over the road to a kissing gate leading into a finger-posted path through a field. A well worn track leads into Woodencliffe Woods and Whiddon Scrubs and Woods.
Here at this point, the especially energetic can lengthen their walk by following the wooden signpost by one of the paths, saying 'Path'. This takes the walker up this steeply wooded cliff. At the top turn left along a field hedge for 200 metres before turning downhill eventually to negotiate giant man-made steps and so back to the original path again.
Look out for half a dozen Giant Sequoia trees by the Ashburn. When in sight of the wooden (sleeper) bridge over the river, the walker has a choice of three alternatives to return to Ashburton:
Choice I.
Turn left over the wooden bridge, passing Waterleat
Bridge. Along this road is an unusually tall and narrow
building - Belford Mill (Coffin shaped and locally called
The Coffin House), with a typical weather-boarded top
associated with carding and combing in the old woolen
industry. (Another can be seen just before the Victoria
Inn in North Street).
Choice II.
Cross the bridge, turn right, climbing the road until the outermost buildings of Rushlade Farm are met. To the left another signpost indicates Pennsland Lane. Descend to Pennsland Bridge, a very pretty wooded and riverside area, especially in Spring. On the lower side of the bridge is the take-off point for the original reservoir serving Ashburton - last used in the 1976 drought! The lane exits onto the road leading to Lower and Higher Bowdley Farms. Turn left and down hill back to the road leading to Ashburton as in 'CHOICE I' above.
Choice III.
At the end of the walk through the woods another finger
post points to a right hand path marked 'Owlacombe'.
The path climbs up through Lower and Higher Whiddon
Farms, giving some interesting views through gateways,
eventually meeting the road to Owlacombe Cross. Turn
right onto this road and right again to return to Ashburton
via Tower Hill. At the bottom of Tower Hill go straight
across Longstone Crossroads into Roborough Gardens,
then Roborough Lane, turning right into East Street
and back to the car park.
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Up West Street to where the Old Totnes Road forms a downward left fork. Follow it and just before the little bridge is an ancient granite cross and a tiny spring - St Gudula's Well or Gullwell, claimed as a specific for sore eyes. Return by way of Snakey Lane and onto Western Road or, return and turn right (Stonepark) and right again and though the Auction Room's parking area on to Bulliver's Way - the course of the old railway track.
Here you can turn right and walk to the end (its junction with the A38 Devon Expressway slip road) or left to bring you back to the Cattle Market, St Lawrence Lane and East Street. (Bulliver was the name of the engine when trains ran along the line).
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Over Kingsbridge,
turn left into North Street and a 250 metre walk will
lead you over the Great Bridge into Headborough Road.
300 metres up from the bridge on the left is a very
pleasant walk to the River Dart by way of public bridle
ways and a short stretch of road. The return distance
is 6 Km.
Alternatively, when regaining the stretch of road alongside
the Lanterns Hotel return by way of Lanterns Hotel and
Bowden Hill (a little further down the road and on the
left) and eventually down into West Street after some
attractive views towards the South Hams from the top
of Bowden Hill) and thence into North Street. - the
same distance.
Another choice available on regaining the Summerhill Road from the River Dart, is instead of returning to cross the Ashburton to Princetown Road near the Lanterns Hotel, to continue along this old County Road in a south westerly direction to the Buckfastleigh Road. Here turning left will bring you into Ashburton by way of Dartmoor Lodge Hotel, Western Road and West Street and thence into North Street - a distance of about 10 Km.
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| Walk 5 - Dartmoor and Buckland Beacon |
Dartmoor is a compelling magnet for visitors and residents alike. For the first excursion to the moor visit Buckland Beacon, Ashburton's nearest tor (i.e. weathered outcrop of rock, usually granite). From this vantage point a magnificent panorama of deep and wooded valleys opens up towards the west, with the River Dart winding away towards Dartmeet and the wild moorland hills beyond. Buckland Beacon is 1281 feet above sea level and cut into the granite rock can be seen the Ten Commandments, the work of a local stone-mason. Park near the Cattle Grid and walk towards higher ground level keeping the wall on your left. The Beacon is 15 minutes each way.
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