Day 8: Dartmoor National Park
Dartmoor
After breakfast, we headed off to Dartmoor National Park where we saw a really unique countryside set on top of granite. There is one granite quarry in the park that we saw. There used to be many iron mines, but most have now been closed. On our drive, we stopped at Postbridge to see an old clapper bridge made hundreds of years ago. Some of the most interesting parts were walking through the fields and seeing ancient stone arrangements. We saw two parallel rows of stones as well as two graves. We also saw foundations of old grass huts. It was like history was frozen in time up there. The stones were from 1500 BC. We also saw what were called tor mounds of stones. On the way out, we drove past the highest city, Princeton, which was created to house the nation’s prisons, Dartmoor Prison. Americans were kept there during the war of 1812. |
English Countryside
On the way home, we stopped for a ploughman’s lunch at an old pub. The meal was much more than we had anticipated! We went through the town of Two Bridges where Agatha Christie stayed while writing some of her books.
We stopped at the small town of East Dart Bridge. The roads are really narrow with hedgerows right up to the edge. In some places, they are one lane, and when you meet head on, someone needs to back up. Our bus driver was masterful! Back at our hotel, we went for about a four mile walk out in the country, along the river and through the woods. It was really nice, and Pam got to check off her bucket list item of strolling through the English countryside! Our group met at 5:30 for happy hour and a glass of pems. |