THE TWO MOORS WAY STRETCHES ACROSS DARTMOOR AND EXMOOR
NATIONAL
TRAIL GUIDES UK
Introduction
The beginning of an adventure always starts in a mundane and casual sort of way. Driving to our accommodation in Colebrook was just such a beginning; a long, tedious drive taking 4 hours or so. I was fortunate to have the company of Tanya, my second eldest daughter. She had agreed to act as support for the week, dropping me off and picking me up at the start and finish of each day’s run, and good company she was, too.
As a child Tanya always wanted to please me. Now, as an adult and newly married, she continued to demonstrate this trait. She never complained or moaned once, but I new she was dearly missing her husband. Although I thought it too much to ask her to support me this time – she did it last year, too, when I ran the Wolds Way, it was Hobson’s choice. She was one of the most reliable persons I knew when it came to supporting this type of venture. Her job would be tedious and unsatisfying. No one else I knew to be available would willingly do it. I had asked. They each gave me the reply I expected. I knew Tanya would not let me down and she did’t. Perhaps this is why I love her so much.
I was grateful that her husband, Chris, also consented without hesitation. I was also grateful to my ever faithful and selfless wife Carol, to whom I had previously promised two years ago when running the Pennine Way that I would not leave her again to go running. She gave me her blessing to go, as indeed she also did last year when running the Wolds Way in Eastern Yorkshire.
And so here I was, again, en route to another adventure in the great world of the outdoors. I had expected bad weather – heavy rain, dense mist, extreme cold. This is what all of my studies of Dartmoor had concluded. This is what my friends all told me. This is what I had prepared for and was intensely frightened of – I suppose this in itself made it more exciting. As it turned out, however, the weather, for the entire week, was hot and sunny – no rain, no mist, no cold. I would not complain!
Our accommodation was exquisitely satisfying. We stayed at the Oyster, a bed and breakfast accommodation in Colebrook. We selected Colebrook as it was approximately mid-way between the start and finish points of the Two Moors Way, and was itself quite close to the Two Moors Way. Our landlady’s name was Pearl, and she made us feel very welcome.
When we arrived she was out but had left keys for us. We met Alan and Leslie who were also staying that night. They were walking the Two Moors Way and over dinner together at a local inn we chatted about the route. My sister, Carol, would be joining us on Monday evening and would run all but the first day of the route with me. I would be on my own the first day and I was therefore very interested in gathering intelligence on the condition of the path, features to look out for, and so on, particularly for the first day.
For the last few days it had been raining very heavily and Alan did not hesitate to mention the water-logging of the path and the atrocious walking conditions.
Alan pointed out something I had not noticed on the map. I had studied it extensively, written compass bearings onto it and memorised key places and features, but I had not noticed something very important. The map contained the green dashes of the national trail. Beneath the green line there would normally be a thin black line indicating a footpath. In many places on the map there was no black line. This meant there was no track or path to follow. As Alan put it, at certain points along the route I would have to navigate entirely on compass. I had not anticipated this. Although I have done so before, it was with fear and trepidation that I did. When I realised the weather would be good I had abandoned all worries about having to navigate by compass. Alan had a GPS with him. He had had to use it in addition to his compass. Knots formed in my stomach as I toyed with my dinner, which not long before I had been looking forward to.
I was now forewarned, however. Alan also told me the River Avon (which I would be obliged to cross on my first day) was not fordable and that I would have to backtrack along the river to cross at the Clapper Bridge. I made a mental note of this. He suggested that I keep left of a gully, as I approached the Avon valley, that I cross the Avon via the Clapper Bridge, and that I run on the far bank of the River, as this was drier. He advised me that I would then cross Hickerton Hill but that it was featureless and I would need to navigate by compass as I would also have to do when meeting the Abbots Way before reaching the Avon. He told me that once I was over Hickerton Hill I would be able to see the Chalk Ford but that in any event a farmer’s track would be visible on Scorriton Down (which would be prominent in the distance, ahead of me) and if I ran towards it I would come to the Chalk Ford and there pick up the bridle path to Scorriton and that I would then be off the moors.
I mentally noted all of this, and found the information extremely helpful.
I had decided, as with my previous year’s running, that I would do yoga for half an hour before breakfast, to stretch and loosen my limbs and again for a quarter of an hour after running. I would do this each day. I would breakfast at 8 am and would set off in the car at 9 am with the intention of starting each day’s run between 10 am and 11 am.
