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Walking England - Widicombe-in-the-Moor
The few trees that are present are not natural habitat but were planted by humans. Instead of woods and undergrowth, we encounter vast expanses of bare but very rocky land. Periodically we encountered a number of standing stones in a circular formation. Tony, our local guide, told us there are over 60 such formations in Dartmoor, and they are presumed to have been set up for religious purposes. The rocks are quite large and unlike what we have seen previously. The land can be quite boggy when wet, so much so that ponies are sometimes lost in the bogs. A 13 year old girl drowned in the area earlier this year in an attempt to retrieve something she had dropped in the river. Tony, our local guide, pointed out an ash house, a small, stone building where people deposited ashes to keep them from burning their thatchedroof houses.
When we resumed our walk, Tony pointed out some " whopping rocks" so called because it was thought that a climb up them would clear the lungs and cure the whooping cough. He also pointed out the Dartmoor Prison, which was begun during the Napoleonic Wars and was used for American prisoners of war in 1812. I questioned this at the time, but I later learned that there were American naval operations off the coast of England in that war, which were the source of the prisoners. The Dartmoor Prison now houses around 600 inmates. This was once a mining area, and we walked past several old tin mines. The Warren House Pub, our lunch site, dates to 1963. It has a fireplace, however, with a fire in the grate that has not been allowed to go out since 1845. It was moved here from another pub.
Some excitement awaited us when we were not long back on the trail, Margaret raised her head above a stone while wearing a pink panther mask. Tony, our local guide, was behind the stones with a microphone making guttural sounds like a panther. While some serious learning occurs on these treks, there is also a certain amount of pleasant nonsense. From time to time we passed wooden poles in the ground placed there during World War II in an effort to deter the German glider attacks. In Ken's view, they failed. They needed to be much higher because the men were going to have to remove themselves from the gliders just below that level in any event. A golden dagger was once found on this moor and placed in a museum, but it was lost or destroyed when the museum was bombed.We made a steep descent in to the famous moorland village of Widicombe-in -the-Moor, where we had our afternoon tea in a busy, rather new pub. A brief period in which to wander around the village and the church followed. I them became Tom Cobleigh. A white horse awaiting me near the church, and Margaret provided me with a robe, hat, and beard. I walked the horse into the village churchyard as the group sang a song we had practiced the previous night. It celebrates the fatal attempt of Tom Cobleigh to make the 12-mile journey across the moor to Widicombe to visit its annual horse and cattle fair- along with a few friends. The songs goes like this: Tom Pearce, Tom Pearce, lend me Your Grey Mare All along,out along, down along lee; For I want to go to Widicombe Fait Wi' Bill Brewer, Jane Stewer, Peter Gurney, Peter Davey, Dan'l Whidden, " Arry ' Awke, Old Uncle Tom Cobleigh and all. Old Uncle Tom Cobleigh and all. Most of the group did not recognize me until they well along in the song. This village provided sphagnum moss, which has curative effects, for the troops during the world wars. A naval shell at the church expresses the country's appreciation for that. After dinner Steve Hindsman thanked our waitresses by giving them a large box of chocolates and a kiss. Ken found Steve;s kisses inadequate to fully express our gratitude, so felt it necessary to step in and do it properly for himself. The truth is, I'm convinced that Steve just set himself up for more practice in this area. Ken then told two stories from his early treks; one about a client named Harry and another about one named Alecia and her experiences with a yak. There is no way for me to repeat those here. It will have to suffice to say that with Ken's dramatic persona and demonstrativeness, they were hilarious.
Distance walked: 10.3
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