Day 4



 Another rubbish night’s sleep, this time caused by the noise of the wind making my tent flap about! 

I got up at 6:45 to a lovely sunny morning. By the time I’d packed everything away, it was 7:25 and the clouds were already starting to bubble up. 

I made my way down off the moor on a circuitous route to Chagford. It was quite a gentle walk and at one point I came across this line of standing stones. 


I then cheated slightly. Rather than follow the official route, that took you in a circular route to Chagford, I chose a more direct route along a typical Devon road ( single track, with high banks either side). 

By the time I reached Chagford (7 miles) I was famished, so I found a popular tea-room that happened to do breakfast! 


After letting that little lot go down, I began what was the best stage of this trek so far.

Firstly, the path took me along some lovely meadows, where the sheep and cattle were obviously used to people, because they didn’t budge an inch when I walked between them! 


The path then ran alongside the River Teign ( I’ve no idea how to pronounce it, coz where the river meets the sea is called Tinmuth) in amongst the woods.


 This is all part of Castle Drogo Estate which is managed by The NationalTrust. The path then climbed up onto a spectacular precipice walk, with stunning views.  



After that, there was a steep descent to Drewsteignton. 


I cannot recommend that stretch between Chagford and Drewsteignton enough. It was superb walk and because it was ‘owned’ by the NT, it was brilliantly maintained. Well worth doing, if you are ever in this vicinity and fancy a walk! 

Obviously, after that, I had to celebrate with a pint (or too many) at the Drew Arms! 

I’ve now made my way up to a campsite to the north-east of Drewsteignton ( just below the A30). To be honest, I could have continued on further today, but because the forecast is a bit lousy for tomorrow, I didn’t fancy wild camping again and I have an option to stay put, if it’s particularly bad. I’m also pitched next to Paul, who I met yesterday morning! 

As an aside, it’s so nice to be out of the loop. I’d totally forgot that it was election day, until I saw a polling station! 

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