The Avon runs beneath another lovely bridge when it comes to South
Brent, which is locally noted for its fairs and pannier market, and is
a favourite resort with excursionists from Plymouth. The curious
winding streets of the little town are in perfect accord with their
setting. At Wrangaton, not far distant, are the links of the South
Devon Golf Club; but this is only one of the many opportunities that
golfers have of exercising their sport on Dartmoor or in its immediate
neighbourhood. It is fairly evident that a considerable section of the
public to-day will go nowhere unless accompanied by its golf clubs,
and certainly the game often introduces these people to much beautiful
scenery that they might otherwise miss. They must decide themselves as
to which is the real attraction.
There are several other river sources not far from that of Avon--Erme
Head, Yealm Head, Plym Head; this cluster of bogs almost rivals the
cradle of rivers at Cranmere. The Erme valley and plains are thickly
strewn with prehistoric relics and traces of old tin workings; but,
well populated as this district must once have been, it is now one of
the most lonely and desolate parts of the moorland. Dreary as the Erme
may be at its source, however, it develops to great beauty during its
brief course to the sea, issuing at Mothecombe, in a series of
windings and wooded reaches, with a swiftness of tide that tells its
moorland birth. The general public makes the river's acquaintance at
Ivybridge; otherwise it is by no means a familiar stream.
At Harford, which is practically a moorland parish, we have a church
dedicated to St. Petrock, like those of South Brent and Lydford,
emphasizing his claim to be the patron of Dartmoor. The chief heights
in this region are the Three Barrows, Staldon, and Sharp Tor. Perhaps
the most remarkable of the moor's stone avenues starts from a circle
on Stall Moor, and terminates with a kistvaen not far from Aune Head.
There are other stone rows near, all of which have been partially
despoiled, but less so than elsewhere; the mystery of their
significance remains unsolved. Ugborough Beacon and Butterton Hill,
both about 1200 feet in height, stand like southern sentinels of the
moorland to the east of Harford. On the slopes of Sharp Tor is a
stunted wood, very like Wistman's.
Westward, near Cornwood, is the ravine of the River Yealm, known as
Awns and Dendles, which it is best not to visit on Plymouth's
early-closing day or on Bank Holidays. It is a pity that popularity
should mean vulgarizing, for it is right that every lovely spot should
be accessible to the greatest possible number of those who can
appreciate it. The qualification is an important one; nothing is
gained by the thronging to such scenes of those whose tastes are best
met by entertainment pavilions and roundabouts. Besides which, the
conscienceless tripper is a terror to all who love ferns, and there
are still some rarities to be found in the Yealm valley.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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