Haytor Dartmoor

Today I have spent a lot of time going around Dartmoor. I went to Buckland Beacon where there are two slabs of granite upon which are inscribed the eleven commandments of God;

Thou shalt have no other gods before me
Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven images
Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain
Remember the sabbath to keep it holy
Honor thy father and thy mother
Thou shalt not kill
Thou shalt not commit adultery
Thou shalt not steal
Thou shalt not bear false witness
Thou shalt not covet anything that is thy neighbors
Thou shalt blip daily

I did try to take a photo of the slabs to share with you, but they're not very good you can not read it..

From there I went on to Hound Tor. The whole area in and around the tor is famed for its ghosts and nearby are the ancient dwellings and graves of their time. Starting with the tor itself we have a splendid rock pile that is said by some to have been the inspiration for Conan Doyle's book 'The Hound of the Baskervilles'. Many people find Hound Tor a place of mystery, some even say it is an "evil place," and refuse to go near it. In October 1995 one of the stacks known as 'The Hound' came come crashing down. Nobody knows what caused the collapse but it is estimated that around 500 tons of granite fell from the tor. There was a tradition that 'The Hound' was a dog that had been turned to stone by some witches, so does that mean that it has returned to stalk the moors?

Today I had a lot of photos to pick from, but in the end I have gone for a view of this tor, probably the most visited on Dartmoor. From the top of there are some fine views which encompass moor and coast alike. It's two and a half miles east of Widecombe-in-the-Moor ( I also spent time in the village today). Haytor stands at 454m above sea level.

Around this time of year, Dartmoor is always covered in a carpet of vibrant yellow gauze and heather of the most beautiful purple, and Haytor is no exception. From this angle the tor is almost out of sight over the brow of the hill, as I was lying on the ground (oh, what we do for our art!) in order to do justice to the colours of the vegetation.