10 Tors 2018

The culmination of months of training happened over the weekend – the 2108 Ten Tors Expedition. I am the Team Manager, along with Pete Davies, of the National Trust’s team ‘Wild Tribe’. We work and train very closely with Torquay Boys Grammar School led by Roy Colvile. Over the weekend we had five teams out who all successfully completed their routes. It is a massive effort involving dozens of volunteers and young people – a huge thank you to all the people who make it happen, a special thanks to Neil Parsons and Tony Owen and of course Roy Colvile without whom the Wild Tribe couldn’t be involved. Here are a few of my pictures from the weekend.

Dawn – 5.30 am Saturday over our camp site

Getting ready and having breakfast

Two Merlins bring in the starting gun.

Walking up to the start with West Mill and Yes Tor in the background

Paratroopers set the scene

Flying the flag

Spot on target

The canons start the event

And they are off

Different teams on different routes

Time for some of the team of volunteer Team Managers to reflect and have a rest

Some time later on Sunday …. TBGS 35 mile team – 4th team in overall – wow

TBGS 55 mile team – first 55 mile team in ….. even bigger wow

National Trust Wild Tribe 35 and 55 mile Team arrive at the finish together before noon

Wild Tribe 35 mile team

Wild Tribe 55 mile team

Wild Tribe 35 milers – all smiles at the finish

55 miles in under 29 hours – that is some achievement and you can see the happiness and relief in their smiling faces

Wild Tribe 45 mile team approach the finish

Impressive achievement again – they were in just after 2.30pm some with some staggering blisters and aching muscles – 10 Tors is all about resilience, team work and grit – they nailed it

Finally a huge thanks to the Army for organising it with a lot of  support from the Royal Navy and RAF. In my view the organisation was the best ever – smooth and slick. And boy were we blessed with the weather – no rain on either Saturday or Sunday, and Sunday was a sun fest!

And next year we will do it all again and help to transform and build another generation of brilliant young achievers.

Up the Taw

We were out 10 Tors training again yesterday and although it was cold the weather was much kinder than forecast – only one real rain shower instead of the persistent downpour than had been predicted.

The day got off to a bad start as I ended up with a puncture to a tyre in Belstone car park but thanks to Tony and Ian (and the mysterious white gloop) I managed to get the type replaced in Okehampton and we were back on the moor but 11.30….

In the morning we yomped out to close to Ockerton Court and in the afternoon we walked up the Taw from Belstone.

The Taw

Thanks to Tony we found the Taw Marsh letterbox – the second letterbox established on Dartmoor in 1885 in its ‘secret location’.

The letterbox stamp

Looking across to Ladybrook Tor

Taw Marsh looking up to Steeperton Tor

10 Tors teams crossing at Taw Ford

Frog spawn in Taw Marsh

Another successfully completed walk – well done and thanks to everyone from Torquay Boys Grammar School, the Woodland Trust and the National Trust.

From Postbridge to Fernworthy

Was out on the moor yesterday helping with the National Trust’s Wild Tribe 10 Tors teams. As ever we were out with the great crew from Torquay Boys Grammar School. We walked from Postbridge up the East Dart and onto Grey Wethers, from there up to Watern Tor and returned to Fernworthy reservoir via Scorhill and Yes Tor.

For an unknown reason the trace conked out near to Kes Tor …

It was a misty day

The beehive

Grey Wethers – the double stone circles in the gloom

Looking from Fernworthy Forest up towards Watern

The clapper bridge at Teign Head farm – my mate Dave Rickwood contemplating

The first bit of Watern Tor

Looking east through the Thirlestone

Saw a red grouse on the approach to Watern Tor and saw a merlin on the way to Scorhill.

And then my phone battery conked out …..

Really good 11.5. mile walk – well done to all the teams and adult helpers

 

This is what 10 Tors is all about

As I said in my blog yesterday – 10 Tors is a life changing experience for the young people involved – see here. Today the post below appeared on Facebook – this is why all of us involved with 10 Tors do it!

What more could you want.

National Trust Wild Tribe were one person short a couple of week’s ago and we took this person on after he had been rejected by his Institution as being incapable of completing the 55 mile course.

He came in with the Wild Tribe 2 hours before the team that rejected him.

Tony’s pep talks are powerful and young people are brilliant.

 

Ten Tors 2017 and the Wild Tribe

Over the weekend the 10 Tors Challenge took place on Dartmoor. With Pete Davies, I run the National Trust’s Wild Tribe teams and we work very closely with Torquay Boys Grammar School. In total we had 8 teams out on the moor – three 35 milers, two 45ers and three 55 mile teams. All successfully completed their walks and we were able to leave the moor by 12.45pm on the Sunday. A hugely successful weekend for everyone and a brilliant culmination to the months of training. Well done to all our teams.

Belted Galloway cattle grazing on the flanks of Rowtor. These cattle were put onto the moor from their winter grazing pastures immediately after the start – hours earlier 2400 young people walked up the hills from the start- the delay in releasing them onto the Common ensured there were no dangerous cattle / young people interactions!

This is the National Trust Wild Tribe 35 mile team approaching the finish

This is the National Trust Wild Tribe 45 mile team

Receiving their medals on the podium

This is the National Trust Wild Tribe 55 mile team coming down from Rowtor

Approaching the finish line

All done! Covering 55 miles (and the rest) in under 30 hours is a fantastic achievement.

Looking down at the finish – lots of supporters waiting to greet their teams

Looking across to West Mill Tor and Yes Tor – it all looks very calm and quiet.

One of the highlights of my year – the seventh year the National Trust has run and supported 10 Tors teams – hopefully many more to come.

All those young people who complete the 10 Tors Challenge undergo a life changing experience which gives them all sorts of skills for their coming lives: resilience, comradeship, fitness, leadership, endurance and a love of Dartmoor and the outdoors.

Thanks to the Army for organising it and thanks to the many volunteers and staff of TBGS who help the National Trust and its Wild Tribe teams participate.

Another wet and windy weekend with 10 Tors

I was up on the Moor over the weekend helping look after 9 teams of 10 Tors participants from the National Trust Wild Tribe and Torquay Boys Grammar School. Saturday saw some of the worst and most challenging conditions I have witnessed on Dartmoor – persistent driving rain, a strong wind and very poor visibility. As a  result – very few photographs …..

This is the Trig Point – on Ryders Hill – the highest point on the south moor – it was bleak and unpleasant on Saturday – Pete and I were on our way to Red Lake tip to check point 7 teams through

This is a photo of Red Lake tip taken in 2015 (it is the conical man made peak in the middle ground) – on Saturday we could only see it when we were 200m from it – a day of navigation by compass – which Pete did very expertly all day.

Here are a couple of our groups at Red Lake ……

We eventually saw all seven groups through by 5pm and then started on our 90 minute walk back to our O Brook campsite – all the teams were in camp by 7pm

This is the O Brook on a sunny day!

Sunday we were check pointing at various places – including Norsworthy Bridge – a much better day but still misty in places and very windy

This is Sharpitor where we ended our walks

Very challenging conditions – well done to all the young people who took part over the weekend – if you can walk and navigate in those conditions you have cracked it!

Dartmoor was character building over the weekend and undoubtedly the moor build some new characters.

A rainy weekend on the Moor

Our first two day walk with an overnight camp of the year with the National Trust’s Wild Tribe teams and those from Torquay Boys Grammar School …..

This was the view when I arrived at the car park – only a mile walk to our wild camping site but nevertheless…

At the back of Foggintor Quarry – at least it stopped raining for a few minutes whilst I got my tent up – it then rained all night –  a mixture of wind blown drizzle and heavy rain – I was soaked as was the inside of my tent by 6.30pm – a long night ahead. Apparently this was Storm Ewan but I didn’t know that at the time!

Teams started leaving camp at 4.30am

In view of the continuing poor weather and the forecast predicting more heavy rain from 3pm we convened a meeting in the Fox Tor Cafe at 8am to review routes.

Our teams were intending to go from the Princetown area through the centre of the high moor right up to Okehampton camp via Great Knesset i.e. a route which was a long way from anywhere hospitable.

We re-routed all the teams up the west side of the moor closer to roads in case anything went wrong and decided to end at 3pm at Meldon instead of 5pm at Anthony Stile.

This is the Tavy – despite all the rain flowing low

We went up to Nodden Gate to checkpoint some teams through – the dome of Great Nodden in the background.

Most of Dartmoor is made of of granite which is an igneous rock formed from molten lava – in contrast Great Nodden consists of metamorphic rock (i.e. older rocks which have been transformed by heat or pressure or both) – thus its very different shape

The River Lyd

The Lyd with Brat Tor and the Widgery Cross to the left

Somewhat surprisingly – very low water levels at the Lyd Stepping Stones

Safely back at Meldon just as the 3pm rain arrives

A big well done to all the young people (and the team of adult leaders) who made it to the end – a character building weekend

All my kit bar my tent is now dry – my tent will be by the end of the day

The moor around Belstone

We were out on Saturday 10 Tors training. Our job to to checkpoint teams through Hound Tor (the other Hound Tor near Steeperton Tor) and then across the concrete ford near Belstone. The weather during the day was superb and we were treated to a variety of spectacular views.

From Oke Tor looking north to West Mill Tor and Rowtor

From Hound Tor down to Cosdon Hill

Down into Taw Marsh with Belstone Tor in the background

Across to High Willhays, Yes Tor, West Mill Tor and Rowtor with East Mill Tor in the middle distance

Here is the route we took – it around a 10 mile walk from Belstone – there are quite a few river crossings at various fords – if you plan to do this walk you will need good walking boots, gaiters, a map and a compass!

Our 10 Tors Christmas Walk

Yesterday was our last 10 Tors  training walk of the year – not a long walk just around 4 hours which culminated in our traditional Christmas lunch in the car park below Great Staple Tor.

Earlier in the day we had been over to Fice’s Well to checkpoint our 45 and 55 mile teams. As the morning progressed the wind picked up and it was bitterly cold.

A horse shoe on a granite wall on the way down from Great Mis Tor

I used this photo in my blog yesterday – I’ve had a play in Photoshop and I quite like this version too.

In total there were nearly 80 of us out yesterday and at the end of the walk we had warm pasties, warm mince pies and hot ‘mulled’ fruit juice. A feat of hard, work, timing and improvisation – thanks Karrie

We even had a Christmas tree!

Looking down from the car park is Vixen Tor – one of the very few on Dartmoor you can’t visit.

And looking across to the west is Pew Tor with a herd of galloway grazing the Common below

 

Mist and mizzle at the top of Dartmoor

Yesterday I was up on high Dartmoor as part of our 10 Tors training – we had around 60 young people and a dozen adult helpers. It was the kind of day that unless you had to go out onto the moors you probably wouldn’t have. The visibility was pretty poor, there was either constant mizzle  or wind driven rain. It was a day for navigating via a compass and not using landmarks. All in all a good day for practicing various 10 Tors skills and testing your clothing and equipment.

On Okehampton Common looking into the Red-a-ven brook

Between West Mill Tor and Rowtor (which were invisible in the mist) back down to Anthony Stile

Up at Dinger Tor

At Dinger Tor – wet, windy, cold and misty

A Cladonia lichen brightens up the day – close to High Willhays

A pool close to High Willhays

Ian and Tony at High Willhays, the highest point on Dartmoor (and south England) at 621 metres.

Various teams of walkers pass through High Willhays

On the right hand side of this picture you can see a single individual on top of the Cairn – rather oddly and worryingly he appeared out of the mist wearing a pair of trainers and a non waterproof coat carrying a supermarket carrier bag and asked us which Tor he was at, stating that he didn’t have a map! We told him he was at High Willhays and he seemed very pleased to have found it. He then sat on the cairn for 30 minutes – he must have got soaked. We asked if he wanted help getting back but he said he knew the back and was fine ……. One walk away from disaster.

Back down at Meldon Reservoir (look how low the water level is) you can see the mist and rain on the high moor

Looking down over the dam

Here’s the route I took yesterday starting at the car park at Meldon reservoir – it is around 10.5 miles in length and on a day with good visibility is a great high Dartmoor walk. If you do decide to do it  – please wear good walking boots, waterproof clothing and take a map and compass …….