Brent Tor itself, photograph taken on the Friday afternoon, just before I walked up it with Chris and Yvonne.

Brent Tor

Friday May 12th and Saturday May 13th 2006

My adventure began on the Friday, when I came down to Brentor village on the No. 86 bus from Barnstaple, where I met Chris and Yvonne Burchell. They showed me round Brent Tor, and then drove back to Foghanger where they live. I walked from Brent Tor to Foghanger, taking tracks and footpaths that went close to Beech Farm and the actual turbine site. Back

Scroll down for Saturday and the start, scroll down further for Saturday`s walk

Excerpt from "Gaia, The practical science of planetary medicine" by James Lovelock

"I take special comfort from an unusual sacred place which I often visit with my wife, Sandy. It is the small church of St Michael de Rupe, perched upon the central peak of a long extinct Miocene volcano, about half a mile south of the village of Brentor in Devon, some ten miles from my home at Coombe Mill.
At the peak of Brent Tor, on a fine day when the wind comes in from the broad Atlantic bringing clear fresh air, the green dappled fields and woods of Devon stretch out to a far horizon 30 miles away. They form a landscape that looks good, perhaps because the farming is still pre- agribusiness. ..."
Further excerpt, and link to complete paragraph, below on section about Saturday and the start of the walk.

The Wind Turbine application. The site is at Beech Farm, Heathfield, Lamerton, just next door to Pittescombe farm, and the application is for 2x1Mw turbines. This is the view from Brent Tor towards the turbines. They will be behind the trees at the near horizon, but visible from Brent Tor. It was a hazy day so distant views aren`t clear in the photos I took, but from Brent Tor I could see the area near Okehampton where Turbines are proposed as well, and Brent Tor is also visible from the Bradworthy site on a very clear day.	This is the road that leads away from Brent Tor towards the turbine site. From the Tor, we had seen black clouds and flashes of lightning in the distance, so I was a little nervous but fortunately they were moving away, and the weather brightened again. This is the second application for turbines at this site. The first was refused, and this application has also been refused, but the applicants have appealed. A Public Inquiry in April has been adjourned until October.
This is the view looking back from a gate on the road (above right). A tractor was working in the field but otherwise it was quiet. At the end of the road I turned left through some trees, and then down a small road to Higher Haye Cottages.	The turbines would be to the left of the road but the site was concealed by a shelter belt of trees.As I couldn`t see the site, I photographed the fields on the right of the road, where sheep and horses were grazing. There was no traffic at all - the road only leads to the cottages and farms
This is the sign for Beech Farm, down near the end of the trees. Not a very good photo!	This is the lane beyond the trees. It was still hazy and the light wasn`t that good. I wish the photo had captured the essence of this little lane - it was so rural that I felt as if I was transported back to my childhood, when I first visited Devon in the 1950`s.
All the roadside banks were like flower gardens - these were just a few bluebells and campions. I wished I had a photographer with me, or knew better how to use my camera to capture the colours and intensity of the flowers when the lighting isn`t right. The road became a footpath, which led through a farmyard. No one came out, not even a dog. Perhaps they were all having their tea. Beyond the farm, I took a rough track with a footbridge over a small stream.	This horse came over to say hello - the only "person" I met during the walk. The path led across fields and back onto the tiny road towards the little hamlet of Foghanger, down in a valley. Drifts of bluebells shimmered on the banks of the road. Chris and Yvonne welcomed me with tea and biscuits. Yvonne went off to do her her goats and horses, and when she came back we had supper, a very welcome cottage pie and for pudding her own recipe "foghanger tart" . Perhaps I should start collecting recipes as I go along, as well, I thought.
Both Chris and Yvonne are artists, and while staying with them I was able to photograph some of their paintings. Chris has also given me some photographs that I plan to scan in when I have a moment. He works mainly in acrylics and mixed media and these are two of his paintings.	This painting shows brent Tor in the distance.
Yvonne works in oils. This is a large painting, done after a local ploughing match. The one on the left is a smaller painting of a tree in their wood.

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Saturday: The start of my "Round Devon Wind Farm Sites Walk"

and Saturday`s walk, from Brent Tor to Coombe Mill, home of James Lovelock

Another excerpt from "Gaia, The practical science of planetary medicine" by James Lovelock

"There is always at the peak of Brent Tor a sense of sacredness, as if it were a place where God and Gaia meet. The feeling is intense, like that felt in great cathedrals, caverns and on other mountain tops...."

"Whatever the reason, Brent Tor and places like it have a sense of peace. They seem to serve as reference points of health against which to contrast the illness of the present urban or rural scene."

To read these two excerpts in full, click here

	I was joined at the start by members of various groups, including WIFLAG( Local) ODAT, Den Brook, Dartmoor Preservation Association, Two Moors Way Campaign, CPRE, BLOT and also individuals from, for example, Ashwater. If I have left anyone out please do email me! I was presented also with two Polo shirts and baseball caps bearing the Country Guardian Logo. I am myself a member of Country Guardian, the group that has done more than any other group in the world to save beautiful landscapes from these monsters. While being quite a shy person, and not normally keen to walk around bearing any logos, I feel it is an honour to wear this one. The clothing was made by Splash Clothing who did a brilliant job getting it ready in time. They also made the banner that you can see below. I would like to both them and Country Guardian for kitting me out., and I am putting links to them both here below: Country Guardian Splash clothing
Photographed here with the banner are Henry Lewis (The Wind Thing) and on the right, Ivan and Diane Buxton from Ashwater. Henry came on the first part of the walk with me, before dashing back to London. Ivan and Diane did a "Cameron"on both Saturday and Monday, chauffering the movie camera and sketch books along to my my overnight stopovers. Originally I had hoped to carry everything on my back, but the chance to make videos of events taking place during the walk the walk was too good to miss.	Supporters below Brent Tor, including Muriel Goodman from North Tawton, Ashley Gray (Two Moors Campaign) Chris Burchell (WIFLAG) Maureen Thomson (Den Brook) Henry Lewis, Ray Quirke (ODAT) Sarah Payne (Bradworthy) and Jonathan Cardale (Dartmoor Preservation Association). More photographs were taken on film, and a video was made, but unfortunately the rest of the digital photographs taken here didn`t come out properly. None of the photos show how cold it was - being the only one in shorts I was very glad to get moving at last.
Photographs were also taken by the Western Morning News and, earlier, the Tavistock Times. We are hoping they will give us permission to show some of them on the website.

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The Walk: Saturday May 13th

Brent Tor to Coombe Mill

	Henry Lewis came with me for the first few miles. Like me, he loves walking long distances. He was walking in Wales some years ago when he saw a large wind farm on the horizon. It took him more than a day`s walking to reach it, and since then he has been very concerned about the damage they are doing to the landscape. We took a minor road that went past Liddaton Down. After half a mile about, I stopped to look back at brent Tor. I was to do the same thing many times this day. There was no traffic on the road, and we were once again in countryside nearly as rural as that of my childhood. We walked past Bowden and Liddaton Downs, areas of open moorland studded with gorse. It was delightful countryside.
	This is Liddaton Cross. We both really loved this area - it was just charming, even on an overcast day.
	Thinking of his play, perhaps, Henry began to do a little dance, and I managed to take a photo of him doing it. When I saw The Wind Thing last year, I especially enjoyed the musical routines. Henry was pleased with the way the casting was going, and later I hope to put up more news about the actors involved.
Henry , beneath some trees. The photo on the right is of another flowery bank, this time mainly stitchwort and campions. When we reached Chillaton Henry`s sister Lynette picked him up. He had to go back to London - from then I was on my own.
We`d diverted to meet Lynette, and I was now on a road that was a little busier, but still safe, it wasn`t worth going backward to my preferred footpath route so I carried on up some hills towards Lifton. This - I think - is on Bulhill, looking back towards Brent Tor. My brother John had hoped to meet me on his bike at Lifton but he became ill on Thursday, and was at home, resting.	This is the view coming down towards the village of Lifton, quieter now that has been by-passed. There were plans for wind turbines near here, but they have lapsed for the moment. I stopped at the Post Office/shop and sat outside on a convenient chair to eat a snack that I bought there. A lady asked me about the Country Guardian logo, and when I mentioned the words wind turbines she said "I hope you`re against those!"
From Lifton I took the road near Wortham Manor, passing under the new A30. This was "home territory" to me now. My parents and John moved here in the seventies. I took one last look back at Brent Tor. It was still visible, but because of the haziness doesn`t show in the photograph.	This is the last crossroad before Coombe Mill. The signpost points to Ashwater Lifton and Broadwooidger, all places that have been possible turbine sites, although at the moment they are turbine free. The last two or so miles were gently downhill, and the sun came out at times. It was nearly the end of my first longish walk.

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