Out and About with Tavistock Ramblers

A 4-mile walk in the valley of the River Tavy on the edge of the moor with Tavistock Ramblers. 

Park at Zoar on the roadside verge near a row of old cottages (SX524807).

The walk passes the old mining hamlet of Horndon, follows the Hill Bridge Leat to the River Tavy and up to the moorland reservoir of Wheal Jewell. A splendid autumn walk through the woodland with reminders of the area’s industrial past. A mixture of quiet lanes, old tracks and moorland paths. 

1. Leave the row of old miners’ cottages on your left and walk down the road towards Horndon, once a busy mining community. Go over the cattle grid and past a former chapel, with a huge monkey puzzle tree.

2. Turn left at the T-junction by the post box and pass some more old buildings. Turn left again at a second junction past Furzemans Farm. The tarmac lane ends and becomes a rough green lane as it descends. 

3. After about 150m the track crosses the Hill Bridge Leat. This old leat, once serving the hugely successful copper mines of Wheal Friendship, now provides water for the Mary Tavy Hydro Electric power station. Go left over the stile to walk upstream towards Hill Bridge itself. There is a second stile and a couple of gates as the path meanders through the woodland with the River Tavy in the valley below.

4. After almost a mile the leatside path arrives at Hill Bridge and the weir where the water is taken from the River Tavy. The modern, and rather out-of-place, concrete and metal structures in the river are designed to protect migrating salmon. Go sharp left beside the weir up the steep slope to the road. Go left up the lane and round a sharp bend. Further on, look out for a rather challenging stone stile on the left signed as a public footpath - but this can, thankfully, be ignored. Continue past Hilltown Farm and bear left at a road junction signed for Horndon. Go straight on at the next junction. There are fine views over the hedges towards Tavy Cleave. 

5. Where the lane goes sharp left, continue straight ahead on a green lane signed as a public bridleway. At the top of this rocky track go through the moor gate and bear left on the path alongside the wall. Go through a gateway and past a fenced-off shaft up the grassy track, now bearing away from the wall on the left towards a rather ugly concrete building that is the Wheal Jewell reservoir building. (Go up the concrete steps to see the reservoir). Wheal Jewell gets its name from an old tin and arsenic mine last worked in WWI. Water from Tavy Cleave flows along an old leat which originally served several mines in the area, including Wheal Betsy, and now also feeds the Mary Tavy Hydro Electric power station.

6. Turn left on the stony track and back to the car.

Come and join Tavistock Ramblers for more walks in our lovely part of Devon or on Dartmoor. Walks vary from short strolls to all-day treks and everything in between. See www.tavistockramblers.org.uk for the programme of walks on offer.