THE DARTMOOR Preservation Association completed their annual walk to Fur Tor recently.

The group of 14 walkers have been doing the traditional ramble for over a decade after the then chairman, Colin Turner, lead some early walks.

The 2015 walk was around ten miles long and lead by DPA volunteer John Howell, who said that Fur Tor was chosen for the walk due to its remoteness.

John said: ‘It also has several dramatic rock piles and it can be approached from all directions, combined with the fact that it is inaccessible when live firing is taking place on the Okehampton training ranges.

‘It was enjoyable leading the walk, and as always, it was a good group of walkers who are good company.

‘The terrain is quite challenging with very few tracks, tussocky moorland grass, wet and boggy areas and river crossings over the Tavy, Amicombe and Dead Lake, which can be quite difficult if there has been rain in the preceding days.’

John said the most difficult part of the walk was the stretch between Lynch Tor towards Tavy Hole and then on to Fur Tor as the mist came down and navigation had to be carried out by compass and GPS.

‘The final challenge of the walk was clambering down through the dramatic Tavy Cleave, one of Dartmoor’s most beautiful river valleys, but considerable care does need to be taken,’ he said.

The route included part of the moor know as the corpseway — the ancient route used in medieval times to attend the parish church at Lydford for Sunday services, or to bury the dead.

The walk also passed the bronze age settlement at Watern Oke which has the remains of around 70 dwellings and other buildings.

The DPA was founded in 1883 amidst concerns that the land management of Dartmoor by the Duchy of Cornwall was threatening to extinguish the ancient rights of the commoners on the moor.

Today, the group, a registered charity, still takes an interest in looking after the moor and maintains a strong interest in the archaeology and ecology of the moorland.