ENTRIES are now open for the Abbot's Way Walk between Buckfast Abbey and Tavistock this autumn.

The 23-mile walk organised by Tavistock Youth Forum takes place on Sunday, October 5 along the historic route over southern Dartmoor once trod by monks between Buckfast Abbey and Tavistock Abbey.

Participants will set off from Buckfast Abbey to Princetown then to Whitchurch Down, finishing by walking along the roads and pavements back to Tavistock, to a welcome reception at the Red & Black Club at Tavistock Football Club off Crowndale Road.

The cost of the day is £12, which includes a certificate, badge and pasty and cold drink at the finish.

Organiser Peter Challiss explained that the route could prove a useful ‘tester’ for young people considering taking part in the Ten Tors, the two-day expedition on Dartmoor each April which sees young people loaded up with all their kit walk 35, 45 or 55 miles, camping overnight on the moor.

“With the Abbot’s Way Walk, they are walking 23 miles in a day,” said Peter. `”They haven’t got to carry a full pack but they have to carry lunch and water.

“They have to be able to navigate. They have got a checkpoint every 5k and we might set off with 300 people but after 5-6k you don't see the person in front, so you have got to navigate the route. It can be wild and windy and quite misty because the first half is on the high moor."

He explained: "The Abbot’s Way Walk was started 63 years ago by a youth leader – Bill Ames – in Tavistock. He set it all up and chose the route and we are the organisation that runs it now. Fifty per cent of the teams are under 18, we have between 180-200 under 18s walking in groups and the rest are adults.”

The checkpoints are staffed by volunteers from three Dartmoor Search & Rescue Teams, Ashburton, Plymouth and Tavistock from Cross Furzes to Peat Cot and then the Dartmoor Radio Club staff the route from Peat Cot to Tavistock.

The finish is staffed by members of the Tavistock Youth Forum together with the Tavistock & Whitchurch Guides and Tavistock Lions.

This year’s walk will finish in Tavistock at the Red and Black Club at Tavistock Football Club off Crowndale Road. All those completing the route will be presented with a badge and certificate and given a drink and pasty.

In the early days of the Abbot's Way Walk, it started at Buckfast Abbey and finished initially at the youth centre in Chapel Street, Tavistock. In the 1980s, the finish moved to Tavistock College.

Tavistock Youth Forum - whose formal title is the Tavistock & District Outdoor Education Forum – took on running the event in 2011 from Devon County Council’s youth service.

Teams of between three and eight are invited to enter - please note that no dogs are allowed.

For enquiries and to enter, contact organiser Peter Challiss at [email protected]. Entries close on September 22.