| Two Moors Way | |
|---|---|
 The Two Moors Way at the point at which the path leaves, or joins, the Redlake Tramway track | |
| Length | 117 mi (188 km) |
| Location | Devon & Somerset, England |
| Trailheads | Wembury to Lynmouth |
| Use | Hiking |
| Sights | Dartmoor and Exmoor |
The Two Moors Way is a long-distance trail mostly in Devon, UK, first established in 1976. It links Dartmoor and Exmoor and has been extended to become a Devon Coast-to-Coast trail.
The Two Moors Way was the brainchild of Joe Turner of the Two Moors Way Association and was officially opened on 29 May 1976. The original Two Moors Way route spans 102 miles from Ivybridge on the southern boundary of Dartmoor National Park to Lynmouth on the North Devon Coast in Exmoor National Park. In 2005 the Two Moors Way was linked with the Erme–Plym Trail joining Wembury on the south Devon coast to Ivybridge to create a cross-county coast-to-coast route of just over 116 miles.
After Joe Turner's death in 2004, Dartmoor sculptor Peter Randall-Page created a testament to his work: two halves of an inscribed granite boulder now sit on the edge of Dartmoor and Exmoor, facing each other across 30 miles of rolling Mid Devon countryside.
In 2016, to mark the 40th anniversary of the original route, the Two Moors Way Association was reinvigorated to help promote the route, working in close partnership with the two National Parks and with Devon County Council who are responsible for maintaining and managing the path.
In 2017 a sculpture known as 'The Walker' was unveiled by TV presenter John Craven at the end point in Lynmouth, marking the intersection of several long distant walking routes across Exmoor National Park and beyond.
The route, which is waymarked in most places, passes through (from south to north): Wembury (optional) - Ivybridge - Holne - Hameldown - Chagford - Drewsteignton - Morchard Bishop - Witheridge - Knowstone - Hawkridge - Withypool - Simonsbath - Lynmouth. There are diversions and alternative routes for accessing accommodation, for avoiding the highest ground in bad weather, and because of concern over over-use: most of these were worked out originally in 1996 between the officers of the two national park authorities, Steve Church (Countryside & Access Officer for Devon County Council) and John Macadam (author of the Aurum Press / Ordnance Survey Recreational Path Guide The Two Moors Way, published in 1997). The route does not go over the northern part of Dartmoor as this is the Dartmoor Training Area though many walkers competent at navigating with map and compass make their own route here when there is no live firing (which is publicised 6 weeks in advance, and occurs on about 120 days a year) [1] and rejoin the Two Moors Way in mid-Devon.
The Two Moors Way intersects several other walking trails running through the moorlands:
The River Plym is a river in Devon, England. It runs from Dartmoor in the centre of the county southwest to meet the River Meavy, then south towards Plymouth Sound. The river is popular with canoeists, and the Plym Valley Railway runs alongside a section of the river.
Exmoor is loosely defined as an area of hilly open moorland in west Somerset and north Devon in South West England. It is named after the River Exe, the source of which is situated in the centre of the area, two miles north-west of Simonsbath. Exmoor is more precisely defined as the area of the former ancient royal hunting forest, also called Exmoor, which was officially surveyed 1815–1818 as 18,810 acres (7,610 ha) in extent. The moor has given its name to a National Park, which includes the Brendon Hills, the East Lyn Valley, the Vale of Porlock and 55 km (34 mi) of the Bristol Channel coast. The total area of the Exmoor National Park is 692.8 km2 (267.5 sq mi), of which 71% is in Somerset and 29% in Devon.
The Pennine Way is a National Trail in England, with a small section in Scotland. The trail stretches for 268 miles (431 km) from Edale, in the northern Derbyshire Peak District, north through the Yorkshire Dales and Northumberland National Park and ends at Kirk Yetholm, just inside the Scottish border. The path runs along the Pennine hills, sometimes described as the "backbone of England". Although not the United Kingdom's longest National Trail, it is according to The Ramblers, "one of Britain's best known and toughest".
South Hams is a local government district on the south coast of Devon, England. Its council is based in the town of Totnes, although the largest town is Ivybridge. The district also contains the towns of Dartmouth, Kingsbridge and Salcombe and numerous villages and surrounding rural areas.
Ivybridge is a town and civil parish in the South Hams, in Devon, England. It lies about thirteen miles east of Plymouth. It is at the southern extremity of Dartmoor, a National Park of England and Wales and lies along the A38 "Devon Expressway" road. There are two electoral wards in Ivybridge East and Ivybridge West with a total population of 11,851.
Lynton is a town on the Exmoor coast in the North Devon district in the county of Devon, England, approximately 17 miles (27 km) north-east of Barnstaple and 18 miles (29 km) west of Minehead, and close to the confluence of the West Lyn and East Lyn rivers.
Lynmouth is a village in Devon, England, on the northern edge of Exmoor. The village straddles the confluence of the West Lyn and East Lyn rivers, in a gorge 700 feet (210 m) below Lynton, which was the only place to expand to once Lynmouth became as built-up as possible. The villages are connected by the Lynton and Lynmouth Cliff Railway, which works two cable-connected cars by gravity, using water tanks.
The Devon Wildlife Trust is a member of The Wildlife Trusts partnership covering the county of Devon, England. It is a registered charity, established in 1962 as the Devon Naturalists Trust, and its aim is to safeguard the future of the county's urban, rural and marine wildlife and its environment.
The Erme is a river in south Devon, England. From its source on Dartmoor it flows in a generally southerly direction past some of the best-preserved archaeological remains on the moor. It leaves the moor at the town of Ivybridge and continues southward, passing the settlements of Ermington, Modbury and Holbeton. Near Holbeton it becomes a ria and empties into the English Channel in Bigbury Bay, between the rivers Yealm and Avon.
The Tarka Trail is a series of footpaths and cyclepaths around north Devon, England that follow the route taken by the fictional Tarka the Otter in the book of that name. It covers a total of 180 miles (290 km) in a figure-of-eight route, centred on Barnstaple.
The Yealm is a river in Devon in England that rises 430 m (1,410 ft) above sea level on the Stall Moor mires of south Dartmoor and travels 12 miles (19 km) to the sea, passing through Cornwood, Lee Mill and Yealmpton, a mid-sized village with a population of c.2,000 which is its largest settlement, before reaching its estuary which forms a ria bounded on its western side by Wembury. A deep inlet of this ria forms the waterfront to Newton Ferrers and Noss Mayo on its eastern side.
The Cann Quarry canal was a canal in Devon, England which ran for just under 2 miles (3.2 km) from Cann Quarry to the River Plym at Marsh Mills. It opened in 1829, and a short tramway connected it to the Plymouth and Dartmoor Railway at Crabtree Junction. It had been replaced by a tramway within ten years, but continued to be used as a mill leat to supply Marsh Mills corn mill, and most of it is still visible.
The Coleridge Way is a 51-mile (82 km) long-distance trail in Somerset and Devon, England.
John Bainbridge is an English author and campaigner for countryside preservation and access. He read Literature and Social History at the University of East Anglia.
Hameldown Tor is a granite tor on Dartmoor in the English county of Devon. It is at grid reference SX7031380571. It is situated above the Bronze Age settlement of Grimspound and lies on the northern edge of a ridge extending towards Widecombe. This ridge forms part of the central route of the Two Moors Way. Hameldown Tor has fantastic far reaching views and is one of the tallest tors in this part of Dartmoor. It has a trig point on the highest point of the ridge at 1736ft (529m).
The King Charles III England Coast Path (KCIIIECP), originally known as the England Coast Path, is a proposed long-distance National Trail that will follow the coastline of England. When complete, it will be around 2,700 miles (4,300 km) long.
Lynton and Lynmouth is a civil parish in the North Devon district of Devon, England. The parish is named after its two main settlements of Lynton, which stands on a plateau above the Glen Lyn Gorge, and Lynmouth which lies at the foot of the gorge where the West Lyn River and East Lyn River converge and then meet the sea. The two are connected by the Lynton and Lynmouth Cliff Railway, a water-powered funicular railway.
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