Dartmouth

The mouth of the Dart
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We arrived in Dartmouth on the Friday afternoon of a long weekend and were surprised how busy the campsites were. The weather had been good so lots of people were out to enjoy it.

I should mention that the roads getting to Dartmouth (and through most of Cornwall it has to be said) are pretty narrow for the camping car. It seems to make it worse when you are on the ‘wrong’ side as well.

It’s a ruggedly spectacular place, but not somewhere for sunbathing

Haytor
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Dartmouth is a nice, but small town on the mouth of the river Dart. I never could figure out how they named the town though… There are a couple of car ferries to avoid a 30-mile drive to the next bridge upstream. We stayed at a campsite near the park and ride and don’t try to walk or cycle into town from there as it’s a very long way downhill.

After Dartmouth we drove to Dartmoor – confused yet? The moor is an open barren space covered in low-lying shrubs including the gorse, which is very prickly. Dotted across the moors are tors, hills with groups of boulders on them. It’s a ruggedly spectacular place, but not somewhere for sunbathing ;-). In fact Englands most hardened criminals are here in Dartmoor prison on the assumption that if they escape they will die of exposure, or gorse prickles.

Ahh, spring in England...
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If you are intending to try Dartmoor in a camping car bear in mind the roads are as stated above, except narrower and with less passing points.

Dave.