Today we left Menheniot and headed towards Lydford in Devon
Menheniot lies in a former mining area and is surrounded by disused shafts and engine houses. Lead seams were discovered in the 1840s and Menheniot became the centre of a mining boom which lasted until the 1870s. During this period the population doubled.
Our hosts at the B&B persuaded us to walk down a narrow path from their property instead of taking our planned route. It was a good shout from them as it cut a nice corner of the planned road piece at the start of the day. We then had a nice walk through the countryside towards Horse Bridge, interspersed with plenty of hills, streams, donkeys and alpacas.
Then we crossed the border from Cornwall into Devon by crossing the bridge at Horse Bridge and meandered through the lovely village of Sydenham before imagining, in awe, the efforts to build St Michaels church on the hill at Brentor.
After the 100 mile mark and with views of Dartmoor on the horizon, we walked down the hill towards Lydford Gorge (some good views of the Devils Cauldron by hanging over the bridge) and up the hill to our resting place for the evening.
Safe to say these 4 days have been quite a brutal introduction to the whole walk – over 3000m of ascent already.
Tomorrow we head to Crediton on what, thankfully, looks to be a much flatter route
