North West Dartmoor National Park, Dartmoor, Devon UK

Okehampton & the Museum of Dartmoor Life

The Museum of Dartmoor Life in Okehampton, North Dartmoor is a great starting point, after the tourist info points, to begin your exploration of Dartmoor. On offer here is a choice range of exhibitions exploring the working lives of Dartmoor residents - you can get a real sense of the hardships through the many photographs and ephemera. Check out the little art gallery as well with paintings and photography by local artists.

Opening times are from 10.15am to 4.30pm, Mondays to Saturdays - Easter to end of October. Closed for lunch. For Sundays, Winter, and Group opening, please ring 01837 52295. Access: lift between the 3 floors for visitors with a disability; limited blue-badge parking; Braille book about the museum and its exhibits; WC for wheelchair users. There's a Museum Shop on-site and nice Tea Rooms. Museum of Dartmoor Life, 3 West Street, Okehampton, Devon, EX20 1HQ, Tel: 01837 52295.

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Lydford Castle & Lydford Gorge

Lydford Gorge is perhaps the most beautiful natural feature in the North West of Dartmoor National Park. Lydford Gorge is just outside the old Saxon outpost of Lydford and is owned by the national Trust (you have to pay to get in!!) National Trust prices are getting a little steep. Anyway, prepare yourself for a spectacular river gorge and waterfall, surrounded by many woodland trails which weave through a deep-cut ravine alongside the river Lyd. The waterfall itself is a huge 90 ft Whitelady waterfall. You can 'walk the plank' over the Devil's Cauldron whirlpools and there's plenty of wildlife-watching on offer, especially along the Railway Trail. Visitors should be aware that the walk to the waterfall can be quite demanding in places, so you'll need some good walking boots and wrap up well in winter. This walk is not recommeded for visitors with heart complaints or for very young children.

Lydford village is indeed idyllic, crammed with country cottages, old inns and a few specialist arts and crafts centres. It's crowning glory is Lydford Castle which is free to view and open to the public. Lydford Castle has a most interesting keep set on a raised hill surrounded by a deep gorge serving as a catch for the River Lyd and a tributary. The site you see today was not actually a castle, but was built later in the medieval period as a gaol for tin miners in Dartmoor. These tin miners were subject only to Stannary law (stannaries were the powerhouses in Devon that taxed tin, and there were key centres which did this such as Ashburton, Plympton and Tavistock). Stannary Law and the Stannary Parliament which met at Two Bridges was a separate state of affairs from the wider law. If you complained about the tin industry, you could end up in this gaol at Lydford, as did Richard Strode the MP for Plympton when he made a complaint about mining debris in moorland rivers that were silting up the harbour at Plymouth. He was released when he promised to shut up! He's often sited as the father of environmentalism, and the silting up of the harbours caused by the tin industry is one of the reasons for it's decline. This site was once an ancient hill fort in the Saxon period. The stone keep was built later however in the 12th century, and really is Lydford Stannary Gaol, not a castle at all. By 1700 it was derelict, but repairs were undertaken and it was still active in the early 19th century as the Stannary Court of Devon. An important and historic site, well worth a look and significant within the history of tin mining in Devon.

Lydford Gorge opening times are 23 Mar-30 Sep, from 10am - 5:30pm, 1 Oct-30 Oct 10am - 4pm. The Waterfall only is open from 31 Oct-31 Mar, 10:30am - 3pm. There is a tearoom, general shop and Christmas shop on-site.

Lydford Gorge, The Stables, Lydford Gorge, Lydford, nr Okehampton, Devon, EX20 4BH. Tel: 01822 820320, 01822 820441 (Shop), 01822 822004 (Tea-room)

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Dartmoor Golf - North West Dartmoor

Okehampton Golf Club, Off Tors Road, Okehampton. Tel: 01837 52113

Tavistock Golf Club, Down Road, Tavistock. Tel: 01822 612344. This course has 18 holes, and a handicap is preferred. There are beautiful views of Dartmoor National Park from this Devon golf course.

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