Day 15 - Chagford to Morchard Bishop - Wdnesday

Breakfast was at 8:00 and I had a most interesting conversation with John who took over this pub, The Chagford Inn last January and is in the process of fully refurbishing, and already providing interesting food way beyond the average pub grub. John has cycled from LA New York dipping down into the south. That was a three month trip. He is also a keen photographer. I could have spent a long time chatting there, but I had a twenty mile day in front of me.

Pleasant riverside and old woods walking took me onto a fabulous balcony path running under the ramparts of Drago Castle ( the story of its ongoing overhaul is worth looking at - I'm sure Google will provide. There was a good tv documentary about it sometime ago).

After leaving the northern boundary of Dartmoor Nat. Park the quality of the walking degenerated into farmers' fields, nettles, stiles, and the like. Also the path now became comprehensively waymarked.

I walked hard, by my standards all day but I was well done for during the last five miles.

At the village shop I enquired about b and bs. There was nobody home at one, but Mrs Snell at Shippens had room. I misunderstood the directions turning right from the shop and walked down one fork of the steep village street and back up the other adding another half mile to my total, then returning to the shop for more directions. When I make a route mistake I tend to march hard to redeem myself, and so I did on my second attempt.

Mrs Snell is a great elderly lady, sharp with her repartee and a good conversationalist. The house is a large converted barn completed several years ago - her husband died shortly after completion, "...he wasn't a lot of help to me". After a welcoming tea and cake I showered and went back up the hill to the London Inn. Mrs S had booked a table for me, but when I entered I was already famous having been seen doing my redeeming route march past the pub earlier on the way to Mrs Snell's - they were all impressed. I could just as easily have fallen over with exhaustion when I marched past them.


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