The weather today... Mostly dry (it only rained a bit while we were in the car), partly cloudy (we saw blue sky for more than a moment today) and very windy! Paul's hair doesn't get too mussed in the wind, but it certainly blew around his jacket!
Today we took a drive through the moors. There are several moor areas in England - we went through Dartmoor. When I think of moors, I think of Wuthering Heights, Jamaica Inn, and romance novels where the heroine inevitably gets lost and the hero rescues her. Most of these thoughts revolve around dark and rainy nights, so the moor in the daytime is a bit different, but no less majestic and mysterious.

We started at Bovey Tracey. They have a Guild for Devon artists, which is mostly a gallery of work for sale and an exhibition space. I enjoyed seeing the books one of the artists made with leather covers and other cool techniques. This was a really pretty town, just on the edge of the moor.

After Bovey Tracey, we took some smaller roads to Widecombe-in-the-moor. Along the way, we passed some rocks - the twin rocks of Haytor Vale. They were up a smallish hill, and at the top, we got some great views of the area. There were lots of people here rock climbing up the side of the rocks with full climbing gear as well as little kids just scrambling up the side. I would call this a mini-forced march. The walk itself wasn't long, but it was all uphill.

In Widecombe-in-the-moor is a lovely church that is part of the National Trust (St. Pancras Church). It was surprisingly light and airy inside - not at all what I was expecting from an old stone building. You can see the church in the upper right of the photo below. One of the other characteristic things about the moor are the livestock - ponies, cows, and sheep. Add them to the list of things to look for when driving, as they don't pay attention to traffic signs or crosswalks. At Widecombe, we had lunch at a cafe that overlooks the church. Paul did a ploughman's lunch (salad, cheese, branston pickle, and pickled onions) and I did another pasty (cheese and onion today) with chips (or fries, if you're american). There were a few gift shops here offering mostly awful things in them. I can't believe tourists buy some of this stuff. One gift shop offered Royal Doulton figurines - lovely, but who buys porcelain in the moors? From the little old ladies and bus nearby, I suspect that the tourism trade in this city depends on the coaches of people shuttled in.

Our next stop via the nearly one-lane country roads that cause me to panic at every turn was Postbridge. This is barely a town, with only a pub and an inn from what we could see. There are a lot of hiking trails that start here (as at most towns in the moor), but it's real claim to fame is a clapper bridge. These bridges are typical for the area, and are who-knows how old. (Dave, if I had any skills at story telling, I would think of a whopper here. This is at least the second bridge photo in the blog, however, as an homage to your inspiration.) This clapper bridge is the longest, so it draws a lot of visitors. It's also very close to the car-park, which makes it easy for families to visit.

Along the way at some point in our journey we also found a scenic spot to take a picture with the moor as the backdrop. In case you're wondering how we get shots of us together at so many places, Paul has a gadget for all occasions. I usually scoff at them until they become handy. In this case, it's a gorilla pod - a grippy tripod that allows us to balance the camera in odd locations, like the bonnet (hood) of our car.

After Postbridge, we drove home. We had plans to visit Dartmoor Prison, but I was less enthused about visiting here after I found out it's an operating prison (Sorry, mom, but I skipped the gift shop, too!). I had the impression that is was a medieval prison that would just be spooky. The gift shops at Widecombe sold shirts that identified you as an escapee from the prison - apparently, there was a prison break here at some point in its history, although where they could go from the middle of the moor is beyond me. It would sort of be like a prison break from Houghton. We made this day a bit shorter, as we're a bit tired and just felt like relaxing. I'm sure after a day of rest, Paul will be more eager than ever to force me to walk miles and miles.