This week Mrs T and I had intended to go out to the Powdermills near Postbridge then we planned to go out over Longaford Tor out to Higher and Lower White Tors, however, the weather had different ideas. Since there was heavy fog leaving visibility down at times to 20 or so meters I decided trekking out over the high moor on a Photowalk would be a waste of time so we concentrated on the Powdermills. Powdermills was a gunpowder factory in the middle of Dartmoor, built in the 18th/19th Century to provide blasting powder for the various Granite Quarries on Dartmoor some of which I have photographed on these walks (Foggintor, Swell Tor, Haytor), it probably also provided Gunpowder for military use.
Powdermills.
Powdermills is actually the ruins of the old Gunpowder Factory, there are some buildings that face the road that are both residential cottages and business properties (Cafe and Pottery), the businesses are worth a visit there is good access and parking.
We concentrated on the ruins.
We had planned to park in a car park just off the main road but close to the ruins, however, it was closed due to some Forestry works so we went further down towards Postbridge and found some off-road parking near a Bridlepath, it made the walk slightly longer but it was quite flat and easy.
We crossed some small brooks that were quite full.
Once at the ruins it was clear that there were lots of them in various states of decay.
Today would be a day of building photography in the main, the Fog/drizzle was on a strong wind and prevented shooting in all but the wind to the back situations as the drizzle quickly found the lens front element.
Although there were Health and Safety fences around most of the steep drops within the buildings it was still possible to get some detailed shots of what is left of the insides.
We stopped for lunch sheltering among the buildings.
After lunch we moved further towards the road along the Cherry Brook which runs through the ruins and probably was used in the powder making process.
There were some really interesting trees in the boggy areas along the banks of the Brook.
There appears to be 2 areas where work was carried out, I have no idea how Gunpowder is made but these chimneys seem to be a requirement as there is one in each of the main areas.
Overall we spent about 2 ½ hours amongst the ruins but had the weather been better we could have spent double that easily however as always on Dartmoor the weather is in charge so we set off back to the car intent on visiting another day when that weather is more conducive to good photography.
That’s all for this week folks, as always comments welcome.
Tags: Devon uk Historic ruins Dartmoor Photowalk Powdermills Gunpowder Factory
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