Dartmoor Photowalk 20 Yar Tor, Sharp & Combestone

Dartmoor Photowalk 20 Yar Tor, Sharp & Combestone

This week the weather was looking favourable, just some early rain then clearing out around lunchtime. I was headed for Yar Tor and Sharp Tor with a view to get Combestone Tor on the way home. As well as my usual Fuji X-T2 I took along my Bronica SQ-Ai with a 645 Back on it loaded with Fuji Provia 100F.

Combestone Tor. (Bronica)




Yar Tor.




As I arrived at the car park between Yar and Sharp Tors the morning rain was at full belt so I decided to wait it out for a while since the walk was only a short one. After about 20 minutes it passed on to the South so I set off up Yar Tor. As I looked back I could clearly see the rain in the distance behind Sharp Tor and was thankful it was there and not over me.




Looking North towards Yar Tor it was definitely better.




I set the Bronica up for a shot back towards Sharp Tor.




The shot.




Once on Yar Tor I set about exploring, the views are quite good from the top.




There are some nice rock formations on the Tor and it is surprisingly large which is not easy to tell from the car park.




On the top is a Cairn which is marked on the OS Map, curiously although this was my 4th visit to this Tor I had not been up to look at it, until this time.




When I got up closer I saw that it is quite intricate but I didn’t have a wide enough lens to capture it in one shot. This is a 4 shot panoramic stitch to get it all in.




After Yar Tor I headed across to Corndon Down looking for a composition of Yar Tor, there is a Memorial on the Down so obviously I had to photograph it, as you can see the weather was now improving, this shot is facing South (ish).




Closer and more directly South (still a bit of rain in the distance).




I did get a better composition of Yar Tor using the Bronica.




I decided to have my lunch beside the Memorial, it was a nice view.




After lunch I headed back to the car via Yar Tor again.




From the South Western edge of Yar Tor I could see over to Hexworthy and Combestone Tor, there was a field of Bluebells that stood out but the light just wouldn’t catch them. The Bluebells are past their best now but I will be back next year to capture this field which I think is very unusual.




Once off Yar Tor I headed for a Hut Circle that overlooks Sharp Tor unfortunately the dead Bracken is still prominent so no real nice shot, just a record shot.




I also grabbed a shot of Sharp Tor and the stone remnants of an old Pound on its lower slopes.




After that I got to the car and headed over to Combestone Tor.




I wanted to finish the roll of film in the Bronica, I shot this view across the Dart Valley towards Sharp Tor.




Once the film was finished I set off back home but I had one more location on my shot list, there is a Memorial just down from the Forrest Inn at Hexworthy.




The Memorial is just outside of the field of Bluebells but sits in a fine crop of them (another shot for next year when the Bluebells are at their best).




That’s all for this week folks, as always, comments welcome.

Tags: Combestone tor Dartmoor Photowalk Yar Tor and Sharp Tor Forrest Inn Hexworthy Dartmoor