A Granite Legacy

The Bovey Tracey Parishscape Project, Granite Elements, is uncovering more than the magnificent stone tramway that ran from Hay Tor to the navigable Stover Canal.  A walk led by Albert Knott from Natural England, and Barry Green , an expert countryman, illustrated the many skills that local people use to exploit and manage the land adjacent to the tramway route.  The walk had many notable views and first we looked across the rolling Devon countryside criss-crossed with hedges and the hills topped with trees.  This old pattern has changed in many places as the hedges were ripped out to create larger fields for modern machinery and this has affected the wildlife who use the hedges as corridors.  Some field boundaries are very ancient indeed going back to the Bronze age.

We continued through a wood where we stepped across a stream channelled by an appropriated piece or tramway - it's always easier to use what's around than cut your own!  We looked at the flora and fauna of felled areas, admired the industry of ancient coppicing, saw the damage that larger animals can cause to trees but how this in turn can produce an airy parkland environment.  We were shown the points of good fencing and the styles of stone wall building.  We followed the track through Yarner Wood where  volunteers, as elsewhere along the route,  are making  the tramway more visible.  We discussed how the granite was cut and shaped to make the tramway and the simple tools and incredible labour of the men who made it   Contemplating  all that effort for something that  was only used for about 20 years added to the  effort over centuries of those who maintain the land made us all feel thirsty and luckily Ullacombe Farm  cafe was our final destination.

I attended a second walk on the art and ecology of the Tramway that was equally enjoyable and illuminating so look out for others and discover the many elements of this exciting project.

Philippa Wood Walk participant