I’ve been on Dartmoor. My goodness, it was nice to get away.

Dartmoor is frequently misty and moody, as it was on one walk.

Yet it can often be fine and sunny. But whichever it is, I always think of it as unfailingly beautiful.

The sheep get everywhere, including on the top of old spoil heaps from derelict mine workings.

Hooten Wheals is one such disused mine, with a plethora of remnants of old buildings and machine structures still extant. I believe the circular structures are the remains of buddles, circular shallow settling tanks used to extract the minerals from the rock.

There are also plentiful remains of farms, houses and all sorts of settlements, from prehistoric times through to the recent past. These buildings at Swincombe are probably not particularly old.

Old stone crosses are found all over Dartmoor. Their uses include marking the boundaries of the influences of various abbeys and waymarking paths. This one (and the one in the distance) are on Ter Hill.

And because Dartmoor is so open, you get skies.

Wonderful skies.