Pub Walks - Lustleigh Cleave

Patrick McCaig (left) and me above Lustleigh Cleave

Half a dozen years ago I did a series of pub walks with my old pal Patrick McCaig, of Otter Brewery. This is one of them…

If there is one particular type of country hike which ticks more boxes than most, it is the pub walk. The single comment I used to hear most as a newspaper walks writer was the one where people say they love a walk when it either starts or finishes at a country inn. 

Say no more - your wish is our command.  I have to say that we begin by setting the bar very, very, high indeed. The perambulation around Lustleigh Cleave on the flanks of eastern Dartmoor is one of the finest walks to be enjoyed anywhere in this amazing peninsula - and the thatched Cleave inn, located at the very centre of the pretty village of Lustleigh, is one of the best pubs I’ve visited in all the years I’ve been journalising in the region.

Landlord Ben Whitton is a charming fellow - he serves an excellent pint and the affordable food is way up there among the best posh pub nosh I’ve ever tasted. Do not dare to call it a “gastro-pub” though - it’s the one thing that might make the cool, laid-back, Ben lose his rag. This is a pub-lovers’ pub, if you know what I mean. Just because everything is first-class, doesn’t mean it needs any fancy labels. Ben has ensured the Cleave has remained what it’s meant to be - a country inn, not a restaurant.

Anyway, let’s allow the managing director of Otter Brewery to explain why he decided to sponsor pub walks in a newspaper: “When we did the pub series over the past year we were looking at what made the successful ones places tick,” said Patrick McCaig as we put on our walking boots one fine day last week. 

“And walking came in to the equation a lot. It was amazing to learn how many successful West Country pubs have excellent walks nearby. Today’s hike is an ideal example - and we will certainly be earning your reward when we return to the pub,” he went on.

When it comes to alluring place-names, surely few locations in England can boast more seductive an appellation than the valley at Lustleigh Cleave. Seductive by name, seductive by nature; that is what I reckon and I am in good company: the old Dartmoor expert and author William Crossing described the place as, “One of the loveliest nooks in the whole of Devon.”

View to North Bovey and Bovey Castle

Having explored the big hidden valley several times, I am happy to second his claim and his description of the Cleave. “Placed amidst congeries of moor-stone, and embosomed in trees,” wrote Crossing of this rift valley betwixt high moor and lowland vale... 

Embosomed, now there's a word. One that fits so snugly with both Lustleigh and with Cleave. Is it just me, or does the curious name conjure some hint of erotic appeal? In it there are hints of desire and fertility, undertones of femininity, whispers of a gorgeous promise lingering deep within the hills.

Ah well, let's get on with the hike. The place is more Oregon than Devon and its grandeur comes as something of a surprise to anyone who has studied the Ordnance Survey map before entering the secretive demesne. Look up Lustleigh and you will find a village surrounded by myriad fields and country lanes situated just beneath the eastern flank of Dartmoor. Run your finger to the left and you will come to an interesting concentration of contour lines and somewhere in the middle of this sharp geographical undulation will be the name Lustleigh Cleave.

Chatting with the landlord

The first thing that strikes the visitor about the village of Lustleigh is how well-heeled the place appears. Victorian villas dot the jumble of hillsides that surround the village and give the parish a holiday resort air that, at first, is hard to understand. But the Victorians loved the picturesque and nothing would do for them but to have a chunk of it once a railway had been driven through. In this case the broad gauge Newton Abbott to Moretonhampstead line which, opened on July 4th 1866, effectively exposed this secluded corner to an admiring world.

Remains of the old line exist and some sections are given over to walkers - but on this hike we must find the track which exits the village heading west just a few yards north of the fine old church. It crosses a small field or two before running alongside a wood just below Mapstone. Shortly after this we can cross the stream to climb around the edge of Middle Combe Wood and continue upwards to the hamlet of Hammerslake.

We are heading for Sharpitor which must be reached by ascending steeply through the woods just south of the hamlet. The narrow track is clearly marked and passes between two gardens before issuing out into the trees.

After a steep climb we are introduced suddenly and dramatically to the spectacular, gaping abyss of Lustleigh Cleave. We can stand on a rock called the Nut Crackers and gape at the vastness of the great rift; we can see Houndtor Wood just opposite, curving up its steep coombe to Becka Falls; then there's the hamlet of Freeland poking out of the trees above Water Cleave and, higher still, lonely Manaton guarding its distant marches with its extraordinary church lording it over Neadon and Horsham Cleaves.

As we proceed north-west along the edge of Lustleigh Cleave, so the views in front of us open up to reveal the mysterious and complex flanks of Dartmoor's north-eastern territory. The rocks at Harton Chest make the most glorious picnic spot I know.

Further north-west along the ridge we go until we come to Hunter's Tor - a massive collection of granite bed-rock and boulders that truly dominates the corner of this spur of hill. A hill that millions of years ago was divided from the main Dartmoor massif by the geological rift of the Cleave. Far below we can see the glittering light of the River Bovey as it meanders through patchwork fields from the village of North Bovey, beyond which is Bovey Castle looking so grand a pile that you might find yourself thinking of Brideshead Revisited or some such aristocratic nonsense.

And from the Tor you can peer around to the right of the hill and spy Moretonhampstead looking gloriously important among the endless fields and moors. Lurking beyond is Castle Drogo which is still clad in a vast plastic overcoat while the National Trust carries out £11million’s worth of roof repairs.

And so we bid a fond farewell to the sweeping views and descend by taking the footpath past Peck Farm and swing left down under Hunter's Tor to Foxworthy. This small hamlet looks for all the world like one of those Victorian water-colours of an  Arcadian idol. Thatch and mullions dominate the place and the clear-as-crystal Bovey rumbles through its bed of mighty rocks.

A plethora of other walks could take you across the stream should you so desired, but for this hike we keep to the north side and find the bridleway that wends and weaves its way along under the ramparts of the Cleave. Just below the Nut Crackers there's a chance to turn right downhill, and this path swings around to join a track to Pethybridge.

What is it about this area that insists its hamlets must fit in with the Victorian painter's ideal? Pethybridge is yet another thatched wonder. As they put it in the fashion world: think hollyhocks, think lilacs, think old men smoking pipes and comely maids shelling peas...

At any rate, that is what I was thinking as we found the footpath that curves around the little hill, through the wood and onto the tiny lane that leads back down to Lustleigh and its community orchard.

After we’d descended the hill and were sitting in the attractive garden of the Cleave inn, consuming skate wings, crab turnovers and a delicious looking burger in the witty company of landlord Ben, ever-cheerful Patrick was smiling even more than he usually does… 

“It’s healthy as well - that’s another thing I’ve just thought of about these pub walks…” he grinned. “We’ve gained richness in so many ways. There’s been the view and spectacle - we’ve had a good lunch and a pint.

“And the walk today was just beautiful - a mixture of everything…” he waxed lyrical. “You’ve got open spaces, spectacular views, rocks that look like huge eggs… A bit of everything. It was all so good we very nearly walked on to the Ring of Bells at North Bovey - we could see it there like a magnet. But we were strong and decided to stick to the plan. And, having tasted the food and the beer, I’m very glad we did.” 

Fact File

Basic Hike: from village of Lustleigh up to Sharpitor and along ridge to Hunter's Tor, before returning via flanks of Lustleigh Cleave and the hamlet of Pethybridge.

Recommended Map: Ordnance Survey Outdoor Leisure 28 (Dartmoor).

Distance and going: about six miles, steep and muddy in places.

To find out more about the Cleave at Lustleigh - visit hwww.thecleavelustleigh.uk.com - or phone 01647 277223