13th August

We had the delights of a cream tea booked today, courtesy of a gift from a friend.  At last it was a little cooler, although storms were on the forecast.  First off we drove in search of the most easterly tor from Ken Ringwood's book.  We left the A382 at Slade Cross, and shortly wished we'd taken a different route to Hennock!  We had to reverse some distance at least four times to get beyond one particular corner on the road.  I say 'we' - Jonathan was driving, and a good thing too, as I would have really struggled to do that!  Eventually we got through, and after rather more back roads, drove through the village to Five Lanes, where we managed to find a place on the road to park, knowing it wouldn't be for long.  

Bottor Rock (250m) is just about visible from a bridlepath which winds its way between some rather large houses north west from Five Lanes.  It's about a third of a mile from the junction.  I was glad I'd read this description earlier in the day - it helped us look for a path up the bank to the rock.  We didn't take too many steps towards the rock, but it was visible behind the trees.  Possibly there would be better views of it in winter.

Taking an easier route out of Hennock, we stopped briefly in Bovey Tracey, then in Moretonhampstead [F18] where we visited the tourist information centre and stopped on a hot bench with our sandwiches.  We then visited Moretonhampstead Motor Museum.  I'd really recommend it - it's a private collection of cars and motorcycles from the early 20th century onwards.  If you have any interest in cars, motorbikes or generally engineering and mechanical history, it's well worth dropping in.  I'm not a petrolhead, but there are some good stories behind the cars, and the painstaking restorations are really impressive.

We then took a scenic route towards Two Bridges - stopping at the viewpoint above Lettaford, and then driving through Challacombe [K14] and back to the road passing Soussons Down.  Sky was beginning to darken, and there were rumbles of thunder.  We made it into the hotel carrying our raincoats - and then got drenched walking back to the car after our cream tea!  If you visit Two Bridges Hotel for a cream tea - the scones are huge - one was plenty, but as we were brought four altogether we did make a good effort and manage three between us.  Decorated the Cornish way, of course!  On the way back we pulled into the car park at Postbridge, simply because the rain was too heavy for safe driving.