Princetown Railway Line

[Mick F]

The old line from Yelverton to Princetown was taken up in 1959, and over the years the rail bed has been used for walkers on Dartmoor and these days by cyclists too.

I rode it some years back on my Mercian.
viewtopic.php?f=16&t=18562&start=0
Since then it's been steadily improved, and I was shocked today when I saw this:

Personally, I'd rather they reinstated the railway line, but I suppose this is the next best thing.

The new bridge is over the B3212 from Yelverton to Princetown up Peek Hill. Prior to the bridge, the cyclists and walkers had to clamber up and down steep banks and cross a busy road.

Not open as yet, but it won't be long. No doubt the track will join up with Drake's Trail and the cycle route round Burrator Reservoir from Meavy.

[NATURAL ANKLING]

Hi,
Hah that's nothing, you should see the one over the A38 near drumbridges.
I believe that mid devon roadies pushed for this one but will be interesting to see them use it as it involves off road work

Im all for it, and now I wont have to detour to get onto the track down the road on your right behind you by 1/3rd of a mile, good.

Get yourself a MTB you don't know what your missing

At least it looks cheaper than the arty 1.5 mil stuff they push for.

Oh I am all for reinstating railways, but for now this is better than nowt.

[MrsHJ]

My kids found the surface a bit rough for them ( they are wuzes but it's Definitely a track at best and not a trail) travelling from Princeton towards ?burrator.

[NATURAL ANKLING]

Hi,
Personally I like a track even if its unnaturally a bit rough.
As a National park I don't think this will change, should it

Ten Tors is unpathed otherwise what would be the point.

[honesty]

looks good. cant seem to find anything online about the upgrade, but do you think it'll be resurfaced?

[honesty]

Had a bit of a look around and this seems to be part of Devon's "Gravel and Gears" plans for Dartmoor. There's also talk of a proper cycle route from Exeter onto Dartmoor as well, which would be interesting.

[NATURAL ANKLING]

Hi,
Well I was up on Dartmoor today and I have forgotten how hard it is
Route anticlockwise.

Sousons down-Warren house inn(far N)-bellever-two bridges-princetown-yellow mead farm-gt mis tor(far N of princeT)-burrator-nuns cross farm(SSE of princeT)-princetown-two bridges-postbridge-home--only road work is warren house inn to princetown and princetown to postbrige & home.

Speedo says 40.5 miles (map through bellever wood not accurate) in 4 H 15 min 9.7 MPH.
Not that hilly but the off road has plenty boulders and I underestimated how rough the princetown to burrator railway track was
Bridge NOT open yet
And you have to lug bike over a style So you've been warned.
25 kilo bike with not so speedy tyres was a hard task.
Saw some coming down the lower leg to burrator via nun cross farm but they were stopping for a rest with their hyper machines..........I went up and had to get off several times, this track is one of the worst on Dartmoor.
A number of chain gangs training for The Dartmoor Classic Sportive.
Good scenery though.

[armadillo]

Hi All,

As someone who likes to do the Devon coast to coast when we're down that way, I was wondering what the current state of the Yelverton Princetown route is like. Has the surface been upgraded? Is the bridge now open? I ask because the idea of popping up onto Dartmoor on an old railway line quite appeals...

[NATURAL ANKLING]

Hi,
It's now very slick indeed. 28 or even 23's if you want.
The biggest problem is getting lost at plymstock , actually plymouth end getting on or off the route.
You won't see much of railways though.
If you want railways-
Start at princeton - yelverton (burrator) - yellow mead farm - avon dam (gets you on to puffing billy track) - bittaford (start of puffing billy)
probably more, but you will need 40 mm tyres at least.
Granite way at oakhampton is slick.

The bridge mentioned is princtown to burrator, railway track proper with boulders.

[rjb]

Hi,
It's now very slick indeed. 28 or even 23's if you want.
The biggest problem is getting lost at plymstock , actually plymouth end getting on or off the route.
You won't see much of railways though.
If you want railways-
Start at princeton - yelverton (burrator) - yellow mead farm - avon dam (gets you on to puffing billy track) - bittaford (start of puffing billy)
probably more, but you will need 40 mm tyres at least.
Granite way at oakhampton is slick.

The bridge mentioned is princtown to burrator, railway track proper with boulders.

I had to Google Puffing Billy, to see that is the new name for the old Red Lake tramway. Are Devon County Council trying to cash in on the new phenomena of gravel bikes
The St. Budeaux cycling club in Plymouth used to ride this route on an annual basis during the 60s and 70s when I lived in those parts. No special bikes just what we had as normal road bikes but not with your best wheels.

[NATURAL ANKLING]

Hi,
People have been calling it Puffing Billy for years.
And yes it leads up to Redlake clay pits and your conical clay tip which can be seen from miles on the southern moor.
I'm not sure what the councils do today, I know that DARTMOOR authority doesn't advertise all Off road cycling routes just the ones they want to keep you on.
The map I posted above is a cracking course if you want some scenic off-road riding.
Many Dartmoor routes off Road are advertised on Route planners online, But these are mainly hard-core routes.
I have walked the tramway many times In my youth, makes for a fast route on foot but hard on your feet.
Er indoors and me were walking along the route one day and she suggested that we go all the way to the end.
Little did she know it was 20 miles there and back, her longest walk to date.

The route Yelverton to Plymton (Not Plym stock ) I did recently on 23 mil tires with luggage, quite easy.

On coast-to-coast route if you're talking about coming from Ilfracombe It's quite easy to Barnstable, as long as you stay away from Woolacombe Bay, the coast route there is through the long carpark which is very rough then a short section of off-road Path back to the road.
From Barnstable going south assuming you're going to oakHampton It's pretty slick at first but as you get nearer to meeth It used to be a muddy track with exposed tree roots.
Not done it for several years so it's possible they've upgraded it?
From Okehampton to Tavistock there is a cycle route part of the way path should I say, course Peter's is out at Lydford.
From Lydford to Tavistock if you take the main road it's very fast and slick, or continue on the cycle route which is just a little bit more boring.
Tavistock to yelverton There is an off-road cycle route easy on a road bike or take the road It's only three miles or so.

[ChrisButch]

Has the Redlake route now been designated a permissive cycle path, like the Princetown railway? It used not to be: and since it isn't a public bridleway either, it was technically out of bounds to cyclists, falling foul of the National Park's cycling ban on the Moor everywhere except existing Rights of Way. Same applied to the peat works railway down from Great Links Tor.

[NATURAL ANKLING]

Hi,
There are only certain places that you can physically cycle on Dartmoor due to its terrain.
As far as I'm concerned today Any track as long as it's not on private land ie as long as it's access land, There isn't a problem.
If large teams of people start cycling where they shouldn't it won't be long before someone takes notice, even in peak season like The summer people very seldom stray far from the road.
So meeting walkers or even horseriders is quite rare.
So basically when you get about half a mile from the road you're not like to see another person.
As you said all bridleways are open to cyclist, But many bridleways on the open moor Unless there along a track et cetera are simply not there on the ground to see, So if you were to attempt to follow a bridal path You might well find that it's just open moor land which will be uncycleable.
So tracks Bridal paths railway tracks, Tracks through forests where you don't have to carry your bike over a gate, so woodland that's open to the public, is all okay.

Great links tor, The last time I was up there on my bike I got to Bray tor And tried to follow the bridal path east, it Peter's out it's just a ditch with great big boulders.
I think it is possible the boulders have been placed there by the farmer on that land.
I've not tried to go further than that, and it's been over 40 years since I walked there too.
I've been up to Sourton tor's and the original track is hard to find, because the farmer has made many more tracks with his quad bike.
It's possible that some of the tracks between those two tours are rideable, I will have to get up there one day and have a look.
I managed to cycle up to Bray tor from the Ford. On my mountain bike with the camping gear.
This sort of stuff is real hard-core.
Anything other than the granite way, drakes trail, Tavistock to Yelverton.
Is going to need 35 mm plus tires.
Preferably a mtbs.

[ChrisButch]

The point I was making was about the byelaw imposed by the National Park Authority about 20 years ago, banning cycling anywhere on the moor except on existing Rights of Way. At the time the CTC lobbied unsuccessfuly against it (including an embarassingly badly organised protest ride). It was not affected by the Access Land legislation in the CROW Act, which in England (unlike Scotland) didn't cover cycling. As far as I know, therefore, the byelaw is still in place: and unless you're either on a mapped bridlepath (many of which, as you rightly say, are invisible on the ground on Dartmoor) or on a permissive cycle path designated by the National Park (such as the Princetown railway), you're breaking the byelaw cycling anywhere else. The National Park may have designated other permissive routes more recently, but I'm not aware of any.

[NATURAL ANKLING]

Hi,
Yes you're true in what you say.
The main problem with DARTMOOR is that you are very limited in where you can cycle because of the terrain.
When it's dry some cyclists will go anywhere and where the grass is short it's possible to cycle across open moorland.
But because the terrain varies so much even over short distances it's difficult to cycle very far.
My point is the fact that you will seldom see cyclists where they shouldn't be.
I like to get right into the moor on my bike, but that might mean very hard work will lots of pushing on foot, this sort of thing is not what your downhill guys would do, if you seen any of the videos online on dartmoor that they post.
if you know of a place on the Dartmoor where you can ride your bike that is not a legal right of way, I'd like to know about it?
There be many places you can ride your bike downhill but you've got to get your bike there in the first place, this will eliminate 99.9% Of even hard-core Cyclist.
Also The fact is the only places on Dartmoor that have been closed to the public access have been because the ground has been damaged close by a horse riding club stables, By horses.
The mass protest by CTC cycling IIRC Was organised by Graham Brodie who runs my local CTC club.
I think it was more a political statement than it would ever be in the practical use?