Jeri’s Steps: 32,194
Miles walked: 14.8
Elevation: 1,417
Pints: 6
Churches: 1
Stiles: 0
Benches: 4

Left Lobhill at 9.15 after a lovely breakfast cooked by Jane. We dressed for rain and were not disappointed. Our first mile was on a level road east towards Dartmoor then we used a bridleway to link up with the Two Castle trail once again. As the rain came down we found ourselves in a deep dark wood with the trail turning to a stream. We met a woman on a horse. Again, the trail was well marked. We left the Two Castle trail to join the West Devon way in the hopes of intersecting the Granite Way, however although it was well signposted it was inaccessible as the track passed over it on a bridge with no way down the 20ft slope to the Way itself. We backtracked to the road and followed it into Sourton. We then experienced the most extraordinary pub we’ve ever come across. The Highwayman was an eclectic maze of twisty tiny passages, all alike. We spoke with the proprietor, the daughter of the man who worked to create it from 1958 to 1999 by adding every nautical appliance it’s possible to think about. The south side of the building is built around an enormous 30ft shoe (there was an old woman who lived…) and the entrance to the bar is fashioned around an old horse drawn carriage.  We were the only customers. A strange and wonderful experience replete with mermaids, a giant ships helm, oars and every manor of oil lamp converted to electricity. It sounds tacky but was wondrous. After we finished our lunch we walked up the hill to visit the church of St Thomas a Becket. The church was built and named by two men who were descended from the knights who helped rid Henry of the ‘troublesome priest’. Talk about a guilty conscience!  John B gave us a tour via phone of the more interesting aspects of the church. We saw the labyrinth in the churchyard which gave rise to a discussion of maze vs. labyrinth…

(A labyrinth has an entrance and an exit and only one path through).

The rest of day was spent on the Granite Way; the Meldon viaduct was spectacular and the Way gave us fast walking to Okehampton. Our B&B was a mile beyond in Stockley Hamlet and our host Pam greeted us with tea and fruitcake. Bliss. 14.8 miles done, 150.1 cumulative.