Beenleigh Brook
A circular walk from Harberton beside the Harbourne River, via Eastleigh, Beenleigh Brook, Rolster Bridge, Monkey Oak, and Key’s Englebourne.
Distance 5 miles/7.9 km. Total ascent 633ft/193m.
Harbertonfordians can join the route at point 6 by walking along the lane to Rolster Bridge - adding just under two miles.
1. From the Harberton village bus stop head west past Wesley Place cottages and up the hill past the Triangle towards Eastleigh, over the brow and descending a good way down Leigh Bridge Hill with the copse on your left.
2. At the footpath sign on your right descend steeply in woodland to cross the little footbridge over the Harbourne River. A series of large sandstone boulders follows the water’s edge, and there’s a fine big oak tree to admire as you clamber onto the splendid new walkway over the bog. Through the stile into the next field, turn half-left to follow a sheep track, but where it veers off uphill keep straight on heading for the field corner and a five-bar gate under trees. The path then stays closer to the river, passes over an ancient slate stile via a tiny metal gate leading you into a woodland strip and the next field. Hidden behind the trees is the weir at the start of the mill leat which supplied Belsford Corn Mill. A sloping terrace way takes you to the gap at the far end where the last field beckons. Just as Langford Farm comes into view aim half left uphill to a wooden stile under an old oak.
3. Head left up the lane by hedgerow oaks and sycamores until at the top by a bend you reach the site of a former quarry, now a store for old farm equipment. From here you can spot faraway Ryder’s Hill, the highest point on South Dartmoor. Where the lane gently descends, look uphill through a field gate on your right and you can just make out a large boulder under trees. This is a small outlier rock of the Berrystone, an eight-metre high natural tor outcrop of volcanic material formed probably during the Pleistocene era. Soon look out for beehives on the right, and on your left a glimpse of distant Tristford.
4. Carry straight on at Eastleigh Cross, passing interesting old barns and farmhouses and the small village green. After half a km, at the fork, keep right on the gravel lane signed Foalesleigh Farm. There is always a wet patch just before the farmhouse as water from a spring runs over the lane. Later as your route gently descends and is softer underfoot you enjoy some of the best views in the parish. More of a track now and, as you descend to a steel gate, veer left to a marked footpath through a wooden five-bar gate. Down to the Beenleigh Brook, Englebourne Wood is visible on the left and Fletcher’s Combe Farm is tucked away to your right. After crossing the footbridge, or fording the water, the right-of-way is straight on to a four-way fingerpost by another small footbridge over a tiny brook.
5. At this point you need to turn 90 degrees left, gently ascending to the field corner by two oaks. Just before the wooden stile and field gate is a good spot for a refreshment stop where you can admire this exceptionally tranquil landscape. Through the gate the path is indistinct at first, but you’re aiming for the right-hand side of Rolster Bridge Farm ahead. Often there are dairy cattle in the field. The chained gate mechanism onto the road takes a little effort to open and close. Make sure you also re-attach the chain before heading left down the lane. Passing old farm buildings you reach the twin-arched bridge over the Harbourne with its small paddling area for tired feet.
6. At the T junction turn left towards Monkey Oak (turning right takes you to Harbertonford along a pleasant lane by the river). After passing the felled hillside edge of Englebourne Wood there are summer displays of poppies and lemons in gardens on the right before you reach Monk's Oak Farmhouse by the bend. Now leave the metalled lane and head straight on steeply up the ancient Green Lane. Shady and rutted at first, it can be slippery and muddy in places when wet. Nearing the top of the way, by field gates, there are impressive wide vistas to enjoy, looking left towards our earlier route and to the right along the Harbourne valley. The curve of the woodland-topped hill opposite, above the aptly named Hill Mill (the former edge tool foundry), is an impressive backdrop. Far beyond are Ugborough Beacon and Three Barrows, on a clear day just discernible seven or eight miles distant.
7. Soon after reaching a sharp right-hand bend with yet more views you have gained the top of the climb. A modern farm track joins on your left, but you head straight on downhill alongside a small copse on your right. It’s a poorly drained wide track, almost impassable after long periods of rain, and soon wends its way down to Key's Englebourne with a glimpse of Dundridge and then distant views of Harberton village.
8. Here, swing left past the farmyard onto the Green Lane back to Harberton. As we gently ascend and descend on this soft underfoot ancient shaded way the tiny Englebourne stream runs alongside us in the vale below. Pleasant sloping meadows lead your eye back and along. After the track steepens uphill it is joined from the left by a bare and crumbling old County Road. We are now only a hundred metres or so from our starting point in Harberton village.
June 2020