Bradley Manor is a National Trust property only just outside Newton Abbott and not very well advertised. It is very easy to drive past it as the entrance sign was not very clear. In fact that is what we did and we had to turn in the next road and come back. As we drove down the drive we wondered if cars were suppose to come in this way as it was so narrow and there were no passing places. But there was a sign showing where we could park on grass at the side of the road and there were a few cars already there.
To begin with we followed the signs to the Manor house. It had a lovely lawn in front of it but not any other public gardens. We could have looked around, but it was such a lovely day we wanted to stay outside this time.
There was a map of the area by the car park so we returned there, studied it and decided to walk along by the stream that was a tributary to River Lemon away from Newton Abbott. This was a very pleasant walk. We saw butterflies, heard the birds singing, smelt wild garlic and saw a few bluebells.
To begin with the path was very good, but later it was rougher with tree roots coming through the path. We continued on until the stream reached the river and walked until the path peetered out, although it was marked as a footpath. Around the meadows hear there were lots of iris plants, I would be interested to see what they look like in the summer when they are in flower. It was flat all the way so an easy walk.
On the way back we crossed over the river and walked back on the other bank. This was a woodland walk rather than meadows on the other side. It was still very muddy in places and the path was not good.
When we returned to our car we walked a short way along the stream towards Newton Abbott, but we soon came to houses so turned back. However, I think I would chose to park by these houses rather than come down Bradley Manor drive on future visits. There also seemed to be a car park by playing fields close by that we could use.
Having had a lovely walk around Bradley Manor we were ready for a cup of tea but there are no facilities at Bradley Manor so we decided to go on to Parke where I had heard they had a new cafe.
Reports about this were correct. We had a lovely pot of tea and very sugary flapjack sat in the courtyard soaking up the sun. National Trust cafes are usually nice but often expensive but this one was very reasonably priced and the food and service was excellent.
Having had our sugar fix we thought we ought to walk it off. Parke have produced paper maps showing walks which is really useful. We decided to do the shortest one and set off down to the river. It was very pleasant walking beside the water hearing it gurgling along. There was lots of wood anemones and celandines out.
There was not as much water flowing down the river as we have seen in the past.
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| The weir |
When we have visited here before we have walked along the river until a bridge then crossed over and walked back on the other side of the river. This time, following the black route, we looked for a path on the right to take us up to the old railway line. We missed the first path but found the second one and started to walk back along the path. It had recently been relaid and it was a very good surface, easy for walking on as flat although not as attractive as walking through woodland next to a river.
When we returned to the Parke courtyard we asked the ranger how far this path went, but apparently it is only to the edge of the Parke estate at the moment although there are plans to extend it. When I enquired regarding where to see bluebells he very helpfully told me of a bluebell wood nearby at Shaptor.
