Walks in lockdown

 I started this blog when I moved to Plymouth in 2011. It seems hard to believe I have been living down here for 10 years.  It was wonderful discovering all the walks in this area of the South West.  I particularly enjoyed tramping along the South West Coast Path and exploring National Trust property.  Then I decided to concentrate on the wild places of Dartmoor.  I have done separate blogs for each of these categories of walk and not added any entries to this blog for the last 4 years.  During the last year there have been restrictions because of covid and I have struggled with a bad knee, so we have done very few walks.  Although I am can walk further now I have to careful not to attempt strenuous or long walks.  Most of Dartmoor and the South West Coast Path is unsuitable for me. I have therefore been researching and attempting shorter, easy walks in or near Plymouth.  Today I thought I really ought to record these walks as they are still beautiful and worthwhile.

During  January, February and most of March we were told to stay at home or travel a small distance for exercise.  I frequently walked around Central Park or Victoria Park or through the city centre to the Hoe.  If the weather was uncertain I might have taken the car to Devil's Point and walked from there.  When I went for my vaccination I had to go to Mount Wise, while there we walked around the area and have returned several times as it easier to park than at Devils Point and the views are just as good.

As the time went on I wanted to have a change of walk so I looked to see where I could drive to within the recommended 5 mile area.  I was able to drive to Saltram to walk around the estate and to Hooe Lake to walk to Mount Batten and back.  I also drove to Oreston and walked to Radford Park, around the lake and then back through the woods.  Another time I parked at Coypool and walked up to Plym Bridge, but as this is also a cycle lane it was not a pleasant walk, so next time I walked the other side of the river.  This was a new walk and very pleasant.

I remembered when exploring the green places in Plymouth walking through Woodlands Wood and Budshead Wood, so I repeated this walk one day and then later walked through Budshead Wood out to Warren Point.

Dartmoor seemed to be outside the 5 mile radius but one day we went as far as Roborough and walked across Roborough Down so got good views of Dartmoor.

It is surprising how many lovely walks there are within a 5 mile radius of Plymouth.  I did not take many photos while on these walks, but maybe as I repeat them I will add photos to this blog.