In the third of his blogs describing his favourite walks, Tom Davies takes us along a 5 mile route from Shobrooke with splendid distant views of Crediton, Sandford, Cheriton Fitzpaine, the Raddon Hills and Shobrooke.
Start at the footpath on the left at the bottom of the road through Shobrooke (A) NGR SS 870 015. There is usually plenty of parking nearby.
The track takes you through Moor Farm and after about one mile take a path at right angles to the one you are on (B) and heading right towards a gate. Follow the footpath across fields until you reach a minor road (C) whereupon you turn left along this road for a few metres and then right back onto a field path.
Carry on until you reach the main Tiverton road (A3072) at Westwood Farm (D). Cross the road and take the minor road which goes through the farm yard, but turn left on a track immediately before the farmhouse. This will climb up around the edge of Trew Woods (E) until you meet another minor road heading towards Cheriton Fitzpaine (F) and turn right on this road.
At this point you are within a few hundred metres of Broxford Wood to the west and the opportunity to join the route of Walk 2 and create a hybrid route.
After a short distance at Cheriton Cross take the right fork towards Chilton (G). There are superb views westwards on this section. Look out for a footpath on your right (H) and take this across a field to another minor road (I) where you turn right passing through the pretty hamlet of Chilton.
On leaving Chilton you will soon come to a sharp right hand bend in the road (J) where you then go straight ahead on a track bordering a large field. Essentially you should stay on this downhill track (lovely views) until it meets the lower field boundary (K), at which point you follow the hedgerow by turning right until you arrive at a gate which leads to a green lane which in turn emerges onto the Tiverton road opposite the turning to Stockleigh Pomeroy (L).
Take this lane and soon after passing the church at a sharp left bend in the road (M), take the track to your right which rises through Parsonage Copse to Stockleigh Wood. Follow this track and the signposts until you reach another minor road which you cross to find a track directly opposite (N) which you take, still descending.
This track joins the Shobrooke road about 300m from the starting point (O). Turn right back to (A).
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