The Dartmoor Diaries 3 – Bovey Castle & Castle Drogo

Despite arriving at Bovey Castle soggy, windswept and with trailers splashed with mud, the concierge (more used to parking the guests ferraris, range rovers or even helicopters) kindly showed us a place to put our bikes. I had hoped he would offer hop on and park them for us, but I wasn’t going to push it..

Parked up at Bovey Castle

The drive to Bovey Castle

We checked in and were shown to our gorgeous rooms – each one with cracking views of the estate, and were shown around the hotel grounds. We were spoilt for choice when deciding where to put the camera, the grounds have great views at all angles. We chose a spot that looked towards the lake at the bottom, and also included statues on the lawn for some foreground interest. That done, hunger from the days ride set in and we headed for a fantastic meal in the restaurant. I wanted to see more of the hotel and soak it all up but was starting to flag and so went to relax in one of the lounges beside the fire. Pretty soon I was sleepy.. Next morning I rose early and went for a dip in the pool, followed by a session in the sauna… a perfect way to wake up! Breakfast finished we installed the camera on the lawn, and started to capture all we could see. Although it was quiet, a number of the guests were intrigued and came to explore the camera after a round of golf or during a stroll in the grounds. The reactions of the guests were quite different to most we had had before and it was good to hear new points of view. One couple particularly enjoyed the camera, and we helped the lady understand the different functions of her borrowed camera. She went for a walk with our workshop sheet in hand and came back with strong images of the estates flowers and grounds, using aperture well to control the depth of field. It is easier to explain how even the most modern, technical cameras work when you can illustrate it with the very simple, elemental design of the obscura.[]

That afternoon we packed up and headed to another Castle – the National Trust’s Castle Drogo, ’The last castle to be built in England’. We rolled the bikes down the long drive, and stopped them in front of the Castle. It looked particularly impressive against the background of Dartmoor and the very dramatic sky we were treated to that evening.

Impressive clouds rolling off the moors

We pitched our tent and then were warmly welcomed into the castle by the lovely volunteers that help conserve the castle. We were treated to absolutely breath taking views from the castle roof – and I was pleased to hear that the public can also view them on their guided roof top tours. It crossed my mind that it would be an amazing spot to install the camera.. but then realised that it would easily blow away – not ideal. We slept on the grounds, and through the night I could hear deer moving around the tent – I am always so amazed at how brazen they get during nightfall. I had heard about the estate’s White Deer, and kept my eyes peeled for it, but it wasn’t my day.. We should have heeded some warning from the clouds of the night before – we woke up to a persistent drizzle and packed the tent away still damp. Not to be put off by a little drizzle, we moved to what was planned as our first location – a great view from the drive over looking the nearby valley and over to Haytor beyond. We couldn’t see Haytor because of the clouds, but began to build the camera beginning with the gazebo frame and cover. Just as we pulled the cover over it really started raining and we quickly pulled the trailers underneath to keep it all dry. Soon the cover started to fail and, despite our best efforts at shooing the rain off, we had to admit defeat and make a tactical retreat to the gardener’s store area to drip dry. We were then invited back into the castle to wait for it to clear and have a cup of tea (clearly the thing to do in such situations). Sadly, the rain never did clear until we started to lose light and all the visitors had gone. All was not lost however, as we put the time to good use having been kindly allowed to take over an office to update our blogs & respond to emails before we went to see what else was going in the Castle.We saw a great project as part of the Save Castle Drogo campaign – they were inviting visitors and volunteers to help produce bunting to show their support. We arrived just in time to see it being hung – they had done a great job and it looked fantastic. Castle Drogo is in real trouble because the flat roof (with the great views) is sadly leaking and is in desperate need of repair. Without this essential work there is a real danger that the castle will have to be shut, so click the link above and see how you can help.

We had an early night ahead of our ride the next day. Dartmoor had been an ideal place for the Pinhole Pedallers – beautiful landscapes, great people and fantastic cycling fuelled by very tasty food. Personally I realised I did not know Dartmoor nearly as well as I had thought.