Footpaths
Walks in South Zeal and South Tawton
A new leaflet featuring a selection of mapped and described walks in and around the beautiful north Dartmoor area of South Zeal and South Tawton, has just been published by South Tawton Parish Council. The leaflet also identifies points of interest along the routes, including historical facts.
The five walks range from a 2 mile/ 3.2 km route (approximately 1 hour) through to 5 miles/ 8 km (2.5 – 3 hours). Four of the routes are circular, starting and finishing at the car park in South Zeal Recreation Ground. They include a pavement only option, a walk to the nearby Ramsley Common viewpoint and 19th century mine workings, a boardwalk over wetland meadow plus scenic woodland. A route along the Tarka Trail, to join up with neighbouring Sampford Courtenay’s own village walks trail, via Taw Green and South Tawton through to the moor and Belstone via Sticklepath. Lastly a walk along tracks and open moorland to the well known local Shilley (Shelley) pool.
The leaflet can be downloaded here and will be available from August as an A3 fold out colour leaflet, available from the shops, pubs and other venues, both in and around the parish.
The leaflet was funded both by a grant from Devon County Council and South Tawton Parish Council, with additional advice and support from the local Ranger at the Dartmoor National Park Authority.
For further information, please contact
South Tawton Parish Council
clerk@southtawtonparishcouncil.org.uk
01837 89095
Walks Leaflets.pdfParish Paths Partnership
Footpaths are generally looked after by the Parish Paths Partnership - an initiative that seeks to ensure that the entire rights of way network is legally defined, properly maintained and well publicised. For more information, check the Parish Paths Partnership page at Devon County Council. The Parish Paths Coordinator in South Tawton is Hugh Norman who works to keep an eye on the rights of way and reports to Devon County Council.
All Councillors are allocated footpaths around the parish and walk the footpaths every 2 years to report on their status. If you have any particular concerns about a footpath, then please report it either to the Council (see the Contact Us page) or to Hugh Norman.
A statement from South Tawton Commoners Association:
Worrying of livestock by dogs on South Tawton Common has become a matter of increasing concern to our members. The welfare of grazing animals can be severely compromised by being chased by dogs, & where animals, particularly sheep, are attacked, death can often result. Furthermore, grazing patterns, so important on common land, can be severely disrupted. It must also be said that cattle & sheep owners end up suffering the financial consequences of this. Of equal concern is that when dogs deposit excrement & it is not removed, disposed of correctly by the dog owner, this represents a danger to both human & animal health.
So our plea to dog owners is to ensure that your dogs are under effective control at all times. Please remove their faeces & dispose of them correctly away from the common. The law allows livestock keepers to take measures to protect their livestock from worrying by dogs, including shooting offending dogs. I can assure you that our members have no wish to find themselves in a situation in which this is the only alternative available to them.
Although it is outside our remit, we are well aware that similar problems are occurring on private land within the Parish, particularly where this is crossed by public footpaths. The foregoing comments apply in this situation also.
The Countryside Code has been updated and can be found opposite. It is also available here. We've had lots of reports of sheep worrying in the parish and this website has been recommended as having lots of advice for all parties.