The Square Peg walks to the Piles Valley Weir on Dartmoor.

I’ve lived in Devon for over 30 years and walked hundreds of miles on beautiful Dartmoor National Park. You can read about our other moorland adventures with the Square Peg here. Yet still, there are places on Dartmoor that I have never visited. One of those places is Piles Valley Weir. I didn’t even know it existed. The walk takes you along the River Erme just North of Ivybridge.

One Sunday we decided that we’d go for an adventure and find the weir. Fortunately, the weather was really lovely, just the right temperature for walking moors.

It is a shame that there is no accessible car park to walk to this area so we had to park the car on the side of a road and walk up.

There is a wide gravel path to walk along so you don’t have to worry about getting lost in the middle of Dartmoor. A constant stream of water flows down most of the path so ensure you either look where you’re going and jump over puddles, or wear your wellies and just walk through it. We were just wearing our normal trainers and as careful as I was to look where I was going I still got wet feet. Edward didn’t take heed to any warning to not walk straight through the puddles and neither did he care when his feet were wet.

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The scenery was absolutely stunning and we couldn’t believe that we had lived so close all these years and never been. This was one of those walks when my husband kept saying ‘It should be just round this corner’ or ‘It should be just over this ridge.’ You know the sort of walk I mean…

Eventually we walked around a bend and then we could see the weir, hurrah! It is absolutely in the middle of nowhere apart from a few random sheep.

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By the time we got back to van we had walked 10 kilometres. Edward was a little superstar and walked all the way without complaining.

At the start of the walk, I wasn’t feeling the love and just wanted to go home and have a Sunday snooze, but after walking for a couple of k’s I was beginning to feel better. By the time we got back to the van, I was feeling exhilarated. I love our walking adventures, they are so good for my mental health and I can’t wait for the next one.

What do you think of walking for your mental health? I know I will feel better once I’m out but it still requires motivation to get ready and go, particularly if I’m having a bad day. I have to tell myself that I know I will feel better when I’m out. I take time to have a good look at my surroundings and take lots of deep breaths. When I get home I’m ALWAYS glad that I went.

Let me know your opinions about walking for your mental health in the comments.