Manaton Meander 16 - By the riverside Traditional Geocache

After proceeding through the fields, which can be wet and boggy in places, especially around the gate places follow the lane. You will go up a ladder stile, cross a stream and arrive in the farmyard of West Coombe (n.b. remember there are free roaming ducks and chickens here) where at the junction you turn right following the lane. It is imperative to have your dog on a lead.

West Coombe is a reputed to have been a rest house for travellers along the Mariner's Way in bygone days. Also here, slightly further along the lane just as you leave the farm yard, there is another point of interest - an old Ash House. It is a small round stone building with a conical roof, made of granite. The roof is covered with turf and there is a door and window aperture. In times gone by when the main domestic fuel was peat and the houses often used a lot of wood and thatch in their construction before going to bed the family would remove the embers from the fire and put them in the ash house. This reduced the risk of fire and preserved the ashes in a dry condition so that they could then be used as manure on the thin acid Dartmoor soil at a later date.

Further along the lane the Mariner's Way heads off to the left but our route continues on the road to this cache found by the river! The route then proceeds up the road past the entrance to Shapley and brings us out in to Long Lane at Canna Park.