The Battle of Bovey Heath

Gosh they were hard at it!

June has been mostly warm and sunny, but on one unusually grey day we took a hike up to Bovey Heath, the site of a battle between Royalists and Parliamentarians in 1646. The Royalists didn't do too well against Oliver Cromwell's New Model Army as they were take by surprise. Their officers were playing cards upstairs in an inn and managed to escape by throwing their stakes out of the window and leaving by the back door, the roundhead soldiers were so busy gathering up the money that the Royalists got away - not so the rest of their force who were routed at their encampment on the heath. This patch of land was neglected for many years and was used as an off-road vehicle runaround course, the value of the heath both as a historical site and a nature reserve was eventually recognised and appropriate conservation measures were taken.

Where's my yellow hammer?

And just before we reached the display which told us the history of the Battle of Bovey Heath at the top of the heath, we spotted a flash of yellow in the gorse. A Yellowhammer - first I've seen for years was dashing from bush to bush. Another display described some of the other fauna to be found there - this included Tree Pipits, Dartford Warblers and deadly poisonous Adders. We didn't see the latter thankfully, Skip would have been quite inquisitive and maybe come to grief. Incidentally 1975 was the last time a person in the UK died from an Adder's bite!

Not far up the road is the small town of Bovey Tracey and in the centre sits one of our locals, if it was around all those years ago I can just imagine the chief Roundhead going up to the bar. "Whisky for my men, and beer for my horses!"  And then the Cavaliers (and their spaniels) looking down from their card games from that upstairs room. Might not have been called the Cromwell at that time though!

Horses round the back!