Poundsgate

Poundsgate is a small village strung along the lane that climbs from the Dart valley towards Widecombe, with the wooded gorge of the Dart below and the moor above. Its Tavistock Inn is one of the oldest on Dartmoor, a low thatched building that has been serving travellers on this route for centuries, and the village has the feel of a place people pass through on their way onto the moor rather than a destination in itself.

The inn is the setting for one of Dartmoor's best known stories. On the day of the great Widecombe thunderstorm in 1638, a dark stranger is said to have stopped here for ale, which hissed as it went down his throat, and to have asked the way to Widecombe before riding on to the church where lightning struck during the service. The tale has been told in the village ever since. Beyond the folklore, Poundsgate is a fine base for the Dart valley, with walks down to the river at Newbridge and up onto the moor towards Buckland Beacon.