AS A born-and-bred Devonian, I’ve always considered Dartmoor National Park to be a magical place, and it turns out I’m in good company.
Because the park is now being used as a new filming spot for HBO’s Harry Potter TV series.
Dartmoor spans 368 square miles in total, meaning the park has an abundance of different spots to explore, but Harry Potter fans will want to head to Lustleigh, a small village where filming crews have been spotted.
In a video on Instagram, one fan used public footpaths to access the village during filming and spotted several items relating to Harry Potter – including a ‘Celebrate Halloween at Godric’s Hollow’ poster.
He also saw some older cars parked up outside a cottage and a Godric’s Hollow post office sign.
In a second video, ‘@sirwizardingworld’ speaks to a woman who points to a building that is her home, but has been transformed into ‘The Lions Heart’ pub for the series.
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The village of Lustleigh is small and home to only 600 people, yet it is full of thatched cottages and in the centre, an old church.
Sitting on the edge of Dartmoor National Park, the village is around a 40-minute drive from Exeter.
The village makes a scenic stop on the way into the national park, where visitors can go on a number of hikes and see towering tors, with ancient tales.
One popular spot I would recommend is Haytor, which is roughly a two-hour walk from the village of Lustleigh or a 16 minute drive.
The granite tor towers to 1,499 feet and offers breathtaking views across the moors.
For those who don’t fancy a long walk, there is a visitor centre with a car park at the base of the tor – it then takes about 20 minutes walking to reach the top from there.
In the autumn I particularly love seeing the colour of the gorse and bracken change to a dozen shades of brown and orange.
And in the winter, snow on the moors makes me feel more like being in the Alps.
From Haytor, I usually head along the Haytor tramway, which is a stone-railed line that was built in 1820 to transport granite from Haytor Quarry down to Stover Canal.
Now known as the Templer Way heritage path, visitors can still see the tramway today poking out of the ground.
If you follow it, you will then reach Haytor Quarry which was used until 1860.
Today, many signs of the quarry works remain, including marks in the granite where dynamite was used to break it into pieces.
And there is even some abandoned machinery dotted around the edge of the pond that has filled the quarry.
Not many trees grow on a lot of the moors due to the harsh weather conditions, but in the sheltered quarry there are several – and during autumn, they turn into a large blur of yellows, browns and oranges.
But it isn’t just Haytor that is worth exploring.
Dartmoor is also home to lots of sites with remains of years gone by including Bronze Age settlements – think small versions of Stonehenge.
Like at Hound Tor, there is a deserted village and in Fenworthy, near a sprawling forest, is a large stone circle.
On the other side of Dartmoor, you could head to Ditsworthy Warren House, a ruined cottage which was used as a filming location in the movie adaptation of Michael Morpurgo’s War Horse.
And of course, littered at the edges of the national park are a number of villages and towns worth exploring.
For example, Princetown is home to the notorious Dartmoor Prison – a building that still scares me every time I drive past it.
If heading to the town, definitely visit the prison museum.
Or head on a tour to learn about crazy legends including the ‘Hairy Hands’ of Dartmoor that takes over the steering of cars in the area – the ideal Halloween activity.
Dartmeet is another top spot, popular with walkers, nature lovers and even cold water swimmers.
The location has a Clapper Bridge, that has five granite stones and crosses the East Dart River – which many people like to take a dip in.
Here you will also find Badgers Holt – an 18th century fishing cottage that has operated as a tearoom for the past century.
Wherever you go on the moors, you will find some amazing spots to explore.
Narrow roads wind across the entire national park, and small car parks can be found at most scenic spots, making it super accessible as well.
Even the smell of the moors is something special (it is a bit like peat mixed with crisp straw).
I’m even becoming nostalgic thinking about it…
I honestly think, Dartmoor and all of its cosy villages are just as nice as the Cotswolds.
HBO‘s Harry Potter series is due to launch in 2027, in seven parts.
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