Ivybridge

Ivybridge takes its name from the narrow ivy covered bridge over the River Erme that carried the old road west, and which still stands in the middle of the town. For most of its history this was a small crossing place, and it was water that changed it. The Erme, dropping fast off the southern moor, powered a series of mills, and paper making at Stowford turned the settlement into a working town during the nineteenth century. The coming of the railway, carried across the valley on a viaduct, completed the change, and Ivybridge has grown considerably in modern times.

For walkers, Ivybridge is best known as the southern end of the Two Moors Way, the long distance path that runs the length of Dartmoor and on to Exmoor. The climb out of the town onto the southern moor is steep and quickly leaves everything behind, reaching a landscape of open grass, tin workings and prehistoric remains that sees far fewer visitors than the tors of the east. The wooded Erme valley offers gentler walking close to the town, and the river remains the reason Ivybridge is where it is.