In the Dartmoor area the monks have been renown for their skills in producing alcoholic delights. The monks at Buckfast had their mead and fortified wine, whilst the monks at Tavistock were famous for their sweet cider. The cider was one of the purest in the county and so much …

Tavistock has had its fair share of weird and wonderful events over the centuries all of which have contributed to a large collection of folklore tales. Whilst perusing one of Mrs Bray’s books I came across the story of the ‘Tavistock Boa’. This is how she nonchalantly introduces the tale; …

This tale goes back to the long forgotten times when giants and other fantastic creatures lived on Dartmoor. Amongst them was a water nymph called Tamara who dwelt with her parents in a subterranean home on the border of the moors. She was beautiful, kind, very headstrong and detested living …

The nice things with place-names is that you can play around with them in all sorts of ‘sad’ ways. In this light, it is possible to make up an entire suit of Dartmoor playing cards from some of the old and modern place-names to be found on the moor. I …

There are various accounts of the story of Stephen’s Grave and here is a brief synopsis and the conflicting versions. About three hundred years ago lived a man called George Stephens, the tale is that old that some say he was named John. Either way he lived at Peter Tavy …

Although not officially in the Dartmoor Park the small village of Spreyton lies about 2 miles north of the moor. Back in the sixteen hundreds a series of ghostly events took place in the cold days of November.  One morning a young servant lad called Francis Fey was working in …

Now before we start, in order to appreciate what a magical place Sheeps tor is it may be as well to have a look at what the area looks like. As you can see from the picture below Sheepstor stands on a mighty hill that looks over many little valleys …

 It was a cloudy afternoon when the traveller left Exeter, he had to get to Tavistock by the evening so the shortest route was up across the moor. As nightfall drew its mantle around the grey tors it began to rain, it was the type of persistent light rain that …

A daring robbery took place in the October of 1851 on Roborough Down and as crimes go the perpetrators must have received the swiftest of punishments in legal history. The tale begins at Okehampton where an old man by the name of Bellamy, who lived at the Union Workhouse, set …

Just outside of Widecombe is a small secluded hamlet called Ponsworthy and in one of the small cottages by the ford lived an old labourer called Hodge, he shared the cott with his wife and grandson. The small lad lost both of his parents when he was but a tacker …