If you happen across a Dartmoor pony drift today you will see that in the main it’s an operation that consists of a combination of horsepower and mechanised vehicles such as quad bikes and trail bikes. However in days gone by there were a couple of vast differences, firstly the …
Read More »Moor Beer
Moor Beer – now there’s a sentiment that many folk will appreciate especially when the beer and ales are actually brewed on Dartmoor. Having sampled many of them in-situ so to speak I can verify that the art of brewing is still alive and kicking on the moor. For …
Read More »Early Ploughs and Ploughmen of Dartmoor
“Is my team ploughing, That I was used to drive And hear the harness jingle When I was man alive?” Ay, the horses trample, The harness jingles now; No change though you lie under The land you used to plough.” A. E. Housman Even today I think there is something …
Read More »Rustlers on the Moor
Mention the word rustlers and thrilling images of masked cowboys running off herds of cattle with a posse of armed men chasing after them. Today, sadly that is not the case, probably imagine a group of men, sneaking around in the dead of night on a well planned mission to …
Read More »Conscientious Objectors
Having just written a page on Dartmoor field names one struck a chord and that was ‘Conchie’s Field‘, additionally quite recently somebody posted a picture of ‘Conchie’s Road‘ and asked why it was so called. So as it’s part of Dartmoor’s heritage I thought it may be worthwhile to …
Read More »Field Names of Dartmoor
One thing that Devon and therefore Dartmoor are not short of are fields; big ones, little ones, recent ones, prehistoric ones, steep ones, and flat ones, they surround Dartmoor on all sides. Some are enclosed by hedges whilst others stone, all with the same purpose to delineate boundaries, keep …
Read More »Postcards
When on holiday most people like to send postcards of places they have visited to their family and friends, either to show where there are or what they have seen, maybe rather cynically even to brag about where they are. Perhaps in this day and age of instant media such …
Read More »Combes of Dartmoor
“Low, the power of sunlight, After hours of gloom, Decking with all beauty, Peter Tavy Combe. – Every rock and boulder, Clad in mosses grey, Gleams with gentle radiance, In the sun today. – There the waters hurry, Sparkling in the sun. Singing, breaking, tumbling, As they onwards run.”, D. …
Read More »Whooping Cough Cures of Old
Whooping Cough or purtussis, something today that can brings fear and trepidation into peoples hearts as it is an easily transmitted infectious disease. When outbreaks occur the condition can quickly spread amongst the local population and tends to a rise in cycles. In 2012 there were 9,711 cases reported in …
Read More »Memorials of Dartmoor
Dartmoor is literally studded with memorials of one kind or another, each and every one has a different association with either a person, event, belief, a pet, etc. They can be found anywhere from the open moor to village greens and virtually every other location imaginable. Many have lost the …
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