Dartmoor Places

The other side of Ivybridge is a small place called Ugborough. Many years ago a young peat cutter called Peter lived in a small cott on the edge of the village. Now there were two things ‘Peter the Peat Man’ had earned a reputation for, one was  his fondness of …

Just above the village of Lydford lies Kitts Steps which is where the river Lyd tumbles over a waterfall before entering the famous Lydford Gorge. The actual term steps is used to describe a crossing place on a river that consists of large granite boulders that act as stepping stones. …

If a Dartmoor tor could reveal what it has seen down through the millennia then Kestor surely would have some stories to tell. Its rocky outcrops survey directly over a ancient landscape of ritual monuments and old stone huts. In previous centuries some early antiquarians believed that the tor was …

Visit the small village of Hexworthy and you will find a few houses, a pub, the only example of a Celtic style cross on Dartmoor and some splendid views. If you wander downhill from the pub you will see a small cottage on your left, which today seems nothing more …

When does fate decide which way to tip the scales? How many times have you heard of amazing, death-defying escapes but equally how many tragic accidents? Some would say that when a catastrophe happens it is divine retribution for some committed sins but when a miraculous escape occurs it is …

Over the past few years the good folk of Ilsington have done an excellent job in reclaiming their history and heritage, in particular there have been two initiatives that have restored, or rather rescued, features of the village’s past. For many years the enigmatic remains of an ivy-clad wall has …

Well Ok, ‘Bridge of the Underworld’ is a bit dramatic but it sounds pretty interesting you must admit, conjures up images of dark misty caverns with a solitary bridge leading over a fetid river into a world of darkness and despair. Sadly, it’s nothing like that at all, it’s another …

The Chinese built the ‘Great Wall’, the Romans built Hadrian’s Wall and on Dartmoor the Irish built the Irishman’s Wall and like all other great walls this fact is acknowledged by the Ordnance Survey map-makers. So who, where, when and why? Today the remnants of the wall run in a …

I recently recieved an e mail asking if I knew the whereabouts of the Indian’s Head (visitors book – Aug 12th) which gave me the nudge to feature it on this web page. The Indian’s Head, sometimes called the Turk’s Head was a small porcelain plaque that lay in the …

High on the hilltop overlooking Lustleigh Cleave is the granite outcrop known as Hunter’s Tor. To the east of the tor are the remains of an Iron Age hillfort, which as hillforts go would have been in an easily defended location. The fort stands at an impressive 320m with vertigo …