Thursday , March 28 2024
Home / Dartmoor Traditions

Dartmoor Traditions

Otter Hounds

Today the very thought of Otter hunting is abhorrent and barbaric and thankfully came under protection under the ‘Wildlife and Countryside Act in 1981 and later with the Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulations of 2017. This means it is illegal to deliberately kill, injure, disturb or capture them, damage …

Read More »

Dartmoor Hay and Corn Ricks

  A vital part of any harvest on Dartmoor was storing the crop until it was needed for processing or feed and bedding. Due to the small size of many farmsteads it was not possible in the barns and linhays so the answer was to build ‘ricks’. Numerous crops would …

Read More »

Dartmoor Rippers & Oak Bark

For centuries British leather tanners used oak bark to tan skins and hides in order to make them waterproof and durable. This was a process whereby the bark is stripped from trees during the spring and summer seasons. Then it’s dried out for a couple of years and ground down …

Read More »

Sloe Gin

  SLOE GIN – For several hundred years gin has been a popular drink but in its early days there was a great divergence in its price and quality. And so either as a personal preference or to improve its taste people began experimenting with its flavour. One day somebody …

Read More »

Oak Apple Day

On the 3rd of September of 1651 the Battle of Worcester took place after which King Charles II managed to escape from the the Roundhead forces by hiding in an mighty Oak tree which was near Boscobel House in Shropshire. Following six weeks of narrow escapes Charles managed to flee …

Read More »

Night Stalkers

“Each shiny night the moon was bright, To park, preserve, and wood He went, and kept the game alive, By killing all he could. Land-owners, who had rabbits, swore That he had this demerit – Give him an inch of warren, he Would take a yard of ferret.” DARTMOOR NIGHT …

Read More »

Hurt Pickers

“To where the whortleberries lure I hie, Thinking of tasty whortlberry pie; A most delightful delicacy, it To set before the epicure is fit!“ Dartmoor Whortleberries, hurts or ‘urts have a well deserved place in the traditions of the Moor. For centuries they have not only provided a tasty meal …

Read More »

Mysterious Crotal Bell

Crotal2

The sheep are coming home apiece Hark the bells on every hill Flock by flock and fleece by fleece Wandering wide a little piece Thro’ the evening red and still Stopping where the pathways cease Cropping with a hurried will Before the advent of the railways and motorised vehicles the …

Read More »

Toad Stones

Toad1

I once knew an old farm labourer who worked on a farm near Lustleigh, who sadly is no longer with us but who always wore a strange ring. It had a shiny stone set in it whose colour was hard to describe, the nearest likeness would be that murky green …

Read More »