Tales Of Dartmoor

What happened was, about three hundred years ago there were two maids; Molly and Polly. Both worked on a large farm on the edge of Dartmoor and both shared a secret. Now the two girls were as different as furze and fuzz, Polly was happy and hard working and Molly …

What happened was, long ago you had two choices, you were either kind and friendly to the piskies or you were mean and nasty towards them. They in turn would either return the kindness or give better than they got – either way the choice was yours. It so happened …

“Squire Tucker purchased Natsworthy, And hath improved it very much” Jonas Coaker 1876 Now you see me, now you don’t – this very much sums up the history of the ‘Tucker Stone’ which today can be found peacefully residing in the church at Widecombe. The stone is a simple tablet …

True Love Elizabeth had started working at Wheal Betsy when she was 10 years old and she knew she fell in love with him then. He had shown her how to sort and wash different ores and had been so kind to her. When his gentle brown eyes fixed on …

If you pass through the tiny moorland village of North Bovey today you will see a tranquil village green upon which stands an ancient granite cross, a splendid old inn and some rustic cottages nestled around a fine church. There are many descriptives that come to mind when viewing this …

Nestled below the rocky eminence of Thornworthy Tor once lived two families, to all accounts they were ‘blow ins’ or in other words, “bain’t frum around yer”. They lived in two ramshackle tinners huts which lay in a small combe below the farm of Thornworthy. Although the two families knew …

On March the 21st 1829 a party of huntsmen and their dogs were hot on th trail of an old moor fox up near the head of the river Teign. A more barren and desolate tract of land would be hard to find, all around lay peat hags and gullys …

One hundred and thirteen years ago the sleepy little village of Peter Tavy was to witness one of Dartmoor’s most violent crimes. Nestled below the lofty western tors  Peter Tavy has always been a typical moorland village. People never travelled far and everyone knew each other, the chances were that …

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; …