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Tales Of Dartmoor

Tamara and Tavy

Tamara and Tavy

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 …

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Suit of Cards Placenames

Suit of Cards Placenames

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 …

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Stephen’s Grave

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 …

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Spreyton’s Ghosts

Spreyton's Ghosts

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 …

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Sheepstor Piskies

Sheepstor Piskies

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 …

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Saltered Down Father

Saltered Down Father

 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 …

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Roborough Mugging

Roborough Mugging

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 …

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Ponsworthy Ps & Qs

Ponsworthy Ps & Qs

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 …

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Ploughman’s Breakfast

Ploughman's Breakfast

It was a crisp Autumn morning and the sun was just beginning to rise as the ploughman led his team down the lane to the newtake. The horses breath could be seen like baccy smoke puffing out of their nostrils. The heavy shoes were clopping along the lane with the …

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Piskies Kettle

Piskies Kettle

Ever wondered how kettles got their whistle? It’s probably not one of life’s deepest searching questions but none the less about 20 years ago if you wanted a hot cup of tea then it was pretty important. In fact in this modern age when kettles just simply ‘click’ we seem …

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