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Tag Archives: Dartmoor

Parson’s Plight

It probably goes without saying but Dartmoor’s north moor can at times be a trifle tricky if you do not know the lay of the land. Back in 1864 an eminent man of the cloth decided that he needed to recharge his batteries and that Dartmoor was the best place …

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Dartmoor Improver

During the 1800s some landowners were of the belief that Dartmoor could produce lucrative crops and began an era of ‘improving’ the land. One of the early pioneers of this idea was Sir Thomas Tyrwhitt who advocated the growing of flax on his Tor Royal estate. Another such man was …

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Manaton Cross Verse

  The ancient cross which stands in Manaton Churchyard has an interesting history, it was once the tradition to carry a coffin around the cross three times before entering the church. In the 1650s the then incumbent parson regarded this as a pagan tradition and tried to persuade his congregation …

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Nefarious Navvies

Night of the Nefarious Navvies – It was the Boxing Day of 1882, Princetown was cloaked in mist along with one of those miserable rains that soaks everyone to the skin. Just as it is to day, what do you do on such a dank and miserable day? – take …

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Grey Wethers Five

The Grey Wethers – version one About a hundred and fifty years ago the small moorland farm below Sittaford was renown for its sheep, the holding had been in the family for generations and now the latest of the line was carrying on its traditions. They had a very pretty …

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White Nights 1924

Every now and then nature transforms Dartmoor into a spectacle of shimmering ice and frost which coats literally everything in a mantle of glistening ice crystals, on the moor this is known as ‘The Ammil’. This phenomenon occasionally occurs in other parts of the country but is normally regarded as …

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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 …

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Huccaby Horseplay.

Huccaby Races first took place in the late 1800s and soon became an important fixture in the Dartmoor calendar. Such was the renown of the races that in the June of 1909 Prince George and Princess Mary (the future King George V and Queen Mary) who were on a four …

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Three Men in a Gorge

Here follows a delightful account of three men who visited Lydford Gorge in 1895 and who were being guided by a ‘local’ with an intimate knowledge of the terrain. Today it is easy to navigate yourself around Lydford Gorge and all that it has to offer but that has not …

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Thornworthy Down

  If ever you want to ‘get down’ on Dartmoor there are numerous ‘down’ to get on. It is amazing how much of interest both past and present that can be found on the Dartmoor Downs. Thornworthy Down is a prime example. It covers roughly two Ordnance Survey grids within …

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