Tag Archives: Dartmoor

Today if you wanted to travel from Torquay to Chagford it would take 59 minutes to travel the 26.8 miles by motor vehicle. Imagine for the same journey in 1899 you had to get a train at Torquay Station travelling to Newton Abbot then passing through Bovey Tracy and on …

Widecombe-in-the Moor Village Sign – It is fair to say that this village sign is the most photographed one on Dartmoor. The one that proudly sits on the green today is not the original one nor is it on the same site of the road as once located. The first …

Although a very contentious topic today the wearing of animal fur had for centuries been very much a fashion statement. Silver fox fur was amongst the most prized and popular kind, hardly any special social occasion would happen without the fur being worn as a fashion statement. If you read …

  Today we have ‘mugging’ and ‘carjacking’ just over one hundred years ago both were classified as ‘highway robbery’. Today the thieves are after mobile phones, credit cards, cars etc. then they were robbing watches, cash, horses etc. Such villains thrived on and around the lonely highways and byways of …

Every now and again one comes across a place-name on a map which begs for an explanation. I came across such an example on the Ordnance Survey 25 inch map of 1888 which was ‘Wallon’. As always one part of research leads to another and then another and before long …

Ask most people to name a Dartmoor artist and on the list would probably be the Widgerys, Brittan, Rowden, Morrish, Tozer, and Sherrin to name but a few. But I wonder if Bernard C. Gotch would even appear in that salubrious hall of fame? In Brian le Messurier’s book ‘Dartmoor …

Sometimes today you can come across convoys of military vehicles moving men and equipment around Dartmoor during their training exercises. I think it would be fair to say that such a sighting is not one of the most memorable and exciting experiences. But just imagine witnessing a whole regiment along …

It Should Never Happen to a Vicar – Gidleigh is a quiet picturesque village on the eastern side of the north moor and is noted for its ancient castle and church. As with many things “every rose has its thorn,” and in the case of Gidleigh it was the Reverend …

Lustleigh – some will say it’s the prettiest village in Devon, renown for it’s old buildings, its May Fair, the venerable  St. Johns Church, the Old Cleave Inn and the nearby Lustleigh Cleave. What could sound more idyllic with its close-knit community always ready to welcome visitors with the warmest …

Someone once told me that “on Dartmoor you can never measure distance by time,” in many cases a most prophetic statement. There can be so many variants such as both recent and current weather conditions, unfamiliar terrain and other such embuggerances. Therefore if you are incognisant with the Moor never …