As winter fast approaches today we turn up our heating, if we want to cook a meal we have the luxury of switching on the gas or electricity. However, it has not always been that easy and to accomplish any of these things it needed a fire. An integral part …

When you hear talk of the Dartmoor Drifts people are either discussing a bad winter or a practice that has occurred for centuries, this page concerns the latter instance. I suppose a cowboy would describe a drift as a ’round-up’ for it was an occasion when cattle and ponies were …

Hidden in a small valley below Bagga tor are the remnants of some old tinners works and amongst these are the vestiges of a one time diamond mine. It sounds beyond belief but they are there, well to be exact it was not genuine diamonds that were being extracted but …

If you read any archaeological book on the Bronze Age you will be certain to find a reference to Dartmoor, be it the hut circles, reaves, or ritual monuments. One of the reasons for this is that due to its climate and geography Dartmoor has never been extensively farmed, therefore …

Imagine it is the late 1200s and you are a smallholder who owns a farmstead which nestles in the lee of the mighty stronghold of Okehampton Castle. Life his hard and not made any easier by the rule of Lord Hugh Courtenay who lives in the nearby castle. Despite all …

Depending on your views the internet can be a blessing or a curse but there is one thing for sure, it’s here to stay and there is a lot of valuable information out there if you know where to look. I would suggest that you have an interest on Dartmoor …

“The Knowledge is free, just bring the container to keep it in“. This saying hangs in the library of my wife’s primary school and goodness does that sum up what a library is. Since writing was first introduced into this country people have gone to the trouble to write about …

There are numerous natural and man-made physical landscape features found on Dartmoor, many of which have unique local names to describe them. This page is an attempt to list and describe what can be found on the moor, it is by no means exhaustive and will no doubt be regularly …

Virtually every day I look on E bay to see what Dartmoor related listings are around and the sort of prices they are fetching. Much to my wife’s annoyance the office looks something akin to Steptoe’s house with every shelf and ledge stuffed with various items of Dartmoor significance. The …

When is a cross not a cross? simple, when it’s a Dartmoor Cross. As with many things on the moor – nothing is as it ever seems. The ‘cross’ in this context simply denotes a  junction of three or more roads/lanes. There are well over 200 specific named cross’ on …