Although not marked on the modern OS map the termination of the ridge of Yartor Down is known as Vag Hill. For once there can be no confusion with this Dartmoor place-name as Vag was the vernacular term for the peaty turf found on the lower commons and although inferior …

Before the days of modern machines and before the days of the steam engines one of the onerous processes of the harvest was separating the grains of corn from the husks, AKA ‘Chaff’. There were two ways of achieving this, either by threshing or winnowing. Threshing is officially defined as; …

In 1921 Eden Phillpotts published a book of Dartmoor short stories called ‘Told at the Plume’ by which he referred to the Plume of Feathers inn at Princetown. One of the stories in the book was simply titled – Rugglestone. The events in this tale revolve around the famous logan …

“The Warren House stood before them under a ragged sycamore, it was almost the loneliest inhabited dwelling in Devon. and its squat, white face peered out upon the wilderness from under a black, tar-pitched roof. The rabbit warrens spread on either hand and the dwelling lay in the protection of …

Opposite Wistman’s Wood and amidst the Bronze Age features scattered nearby are the remains of a late nineteen century rabbit warren Hemery explains how the warren was established in 1895 as a sporting warren which covered around 330 acres. James Saltroun rented the land from the Duchy and installed his …

“Evil Combe – Steep valley edges drop to boggy ground that the sun doesn’t touch, and where nothing but heather dares to grow. The wind, exhausted from its long journey across the moors, howls like the great wild dogs that are rumoured to roam these parts. Some believe the devil …

“Simple bridges made of timber, known as clam bridges, were once a common sight around Dartmoor. traditionally built from tree trunks laid across a stream or river with a hand rail on one side these bridges utilised the most common material in the river valleys that surround the moor. Bringing …

“Follow the track S. W, we soon reach the head of the combe down which Middle Brook runs, and which is known as Petre’s Pits Bottom. In this are the ruins of a building in which it used to be said that the horses employed by the Red Lake Peat …

“And then the peat fires! What fires can surpass them? They do not flame, but they glow, and diffuse an aroma that fills the lungs with balm… I may be mistaken, but it seems to me that cooking done over a peat fire surpasses cooking at the best club in …

Early in the August of 1883 there was a buzz of excitement in Princetown, the streets were being decorated and preparations were being made for a milestone event – the ‘Iron Horse was coming to town. It was expected that the first train would be arriving at the brand spanking …