“The first part of the way was over East Down, and the road was familiar with us as far as Beetor’s Cross or  Bector’s Cross. Rowe and some guide-books call it by the latter name; the ‘natives’ and other guide-book by the former. We would rather incline to the …

Lettaford is a small hamlet situated on an old packhorse track a few miles to the west of North Bovey. The earliest record of the hamlet appeared in the Assize Rolls of 1244 as Lottreford then down through the centuries it mutated into Litterford, Liddaford until arriving at today’s Lettaford. …

Over the past hundred years or so numerous Dartmoor locations and landscapes have been used in Big Screen movies. and television productions. Probably the most famous being War Horse which used Ditsworthy Warren as a setting. You can nearly trace the evolution of cinematography and production techniques with films that …

There was once an old soldier who had fought a bitter campaign in the Napoleonic wars. When in 1815 that bitter conflict came to an end he like many of his brave comrades he returned home to find that there was no home, no job and no prospects. His only …

Many of the Dartmoor churches have lychgates of varying architectural merit, design and ages. The actual name is said to have derived from the old English word ‘lic‘ meaning body or corpse as also can be found in Dartmoor’s Lych Way (corpse road). In some parts of Devon these structures …

Back in 1927, Ivor Gordon Thompson, aged seven years was living with his family at Redlake Cottage near Ivbridge, at the time he was described as a delicate child due to having suffered from an attack of pneumonia when he was fifteen months old. He was the son of Samuel …

Having recently written a couple of pages on various Dartmoor pony fairs I then came across the following poem. Basically it describes the gathering of the ponies from the moor and imagines what emotions the creatures must have felt having been torn away from their pastures and the fate which …

Imagine you are at Bridestowe and wanted to get to Wistman’s Wood how would you get there? Possibly ask some local advice or if you had a car consult one of the online route planners. These would provide you with a route that was 17.07 miles long and take about …

Over the centuries up and down the country numerous livestock sales and fairs are no longer for various reasons including viability, access and latterly falling livestock numbers. In their place are a breed of more modern livestock centres such as those in the South West at Exeter and Sedgemoor. However …

Brent Fair Again – why having already covered this traditional fair do it again? What follows is another glimpse back in time which provides a window into the South Brent Fair which can never physically be experienced today. It gives a flavour of the sights and sounds of busy days …