If you have ever watched Tony Robinson’s programme about the worst jobs in history you will have seen some very horrendous careers. However, there was one that didn’t appear in the series and that was the job of a Dartmoor sett maker. I would imagine that in these days …

  Higher Blackabroom – 01.07.2017 OK, here’s a dilemma, three young girls aged between 11 and 14, (one of the girls has never been anywhere near Dartmoor), my wife and myself want to go for a walk on Dartmoor. The girls want to go somewhere that they can see lots …

Higher Blackabroom – Day 1. We had decided to take a weekend break on Dartmoor and return to our favourite holiday cottage at Higher Blackabroom. Over the past few years we have stayed there on several occasions as it is secluded, peaceful, comfortable and (for the girls) a good WiFi …

  It is said that; “money does not grow on trees,” which in essence is completely true but there are instances where from appearance it looks as if money does grow on trees.  There are also examples where money seems to be growing from timbers used in old buildings. To …

  “That Dartmoor folk, and a large number of other people as well, do believe in ‘lucky’ white heather is true. It is also true that both white ling (heather) and the various heaths are rare, except in some places. On tract of West Dartmoor last year white ling was …

Not many Christmases go by without one channel or another screening the Dickens classic of Oliver Twist. Having feasted on the traditional Christmas dinner one is then presented of a forlorn looking Oliver pleading for ‘more’ of his workhouse gruel. The story line portrays how harsh life could be in …

  Quite often when rambling around Dartmoor you come across something that makes you stop in your tracks and think  to yourself- “am I really seeing that?” Once you have confirmed that, yes, you are seeing that, the next question is usually – “how did that get there?” Many years …

An old lady sat in her old arm-chair With wrinkled visage and dishevelled hair And hunger-worn features; For a few days and for weeks her only fare, As she sat there in her old arm-chair, Had been potatoes. But now they were gone; of bad and good Not one was …

  “O Bellever tor is a dainty tor:- ‘Tis neither high or low: – But all the world loves Bellever, for: -‘Tis the place the piskies know. You see the sun on Bellever when – The rest of the moor is clad – In a rain cloak spun by the …

  Today, the small Bellever Youth Hostel does an excellent job of concealing its agricultural past and royal associations. It was only whilst delving through old copies of the Times newspaper that I realised how important the old farm was. Hemery, says very little about the later history of the …