Roborough Down – the placename was first documented in the index of the Charters and Rolls of 1114 when it appears as Rueberge. The name originated from two Anglo Saxon words – ruh (rough), beorg (hill) and dun (down) which translates as ‘Rough Hill Down’. There is evidence of man’s …

Providing services to remote areas such as Dartmoor has always been a challenge and none more so that ensuring the adequate supply of electricity, especially in the cold winter months. Back in the 1950s the local newspapers often had reports of power cuts, especially in the Princetown area. Such as …

Here’s a question for you – have you ever been sat at your favourite spot on Dartmoor and wished that you owned it, (I know I have on many occasions)? Here’s another question; if you did own it what kind of public access would you allow? Would you follow in …

  Erinaceus europaeus – more commonly known as the European Hedgehog. In Devon the hedgehog is often referred top a the ‘Hedgy Boar‘ and on Dartmoor as the ‘Fuzzy Pig‘. In both cases the porcine name refers to the way it feeds by using its snout to root around pig-like in …

In this day and age we are all well conversant with famous sports stars, film celebrities, pop stars, authors, artists etc. endorsing merchandise, appearing on Social Media and in various newspapers and TV. The bigger the star the more money they can earn and in some cases the figures can …

These days nobody pays any particular attention to aircraft flying over Dartmoor, perhaps if it’s a military helicopter or RAF fighter plane they might draw a bit more attention but on the whole such an event is an everyday occurrence. But just imagine if you had never seen an aeroplane …

There is an early placename of Soueston, in 1771 the Recovery Rolls documented the place as North Souson, in 1809 Mudge’s map of Devon shows it as South Stone Farm and today it’s known as Soussons. The English Place-Name Society suggests that the name could originally have meant “at the …

Plans are afoot to alter the landscape of Soussons Plantation so the idea was to have a stroll around the plantation before that happens. Another objective was to get some photographs of the three prehistoric barrows which nestle in a small clearing within the plantation, which I had never seen …

  This little Xcursion was due to a Westcountry phenomenon called ‘drectly’, which means if something has to be done and it’s done drectly then it’s put off to the very, very last moment at the earliest. At university it’s assignment time and one of them is to give two …

  Walk out from Postbridge along Drift Lane and you soon come to the bottom of Broad Down (Broadun) and then you are faced with a stiff climb to its summit, back in the day this particular ascent was know as ‘The Bastard’. Probably the reason it acquired this name …