It will come as no surprise that the term; ‘everything is not black and white‘ aptly applies to Dartmoor – sometimesit’s red. Having now compiled web pages on Dartmoor place-names that contain the descriptive element ‘black’ and ‘white’ surely ‘red’ cannot be left out? When compared with ‘black’ and ‘white’ …

Probably one of the most mysterious and enigmatic places on Dartmoor is the prison at Princetown, it holds a certain morbid fascination for most visitors. The dark, grey granite walls have for two centuries kept French and American war prisoners along with a multitude of criminals securely confined behind them. …

Back in the early 1800s Sir Thomas Tyrwhitt had amongst others, a dream that Princetown would have a prison along church to serve the growing community. The prison was to house prisoners of war from the Napoleonic war and construction of this project began in 1806. However, it was several …

The ‘legendary’ Postbridge Clapper has got to be one of  the top three ‘hotspots’ on Dartmoor. How many people that have visited the moor have not got either a photo or a postcard of the old bridge? Visit Postbridge on any summer’s day and see the buses piling into the …

“Whom the untaught Shepherds call Pixies in their madrigal, Fancy’s children, here we dwell: Welcome, Ladies! to our cell. Here the wren of softest note Builds its nest and warbles well; Here the blackbird strains his throat; Welcome, Ladies! to our cell.” Samuel Taylor Coleridge – Songs of the Pixies. …

This shows you how Dartmoor can affect people, I was reading the latest edition of ‘The Dartmoor News’ where I read an article about how the recent access laws have meant that one can now visit Pin Tor. It seems despite the Dartmoor National Park erecting a brand spanking new …

In 1984 Prince Charles described a new extension to the National Gallery as a, “monstrous carbuncle”, but he was not the first to liken a skin blemish unto an architectural intrusion on the landscape. Since the early 1900s Dartmoor or to be more precise, Whitchurch Down has had a structure …

“The view from Pu Tor is exceedingly fine, much of the moor being revealed on one side, and a vast extent of the cultivated country on the other.” Crossing, p.146. “Grey through the thickening trees, the heights of Pu Tor towered northerly, and round about the land fell by fields …

“Quite and undisturbed, save by the shouts of the merry boys who frequent the neighbouring school, is the small churchyard. In summer it is quite over-shadowed by the umbrageous foliage of its protecting trees. Many rude tombstones attract our notice for their quaint design, or curious epitaph.”, Rachel Evans, 1846 …

“Keep the Sabbath Holy”, was always the watchword on the farms of Dartmoor, which meant no work whatsoever and to ignore this warning was to invite the wrath of the Lord. Even more strictly observed was the tradition that no earth should be so much as scratched on Good Friday …