There is an ancient Dartmoor saying which is meant to act as a warning to anyone who exploits it’s natural resources – “if you scratch my back I’ll tear out your pockets.” There also appears in Psalms 37 -“Trust in the lord and he will give you the desires of …

Here is an account of a man’s visit to Drewsteignton in 1848, as always some of what he saw is still visible today but also much has been lost in time. Obviously the church is still there along with all what is described in his visit. The “New Inn” is …

At the Devon Quarter Assizes in the April of 1881 and interesting appeal was heard pertaining to a leat and whether or not it should be regarded as a tributary of the River Dart. Firstly what can be considered as a Dartmoor Leat? In simple Dartmoor terms Eric Hemery defined …

In the 16th century the importance of Plymouth grew and accordingly so did its population. It then soon became apparent that the existing water supply was insufficient for the demands placed upon it. So in 1576 Robert Lampen lead a team of surveyors in search of a route for a …

The Aeronautical Lady of Scobitor – Winifred Penn-Gaskell was the daughter of Peter Penn-Gaskell J.P from Shanagarry in County Cork and was born on the 12th November 1874, She arrived at Scobitor sometime prior to 1930 and clearly was a woman of strong character. Scobitor is a fairly remote place in …

Following on from the 1899 Torquay to Chagford excursion this now takes up the next leg of the journey to Belstone. I wonder how many people fortunate enough to live on the Moors still take pleasure in the various unique sunsets, the seasonal changes of the agricultural year and the …

Today if you wanted to travel from Torquay to Chagford it would take 59 minutes to travel the 26.8 miles by motor vehicle. Imagine for the same journey in 1899 you had to get a train at Torquay Station travelling to Newton Abbot then passing through Bovey Tracy and on …

Widecombe-in-the Moor Village Sign – It is fair to say that this village sign is the most photographed one on Dartmoor. The one that proudly sits on the green today is not the original one nor is it on the same site of the road as once located. The first …

Although a very contentious topic today the wearing of animal fur had for centuries been very much a fashion statement. Silver fox fur was amongst the most prized and popular kind, hardly any special social occasion would happen without the fur being worn as a fashion statement. If you read …

  Today we have ‘mugging’ and ‘carjacking’ just over one hundred years ago both were classified as ‘highway robbery’. Today the thieves are after mobile phones, credit cards, cars etc. then they were robbing watches, cash, horses etc. Such villains thrived on and around the lonely highways and byways of …