It was a cloudy afternoon when the traveller left Exeter, he had to get to Tavistock by the evening so the shortest route was up across the moor. As nightfall drew its mantle around the grey tors it began to rain, it was the type of persistent light rain that …

A daring robbery took place in the October of 1851 on Roborough Down and as crimes go the perpetrators must have received the swiftest of punishments in legal history. The tale begins at Okehampton where an old man by the name of Bellamy, who lived at the Union Workhouse, set …

Just outside of Widecombe is a small secluded hamlet called Ponsworthy and in one of the small cottages by the ford lived an old labourer called Hodge, he shared the cott with his wife and grandson. The small lad lost both of his parents when he was but a tacker …

It was a crisp Autumn morning and the sun was just beginning to rise as the ploughman led his team down the lane to the newtake. The horses breath could be seen like baccy smoke puffing out of their nostrils. The heavy shoes were clopping along the lane with the …

Ever wondered how kettles got their whistle? It’s probably not one of life’s deepest searching questions but none the less about 20 years ago if you wanted a hot cup of tea then it was pretty important. In fact in this modern age when kettles just simply ‘click’ we seem …

One sunny summers day a moorland farmer was busy in his fields when the yard boy came rushing up, clearly he was excited about something. “Master, Master,” he yelled, “the piskies be a threshin’ in the barn, threshin I tell ee.” The farmer straightened he old back with a groan, …

Back in the long lost time when moorfolk believed in the power of the piskies there lived an old tin miner called Hugh Plymswode. For most of his life he had earned a meagre living from streaming for tin in the cold waters of the river Erme. Poor old Hugh …

Many, many years ago a farmer from the Dartmoor borders was working in one of his fields when one of his labourers came rushing up, he was breathless and excited and had just ran all the way from the farm. It appeared that when the man went passed the big …

Some nights when out on the moor it’s possible to see or hear a herd of ponies thundering across the open wastes, the snorts and whinny’s suggest that they are running scared. At first it may seem that they are stampeding at a reckless pace but if the moonlight is …

There is a tradition on Dartmoor that one of the numerous tricks that the piskies like to play on the moorfolk was/is to creep into their stables or paddocks at night and steal the horses or ponies. The prank was then to ride them hard all night which naturally scared …