Little Miss Muffet Sat on a tuffet Eateing her curds and whey Along came an viper Who sat down beside ‘er But never scared miss Muffet away. Ok, well it’s nothing like as prosaic as the original but for the purposes of this page it will have to do. Once …

“My ladye hath a sable coach, And horses two and four; My ladye hath a black blood-hound That runneth on before. My ladye’s coach hath nodding plumes, The driver hath no head; My ladye is an ashen white, As one that long is dead. “Now pray step in,” my ladye …

Just below the Dean Burn lies the small estate of Skerraton which back in the 1200’s was owned jointly by two noble people, Lady Dyonisia and Nicholas de Kingdom. Nicholas de Kingdom came from a Norman family who came originally over with William the Conqueror and for their services were …

Back in the late eighteenth century, 1790 some say,  an orphaned baby was taken into the Poor House at Newton Abbot. The little girl was named, as was the custom, with a surname beginning with whatever letter the Poor House had progressed to, in this case ‘J’. As many of …

Jan Reynolds was a young tin miner who lived in Widecombe. He worked hard but played even harder, in the area he was known as a drinker, gambler and a womaniser. Sadly his lifestyle did not match his income and so he was always short of ‘coin’. In an attempt …

Below the majestic granite outcrop known as Sharp tor and overlooking the Dart Valley sits a lonely farm called Rowbrook. It has always known that during the dark and dismal winter days the River Dart can be heard sighing and moaning as it tumbles down through the rocky gorge. Some …

Much of Dartmoor is covered by peat bogs, for centuries these have always struck fear into the heart of moorland travellers, especially those venturing out at night. In the dark it is only too easy to stray off into the depths of these black, peaty mires and get ‘stogged’ (stuck) …

Take a late October Sunday morning and the A30 road at Whiddon Down, confound matters even more with a contra flow in each direction. Add a 30 mph speed limit for fun and this combination would be bad enough but then spice it all up with a rather nervous bullock …

It was the Eve of All Hallows way back in the dim and distant past when the miller of Hyner sat with his family around their huge wooden table. As the evening drew to a close the candles were lit and the miller’s wife began setting out the evening meal. …

Just above the left bank of the West Dart river stands the old Huccaby farmhouse. It was here in the days long past lived a comely buxom lass who was employed a the dairy maid. It was obvious that such a young woman would be the attention of the moor …