The Dartmoor Tinners have always been a law unto themselves, at one time they had their own parliament and laws with the rights to virtually mine tin wherever they wanted. Recent legend tells of how they even had their own symbol or badge in the shape of three rabbits running …

‘Learn a lesson from this dial, Dwell not on the past; Greet the present with a smile, For future cannot last.’ Many will argue that the first use of a sundial began way back in prehistoric time in the form of the stone rows, circles and menhirs which acted as …

“There from his rocky pulpit, I heard a cry The Stonecrop: See how loose to earth I grow, And draw my juicy nurture from the sky: So draw not thou, fond man, thy root so low., But loosely clinging here, From God’s supernatural sphere Draw life’s unearthly food – catch …

“I was reading your “Satan & the Holy Cross” page, which I found quite entertaining. You did mention “White Jelly fungus” which is sometimes found on Dartmoor. I have sometimes come across this substance on Dartmoor, and wondered what it is. The stuff I have seen,  which looks just like …

“I coulde never learne an Englishe name for it. The Duche men call it in Netherlande, spilboome, that is, spindel-tree, because they use to make spindels of it in that country, and me thynke it may be as well named in English seying we have no other name.” – William …

If by the 10th the snowdrops are out. More snow throughout the month without a doubt. It is quite fitting that I write this page on the 2nd of February as this is Candlemas Day which was/is strongly associated with the first snowdrops of the year appearing. At some of …

Sonnet to the Lark on Dartmoor Sweet soaring minstrel of the wild, I hear The pleasing music of thy tuneful throat, As welcome o’er the desert to mine ear, As to benighted hinds the matin note. I thank thee, warbler, for thy cheering lay, But why in such a barren …

“Another rare thing, lingering in caves and deserted mine adits, is the shining moss, that glimmers like dim gold under darkness. Those who snatch at it and bring it to the daylight find only a little rusty earth in their hands”. Eden Phillpotts – A Shadow Passes If ever you …

The Shepherd’s Sundial is probably better known as the tiny flower called the Scarlet Pimpernel.  This plant is classed as a weed and is often found in the hedgerows and fields of the lower moorland fringes. It was often called the Shepherd’s Sundial by the moorfolk because it was a …

It is thought that sheep have been a part of the Dartmoor landscape since prehistoric times, in fact some say that the native Dartmoor breeds were descended from the Iron Age Soay sheep. There is certainly evidence that by the late 13th century Dartmoor was a wool producing area. Around …