“Squire Forth he purchased Cator Court, And hath remodelled all the place, With building of such splendid sort , Which all the neighbourhood doth grace.” Jonas Coaker – The Dartmoor Poet Firstly it is always interesting to find the etymology of the place-name one is writing about – in this …
Read More »Symington’s Fete
William Weldon Symington owned a factory at Bowden Steam Mills in Market Harborough where they manufactured pea flour, tinned groats and barley and packet of Scotch oatmeal. In 1870 he purchased Skaigh woods which became known as the Rockside Estate and included an eighty eight acre pheasantry and rabbit warren. …
Read More »Holford’s Hopes
Over the centuries numerous ‘adventurers’ have tried to get rich quick with various schemes and notions on Dartmoor. Looking back on most of them one can’t help being grateful that they never came to fruition. An excellent example was the scheme of Mr. H. J. Halford which had it gone …
Read More »Whativer shall I do
Over the centuries Dartmoor has lost many old characters, all of whom were proud, hardworking men, born of the moor and all who have left their legacy in the pages of the moor’s history. One such character was Jonas Coaker the ‘Dartmoor Poet’. Jonas Coaker was born at Hartyland near …
Read More »Quaker Palk
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 …
Read More »Aeronautical Lady
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 …
Read More »Never happen to a vicar
It Should Never Happen to a Vicar – Gidleigh is a quiet picturesque village on the eastern side of the north moor and is noted for its ancient castle and church. As with many things “every rose has its thorn,” and in the case of Gidleigh it was the Reverend …
Read More »James Thorpe
Dean Prior is a tiny hamlet that literally hugs the boundary of the Dartmoor National Park so closely that it cruelly separates its church from its flock. Today many people associate Dean Prior as being the one-time home of the prolific Dartmoor poet Robert Herrick but there was also one …
Read More »Bray’s Eight Days
In the December of 1881 John Bray from Chudleigh, then aged 59, was arrested and charged with stealing some horse hair along with other items from an outhouse at Bickington. That same month he appeared at Ashburton Assizes charged charged with the offences and was committed for trial at the …
Read More »The Lag and the Gypsies
It is reputed that Charles Ross was one a the very few Dartmoor prisoners who ever managed to escape and get completely away from penal servitude at the prison. In the mid 1800s Charles Ross, a landowner, was sentenced to serve seven years in Dartmoor Prison for robbery with violence. …
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