Flora And Fauna

Having just watched the Dartmoor programme of Ray Mears’ ‘Wilderness Walks’ where he went in search of the rare Blue Ground Beetle (Carabus intricatus) I thought as it’s a ‘legend’ it had better have it’s own page. Why is it a Dartmoor ‘legend’? Primarily because it is Britain’s largest native …

It is not very often that a new aspect of Dartmoor appears but in the case of blueberries that is exactly what has happened. Farmers and landowners are constantly being told that diversification is the only means of survival in the shrinking agricultural industry and in Lustleigh somebody has successfully …

“The Bluebell is the sweetest flower That waves in summer air: Its blossoms have the mightiest power To soothe my spirit’s care.” Emily Bronte In 2002 the English Bluebell (Hyacinthoides non-scripta) was voted Britain’s most popular flower and so was adopted as the national flower of Britain. As with most …

“When winter comes in earnest to fulfil His yearly task at bleak Novembers close, And stops the plough and hides the fields in snows; When frost locks up the streams in chill delay And mellows on the hedge the purple sloes …“. John Clare – The Shepherd’s Calendar – 1827 …

To this day I can still remember when, as a boy, Granfer would produce the dreaded ‘yeller pail’ and I was told, “go fill ‘un bwoy.” There wasn’t much I hated doing but filling that sodding ‘yeller pail’ used to ‘hack I orf’ no end because it meant one of …

“Oh, yet, ye solemn Altars! while I feel The shadowy spells of power that round ye dwell.” J. E. Reade -1843 “On the left within a farm enclosure is Bel Tor, which although only a small pile, is sufficiently interesting to call for notice. A gate in the wall will …

On the 8th of September 2014 it was revealed that the pelt found in the Whitehorse Hill kist was that of a Brown Bear (Ursus arctos). The three year interval between finding the grave and identifying the pelt has been due to the fact that normal DNA testing has been …

Out of all the animals on Dartmoor it is the bat that has the most unjustifiable reputation of all, mention the word bat and many people associate it with haunted churchyards, witchcraft, Halloween and something that gets tangled in your hair. It is true that you can often see bats …

I think it is a well known fact that Devon has more than its fair share of Badgers, just read any discussion regarding T.B. But there are many badger setts to be found in the more remoter areas of high Dartmoor and some of these have been established for many …

“If the Oak is out before the Ash, then we shall surely have a splash, If the Ash is out before the Oak, then we shall surely have a soak”. That is probably one of the better known of the old weather lore sayings and versions of it can be …