Flora And Fauna

  “That Dartmoor folk, and a large number of other people as well, do believe in ‘lucky’ white heather is true. It is also true that both white ling (heather) and the various heaths are rare, except in some places. On tract of West Dartmoor last year white ling was …

  Quite often when rambling around Dartmoor you come across something that makes you stop in your tracks and think  to yourself- “am I really seeing that?” Once you have confirmed that, yes, you are seeing that, the next question is usually – “how did that get there?” Many years …

  Erinaceus europaeus – more commonly known as the European Hedgehog. In Devon the hedgehog is often referred top a the ‘Hedgy Boar‘ and on Dartmoor as the ‘Fuzzy Pig‘. In both cases the porcine name refers to the way it feeds by using its snout to root around pig-like in …

  “To where the Whortleberries lure I hie, Thinking of tasty whortleberry pie; A most delightful, delicacy it To set before the epicure is fit! The picker’s task, maybe, is tedious, Gathering the blue-black globules of the bush. Now once again is whortleberry time, Down westwards in our glorious summer …

  If ever you happen to be strolling along a Dartmoor lane any time between May and September and happen to notice a small yellow flower growing in a hedgerow then there is a chance that you have just come across Herb Bennet. To be precise the Latin name for …

“Beneath those rugged elms, that yew-tree’s shade,          Where heaves the turf in many a mould’ring heap, Each in his narrow cell for ever laid,          The rude forefathers of the hamlet sleep.” Thomas Grey – Elegy written in a churchyard There are many splendid yew trees to be found in the …

As with any wild expanse of land there have been many reports and sightings of ‘Big Cats’ on Dartmoor. People talk of ‘The Beast of Dartmoor’ when more likely as not it should be ‘The Beasts of Dartmoor’. Talk to any body that spends a lot of time on the …

Wednesday July 6th 2016. On the 6th of July 2016 Dartmoor Zoo took delivery of a 2 year-old Carpathian Lynx called Flaviu who had come from Port Lympne Wildlife Park in Kent. After making his grand entrance at 7.30 pm when he was placed in an existing pen which had …

“By the lone fountain’s secret bed’ Where human footsteps rarely tread, ‘Mid the wild moor of silent glen, The sundew blooms unseen by men; Spreads there her leaf of rosy bloom, A chalice for the morning dew, And, ere the summers sun can rise, Drinks the pure waters of the …

“One for sorrow, two for joy, three for a girl and four for a boy,  five for silver, six for gold and seven for a secret never to be told, eight for a wish, nine for a kiss, ten for a bird that’s best to miss.”“ I will bet that …