Tales Of Dartmoor

Ponies have been part of Dartmoor for thousands of years and therefore it is not surprising that the ghosts of one or two still haunt the moor. There have been sightings of ghostly black ponies that appear and vanish all over the tors and valleys. But probably the most persistent …

Dartmoor has many short tales of hauntings that would not be enough to warrant their own pages, so the tales are told here on one gazetteer. Ashburton. The Story of Cutty Dyer. Belstone. One evening an elderly resident of Belstone was strolling along the West Cleave when below him he …

Just outside Islington is a mystery which defies logic and it concerns a ‘Brigadoon’ type cottage. A woman moved into the district and decided to get acquainted with her surroundings and so she took to walking the lanes. One day she spotted, through some trees, the most charming country cottage …

What happened was, many, many years ago lived a woman called Meg. She was the postwoman for the moorland area around Tavistock which was no small area to cover. Every day except for high days and holidays she would lug her heavy postbag over the moors. No matter what the …

In the small moorland town of Chagford lived an old woman who the locals called ‘Old Moll’. Nobody is sure if that was her real name but that is what she was known as. Depending on what people wanted she was either a healer or a witch, usually the latter. …

As with any ancient land Dartmoor has its own spirit who cares for the well being of his lands and usually any encounter with him forebodes bad luck. One such encounter was with a man who had recently moved down to the moor from Manchester. He had already made a …

This story was fully reported a March edition of The Times newspaper in 1819 and at the time it caused quiet a stir in the Dartmoor town of Okehampton. The story concerns at 30 year old woman called Mary Woodman who had been married for 8 years to her husband …

So, Ockington is once again a des-res place to live, full of neighbourly harmony and everyone were happy bunnies, come to that even the bunnies were chuffed. One slight problem, and that along with his cronies were sulking deep down in Lydford Gorge some eight miles down the road. Eventually …

Tranquillity reigned in the Miller’s household and the family were getting on famously with their new piskie neighbours. In fact, so much so that that the daughters were invited to the monthly piskie revels which were held in their grand underground hall. The girls would put on their best frocks …

Way back in the mists of time there was a small hamlet situated on the northern fringes of Dartmoor called Ockington, today the small scatter of houses has grown into the town of Okehampton. But back then the tiny hamlet was merely a small cluster of cotts and farmsteads. As …