Tag Archives: Dartmoor

Brent Fair Again – why having already covered this traditional fair do it again? What follows is another glimpse back in time which provides a window into the South Brent Fair which can never physically be experienced today. It gives a flavour of the sights and sounds of busy days …

“Meanwhile the warrener pushed for that desolate elevation known as Devil’s Tor, gaining which he sat down with his face to the south and rested a while. The spot was singular, and the hill itself crowned with no irregular peaks and turrets of shattered stone like its neighbours. Instead, masses …

Ever since early visitors began exploring Dartmoor they have done so in a variety of ways. Some on foot, others by charabanc tours, a few with a private Dartmoor guide such as James Perrott whilst occasionally there were those who hired a donkey cart. Now follows and account of four …

Ever since parts of Dartmoor has been used for training there have been a whole variety of tests carried out but none so strange as the one completed by the ‘Starvation Company’. There is the old adage – “an army marches on its stomach,” which I suppose is fairly obvious …

Over the centuries Dartmoor has seen many characters come and go and one such was James Perrott of Chagford. It can be said that a man’s legacy can be seen from his obituary and as you will read to below there can be no question that James Perrott left a …

If you search the online UK Crime Statistics for Moretonhampstead in the February of 2019 you will see that there were three types of crime reported; one case of shoplifting, 1 case of other theft and 1 case of undefined violence/sexual offence. So one could say that in the centre …

It is a well known fact that since 1873 various parts of Dartmoor have been used for military training. Today the areas on which this can take place are clearly defined but that was not always the case. In the August of 1873 some 9,000 soldiers took part in two …

“The tradition of the ‘Wish Huntsman’ and his ‘Demon Dogs’ still lingers on Dartmoor, but in a very shadowy state. The Dewer Stone is regarded as the spot he chiefly favours, and report used to describe him as a swarthy individual who hunted at night, and then only when a …

As always, whilst researching something else I came across the following paragraph in a paper written by Samuel Rowe in the 1830 issue of  ‘The Transactions of the Plymouth Institution’; “In a small pasture field about a furlong S. E. of Manaton church, adjoining a parish road, is an enclosure …

Nestled between the bosom of Rowden Ball and Dunstone Down is the ‘deserted medieval village’ of what today is known as ‘Hutholes. The term ‘village’ is probably doing the settlement huge injustice as once it was an ancient manor dating way back into the long-lost mists of time. If ever …