Habitat management and better summers in recent years have produced large numbers of beautiful and threatened orchids and damselflies on Dartmoor.
Dartmoor National Park (DNP) has been in a management agreement with the landowner of a cluster of haymeadows on the edge of Widecombe-in-the-Moor for over 20 years now. The fields were in urgent need of management, as no hay cut or grazing was taking place, and the flowers were beginning to disappear under thick grass, bracken, and thorn bushes.
Now, sympathetic meadow management has been in place for a number of years, and the...
Police are appealing for witnesses after a cyclist was found with serious head injuries on Dartmoor on Wednesday 26 August.
The 68-year-old cyclist was found at 4.50pm lying unconscious on the B3212 between Postbridge and Moretonhampstead.
He had sustained a serious head injury, considered life-changing, and was airlifted to Derriford Hospital by air ambulance. He remains in hospital in a serious condition.
The man, from Essex, appears to have been cycling alone between Postbridge and Moretonhampstead.
The road was closed for three-and-a-half hours for...
Enjoy a free Family Fun Wildlife Day on Thursday 20 August 2015, in the Dartmoor Conservation Garden at the National Park Visitor Centre in Princetown. Come and find out about some of Dartmoor’s nightlife – its moths - and how you can practically support wildlife conservation in your own backgarden.
The day starts at 10.30 am with a free talk and workshop about the wonderful world of moths, especially looking at those that dwell on Dartmoor. Come and see live moths caught in the Dartmoor Conservation Garden on the night before, and learn how to identify these with Simon Phelps, a...
A resurgence in the popularity of folk music, song, dance and crafts resulted in record crowds attending the 38th Dartmoor Folk Festival at the weekend.
Local and national artists entertained audiences at the event held at South Zeal, near Okehampton.
The festival included concerts, dances, a Dartmoor Fayre, a ceilidh, folk service, craft displays, music hall, pub sessions, a ramble on Dartmoor and music, song and dance workshops.
The packed programme of events also included a dedicated children’s festival.
Hotly-contested competitions included the Dartmoor...
Help Dartmoor National Park Archaeologists and Rangers look after prehistoric stone rows on a two day conservation work project on 19 and 20 August 2015.
Dartmoor’s landscape is among the richest in western Europe in terms of its prehistoric archaeological remains. Dartmoor contains the longest stone row in the world and has the greatest number of archaeological sites out of all the UK National Parks. In fact 60% of all stone rows to be found in England are on Dartmoor and 1/3 of all stone rows in the UK and Brittany are on Dartmoor.
The Dartmoor Folk Festival is one of the top family-friendly folk events in the South West.
It provides the perfect opportunity to catch bright new folk acts, high-calibre national and local artists and established performers, all in the foothills of Dartmoor.
Festival events and activities are suitable for all ages, and there is a hugely-successful dedicated children's festival run alongside the main event.
The 38th annual festival will take place at South Zeal, near Okehampton, on August 7, 8 and 9.
Artists appearing will include Jez Lowe and The Bad...
A special service was held at Buckfast Abbey in Buckfastleigh to bless its recently reopened Northgate House, which has been transformed into luxurious retreat and conference accommodation following an extensive refurbishment project.
Abbot David Charlesworth blessed Northgate House, with choral accompaniment courtesy of the Buckfast Abbey Choir. The ceremony was attended by the Benedictine monks who reside at Buckfast Abbey, in addition to Buckfast Abbey staff members and friends of the organisation.
The Dartmoor Folk Festival is one of the top family-friendly folk events in the South West.
It provides the perfect opportunity to catch bright new folk acts, high-calibre national and local artists and established performers, all in the foothills of Dartmoor.
Festival events and activities are suitable for all ages, and there is a hugely-successful dedicated children's festival run alongside the main event.
The 38th annual festival will take place at South Zeal, near Okehampton, on August 7, 8 and 9.
Artists appearing will include Jez Lowe and The Bad...
Cross the threshold of Higher Uppacott, Dartmoor National Park’s Grade 1 Listed longhouse and step back in time to medieval Dartmoor. On 2 August 2015 Dartmoor National Park has arranged an opportunity for the public to visit this unique building in the company of a knowledgeable guide.
A longhouse is a medieval farmhouse in which both people and cattle were accommodated under a single roof. Higher Uppacott is rare and of national importance. It is one of the few remaining examples of this historic building type, which has retained its lower or shippon end (cattle shelter) in its...
The highly acclaimed Dartmoor Life in the First World War exhibition at the National Park Visitor Centre in Princetown continues until 9 September. Those who visit the exhibition over the next week can also see Belstone’s A Village Vicar Remembers the War which will be running alongside the main display until 1 August.
Belstone’s exhibits are based around an unexpected treasure found last year by chance at the back of the village church safe. It was a book that had lain unseen for decades.
Written in 1927 by Belstone’s vicar Herbert Wilson Milner, it contains vividly...
