Dartmoor Guides

30/09/2024

Walkhampton Church a salutary tale!

14/05/2024

Nice little trek and wild camp on Saturday night, no Aurora to be seen but a beautiful evening and amazing sunset. Very peaceful and apart from seeing a few folk when passing Nuns Cross farm on the way over to the Erme valley area didn't see a single soul!

18/03/2024

Wet day on Friday out training gold DofE groups. Bonus was going through Grimspound settlement though😄

03/03/2024

Hingston Hill Stone row and cairn circle taken last Saturday before our beautiful full moon walk here. Thought to date from the Bronze Age this one of the jewels in Dartmoor's crown. Much of it's appearance however is due to Burnard and associates who re-erected many of the stones in 1894, the majority were lying flat 'thrown down' by 'men....recently engaged on the row with crowbars' around 1880 according to Baring-Gould. It probably looks much as it did in Bronze Age times (Butler, J. Dartmoor Atlas of Antiquities the South West, 1994)

25/02/2024

Meldon on Friday before our full moon walk

24/02/2024

Yes tor on last night's walk. Still spaces available on tonight's full moon walk Down Tor and Hingston Hill Stone Circle Full Moon Walk with Dartmoor Guides Tickets ⬇️
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/down-tor-and-hingston-hill-stone-circle-full-moon-walk-with-dartmoor-guides-tickets-788174550297?utm-campaign=social&utm-content=attendeeshare&utm-medium=discovery&utm-term=listing&utm-source=cp&aff=ebdsshcopyurl

13/02/2024

🎫Only a few spaces left on this walk Saturday 24th Feb from Norsworthy Bridge🎟️

Join our enchanting nocturnal adventure, as we explore Down Tor and Hingston Hill Stone Circle under the captivating light of the full moon.

13/02/2024

🎟️Just two spaces left on this walk Fri 23rd Feb from Meldon Reservoir car park🎫

Join us for this full moon walk to Yes Tor one of the highest points in Dartmoor

13/02/2024

Interesting light and skies at the weekend, Walkhampton common

11/02/2024

Lovely skies on Walkhampton Common this afternoon, always something interesting to see here including a family of four buzzards wheeling about

Check out our forthcoming events ⬇️⬇️
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/yes-tor-full-moon-walk-with-dartmoor-guides-tickets-750855568217?utm-campaign=social&utm-content=attendeeshare&utm-medium=discovery&utm-term=listing&utm-source=cp&aff=ebdsshcopyurl

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/down-tor-and-hingston-hill-stone-circle-full-moon-walk-with-dartmoor-guides-tickets-788174550297?utm-campaign=social&utm-content=attendeeshare&utm-medium=discovery&utm-term=listing&utm-source=cp&aff=ebdsshcopyurl

10/02/2024

Stone row, cairn circle and Cist, Bellever

09/02/2024

Big thanks to everyone who came on the walk tonight who showed faith in our decision and in the Met Office forecast. The weather cleared up right on cue and we were treated to an amazing starry sky. We really enjoyed everyone's company and hope to see you all again.

09/02/2024

Tonight's walk is going ahead, there is only one place still available 🎟️

Join us for a dark skies walk up to Bellever Tor with stargazing along the way.

28/01/2024

The feather and tare method of splitting rock is thought to have been in use since around 1800. Walkhampton common is littered with abandoned pieces of granite some of which have obviously failed during production using this method. We can only imagine how frustrating that would have been to the stonemason up there in the cold and wind of the moor!

26/01/2024

Meet Peran, the Dartmoor Guides dog, perched on a quarried block on Walkhampton common our home turf!

25/01/2024

An amazing bronze age settlement Broadall Lake East where there are around 15 hut circles not all easily seen as only large stones have survived being removed for newtake walls however the very large size of their doorposts make them easy to find.

22/01/2024

Earth mounds on Smeardon Down as also seen on Cox Tor. I previously had understood their formation was due to periglacial factors such as frost heave but have seen this research suggesting that they are the work of ants. Both are on the area of well drained brown soils where the underlying geology is a Dolerite intrusion rather than granite.http://ussher.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/journal/2010/06-Morey-Cox-Tor-2010-full.pdf

19/01/2024

On Smeardon Down there is an interesting ridge of rock also known as Smearn Ridge which runs through to Boulters Tor. Again we are not on the granite area here and believe this to be an igneous intrusion of a Dolerite sill or d**e (similar composition to Basalt, which is an extruded form, also known as Gabbro, which notably forms much of the Cuillin Ridge on Skye and also the Whin Sill in Northumberland along which the Roman Wall runs) contained within an envelope of country rock which here looks like a finely bedded and metamorphosed siltstone or sandstone. This same metamorphic rock then outcrops as Set Tor, a little further onto the moor.
All in all a really interesting little area topped of with a great lunch in the Peter Tavy Inn

15/01/2024

This is a little curiousity in Walkhampton parish, the Gipsy or Gypsy rock, which being just outside the granite area is a metamorphosed sedimentary rock. It is widely claimed to have been a meeting place of an administrative division, Walkhampton being part of the Roborough Hundred, in Saxon times. Whilst the author can find no research to back this up monthly outdoor courts were held in fixed outdoor locations for the hundreds. There is also a speculative link with Walkhampton Church which faces north east and aligns with this stone at sunrise on the longest day. Dog and Dartmoor Guides partner Mel for scale!

14/01/2024

More lovely skies this afternoon 🌞

08/01/2024

Stunning views on our standard dog walk over last couple of days. Walkhampton common and Church