Category: Dartmoor
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A winterbourne pool, Top Tor
I remember attending a talk a couple of years ago by the renowned landscape photographer Jem Southam, where he talked about his book The River Winter. He mentioned how the beautiful word ‘winterbourne’ originally referred to a river or stream that runs only in winter, and is generally dry in the summer months. The talk made…
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Source of the Devonport Leat
It’s been a rough 3 months with Penny, our beautiful 11-and-a-half year old Cocker Spaniel. In November she began suffering from an (unexplained) infection in one of her paws; it was red-raw and began to swell significantly. She spent several weeks on antibiotics and had to wear a neck / head collar to stop her…
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Dense mist, Grimspound
One day I must visit Grimspound on a fine, sunny day. The last time I was there, in March 2013, it was ice cold, all around covered in frost, and the light was a cool blue. Last week’s outing wasn’t meant to be a trip to Grimspound at all. I’d planned to walk along one…
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Dartmoor’s Smiley Wall
Last week I spotted a Tweet from BBC reporter Sophie Pierce about a ‘smiley wall’ on Dartmoor. I frequently drive past this part of the moor, on the road connecting Widecombe with Ponsworthy, and I think I first noticed the ‘face’ around 4-5 months ago, but had never stopped to look at it. A few…
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Sittaford Stone Circle – the first stone circle to be discovered on Dartmoor for 100 years
There has been considerable interest, not only in Devon, in the announcement this year of a recently discovered stone circle high on Dartmoor. It was actually discovered back in 2007 by Alan Endacott, but the hard work of unearthing the stones (by the Dartmoor Preservation Association volunteers) was carried out in April 2015. I haven’t…
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A distant pony
During my walk last week to the Sittaford Stone Circle (about which more soon) I stood for some time on the slopes of the tor, looking down to the Grey Wethers circles, taking occasional photographs. The light at this point (around 6:45 am) was low but because of the cloud cover very changeable: sometimes very…
Terry Hurt Photography 