We hosted our Annual General Meeting on Saturday the 7th of June at Yelverton Memorial Hall. It was a well attended meeting, where our CEO and Chairman gave updates on our work across our key areas of access support, land management and planning vigilance. The morning meeting was followed by an archaeology themed Mini Conference in the afternoon, where we enjoyed hearing from speakers Alan Endacott and Dr Lee Bray.
Alan Endacott relocated this to his native Throwleigh in 2019 and is currently pursuing a life-long passion for Dartmoor’s archaeology as a self-funding PhD researcher with the University of Exeter, studying the Prehistoric Ritual Landscapes of North-eastern Dartmoor. He discovered the Sittaford stone circle in 2007 and DPA volunteers subsequently helped to reveal more of the stones. Last year he led excavations on two more of his stone circle discoveries, near Taw Marsh, Belstone, with the help of a generous grant from the DPA. His talk offered us a fascinating insight into some of his ideas and preliminary findings at Taw Marsh, which included some fragments of pottery. We also learnt about his ongoing exploration of ancient rock art and saw images of some examples he has collected across various sites on the moor.
Dr Lee Bray is currently an archaeologist for Dartmoor National Park but started his career as a geologist gaining a BSc from Kingston University in 1988 and a MSc in Mineral Exploration from the Royal School of Mines, Imperial College. In 1999 he switched careers and moved back to the South West to undertake a BA in Archaeology at Exeter University. He graduated in 2002 and then launched into a PhD researching Roman iron working on Exmoor which he completed in 2006. He has been an archaeologist for Dartmoor since 2015 undertaking a variety of work ranging from giving advice on planning matters to running community excavations. His talk took us through the complex process of excavating and preserving the cist uncovered at Cut Hill, where an intact burial has been found in the peat. He pointed out similarities and differences to the other recent cist discovery at Whitehorse Hill, offering thought provoking ideas about the range of ancient burial practices.
We had excellent comments on the event from members, including this feedback: ‘Many thanks for a most enjoyable and excellently run AGM today – really good presentations and buffet – very much appreciated. Thank you for all your hard work.’ We were also told: ‘It was an excellent meeting. Very interesting to hear an update on the DPA’s many areas of work. Two most interesting talks about archaeology. And a good lunch!’
It was brilliant to welcome many familiar faces, as well as meeting new potential members. Our public AGM offers a useful opportunity for networking and means those who are keen to learn more about the DPA can come along and meet our staff and trustees. Alongside this, it’s a chance to host educational talks which allow our attendees to broaden their knowledge of Dartmoor and learn about important projects which we are supporting and funding.
Another attendee told us: ‘Just come back from the Dartmoor Preservation Association AGM in Yelverton. What a fabulous event. The morning session was the AGM which touched on the terrific work in so many fields that the DPA are doing. The afternoon session was a mini-conference with talks from Alan Endacott and then Dr Lee Bray on prehistoric archaeology on Dartmoor. Both very interesting talks.’
We were delighted that a number of attendees chose to sign up as members on the day and we’re looking forward to welcoming them to further events in the future. Our next large members event is our Summer Gathering, followed by our Festive Lunch at the end of the year. More information about member benefits, and how to sign up, can be found on our website.