On Friday the 12th of December we held our final leat workday of 2025, welcoming our group of enthusiastic Conservation Volunteers back to Roborough Down. Drake’s Leat (or Plymouth Leat) has been a conservation focus for us for many years, as it’s a remarkable feat of construction and an important part of Dartmoor’s built history. The leat was constructed in the late 16th century, with the contract overseen by Sir Francis Drake, who was mayor of Plymouth at the time. The 28km channel carried vital fresh water from the River Meavy on Dartmoor to the growing town of Plymouth.
Keeping the leat free of gorse and bracken means that this fascinating feature remains visible to visitors to the moor, with many ramblers following the route of the leat as part of their walk. Controlling vegetation also helps limit underground damage to the archeology from root system growth, meaning that the leat should stay intact for many future generations to visit and learn about.
Above images: Derek leading defibrillator training, courtesy of Val Barns.
Volunteer Co-Ordinator Derek Collins told us: ‘We had a great day on the leat yesterday with lovely sunshine which seemed to be a bit of a rarity. A fair amount of work was completed but for our wonderful volunteers, who had worked so hard throughout the year, there was a very “end of term” atmosphere to the day with the the added bonus of a lovely hot pasty collected from a Yelverton restaurant at lunch time.
‘However, I did take advantage of the gathering it to do a refresher on the use of the defibrillator which I try to do every few months. If our volunteers are ever in a situation where a person has a problem and a defibrillator is available because they have had basic training and handled one they can take charge where others might not. Among our volunteers yesterday we had two ex nursing staff and a retired police person all of whom have been at the sharp end of defibrillator use so I check with them to see if my training is accurate and beneficial.’
The pasties were a small token of thanks for all the hard work put in by our conservation volunteers, who help us manage our land holdings for biodiversity and access, all while taking sensitive care of the wealth of archaeology that can be found there. This work has a real and visible impact and it couldn’t be achieved without the many people that give their time, energy and enthusiasm.
We have lots more workdays planned across our land holdings throughout 2026 and our friendly team is always happy to welcome new volunteers. Find out more about upcoming opportunities by looking through our online diary.
Header Image: Sylvia Hamilton