Posts Tagged ‘folklore’
Witches and the Wild Hunt Storywalk
This has been our second year leading a storywalk as part of the Dartmoor Outdoor Festival, and these walks are always extremely popular. The focus for our walk this time was witches and the wild hunt, which are recurring folkloric motifs in Dartmoor stories, and we were treated to a suitably atmospheric and misty day…
Read MoreBlack Dog Folklore Walk Supports Community Gallery
As part of the Dartmoor Tors Festival, the DPA put on a Black Dog folklore walk to raise money for Field System gallery in Ashburton. Field System is a vibrant and inclusive community space, where we screened the recent Dartmoor Calling film about activism and also where we had the launch event for our Wild…
Read MoreWitches Triangle Partnership Walk
On Saturday the 18th of October, we hosted our final partnership walk of the year, a collaboration between the DPA and David Phillips of Moors and More tours. Being so close to Halloween, it was the perfect time to visit some of the spookier locations on Dartmoor and learn about the stories attached to them.…
Read MoreMerrivale Stone Rows Storywalk
Our final walk of the Dartmoor Outdoor Festival was a storywalk, guided jointly by storyteller (and DPA Comms Officer) Helen Bruce and festival co-director Hannah Durdin. The loop began in Four Winds carpark, continued up to Foggintor Quarry, Swelltor Quarry and Kings Tor, before heading down via the ceremonial landscape of Merrivale. Helen shared the…
Read MoreWistman’s Wood Storywalk
Our first storywalk of the Dartmoor Outdoor Festival was a loop from Two Bridges to Wistman’s Wood and Crockern Tor, with stops to share folkloric tales linked to the landscape. The walk was led by storyteller and DPA Comms Officer, Helen Bruce, with the help of Hannah Durdin, Co-Director of the festival. We began in…
Read MorePlant of the Month: Dodder
The pink, spaghetti-like strands of Dodder are a strange sight to spot out on the moor. Clambering over gorse bushes, this parasitic plant can grow in such abundance that the spiky leaves of gorse become hard to see beneath it. However, although it looks unusual, it is a normal part of the moorland ecosystem and…
Read MoreDPA Launch Wild Words Writing Callout
The DPA have launched Wild Words, a summer writing callout which seeks to gather together a myriad of written experiences of Dartmoor, collecting precious and memorable moments of connection with the landscape. ‘What words would you use to describe Dartmoor? Might you call it wild or wonderful or wet? Perhaps you’d describe the colours of…
Read MorePlant of the Month: Hawthorn
There are few trees with more folklore attached to them than the widespread, and easily recognisable, hawthorn. It grows on open moorland, on motorway verges, in farmland hedges and in the middle of roundabouts. Flowering between March and June, it garlands the hedgerows in white for both Beltane and the Summer Solstice. Mature trees can…
Read MoreFuture Skills Course
During the February half term we supported the DNPA Future Skills course by running a storytelling workshop on the first evening of the residential. Our Communications Officer Helen guided the young people taking part through constructing an engaging narrative, and also spoke about the importance of sharing compelling stories when campaigning. The course aimed to…
Read MoreDartmoor Outdoor Festival Tickets Released
The organisers of the Dartmoor Outdoor Festival have announced that tickets for their program of walks and activities are now on sale. Bookable activities are split into three categories: adventures, walks and workshops. Adventures include rock climbing and forest chi wild walks, while the workshops include nordic walking, photography walks and morning yoga. As well…
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