The 22nd of January was the first Pudsham workday of the year, and the weather proved to be dry but cold. Standing around was not the order of the day, so after a short talk on safety and what was planned for our 21 loyal conservation volunteers, they got stuck in. The work included the…

June 14th 2017 – As part of the Magnificent Mires project, engraved safety boards are installed around the newly created bog garden in the DPA’s Dartmoor Conservation Garden at Princetown, with help from the DNPA’s Works Team. They depict Dartmoor’s blanket bog upland landscape and biodiversity. They have been installed around the new bog-garden with the support…

The volunteers must have been good as they had a surprise visitor to their workday at Raddick last Wednesday, 7th December. Santa arrived bearing gifts of mulled wine and mince pies. He even offered to help. Before his arrival, 12 busy volunteers had been clearing the remaining cairns in the cairn field and making pathways…

Sunday 4th December, was cold but sunny for the regular High House Waste workday. The strong easterly wind meant the walk in wasn’t easy, but we warmed up quickly, helped by cake from Hilary.   Seven years ago we cut the reave running from the Bronze Age settlement in the north of High House, making…

On 25th November the DPA conservation volunteers returned to Roborough Camp to cut regrown gorse, we had been there on 1st July cutting bracken on the hilltop features.  This time we were cutting gorse that was originally cut in 2004, in the area just north-east of the hilltop.  This area contains a number of pits…

11 volunteers  cut the bracken around the farmstead archaeological features on High House Waste, one of the DPA land holdings, on Monday 27th June and replaced the Frank Beech gate.  They also made good the ground below the gate.      

The DPA conservation volunteers had near perfect weather for their controlled burn on DPA land at High House Waste on Thursday 17 March 2016. This annual swale is part of a land-management strategy for controlling gorse, and helps to provide a mosaic of habitat with a diversity of moorland plants, including heather and bilberry. All…

As a result of the Dendles workday cancellation, on Thursday 10th March, any interested volunteers and thus potential drivers were invited to Roborough Down to see the spanking new Isuzu D Max Pick-up in shining white livery with the DPA logos. In beautiful sunshine Derek arrived in the pick-up and showed off its potential to…

This article is reproduced with permission from the CampaignerKate blog, HERE. The Dartmoor Preservation Association conservation volunteers returned to Common Wood on 22 February.  This was our sixth day here.  We had spent five days, spread over three and a half years, on the slope above the leat clearing the vegetation to make way for Pearl Bordered and Small Pearl…

Friday 8th January 2016 – the DPA Conservation Team reached another landmark by finishing the clearance work along Drake’s Leat that brought water into Plymouth on 24th April 1591.  We had started with bracken cutting on 16th June 2015.  Bearing in mind that we had cancelled three work days before Christmas due to bad weather,…