Ponies, People & Place – Geri Skeens
Dates: Thurs 4 Aug, Wed 17 Aug, Wed 14 Sept – 2 Sessions
Start and end time MORNING session: 10.15am for 10.30am departure – ending 13.00hrs
Start and end time AFTERNOON session: 13.45hrs for 14.00hrs departure – ending 16.30hrs
Start point: Postbridge forestry car park- opposite NT Visitor Centre – SX656772 (parking is free)
Route: via Lakehead Hill to Bellever Tor, returning via main track to car park
Maximum number: 15
Event description
Dartmoor’s mosaic of habitats – heaths, bogs, grasslands and woods – may look wild but has been moulded by people and their livestock for millennia. Evidence abounds at Bellever of how people have lived and farmed through the ages, transforming woodland into heath and heath into grassland. Today, conservation grazing by Dartmoor ponies is recreating heath at Bellever and bog-building mosses are returning.
We explore these habitats, viewing Dartmoor from an ecological perspective, and climb Bellever Tor from where we’ll have the best chance of sighting the ponies hard at work grazing.
DISTANCE: 4 miles
DIFFICULTY: Easy. We stay on paths, though these are uneven and muddy in places. The tor is a steady climb so a reasonable level of fitness is required but we take it at a gentle pace.
DOGS: Welcome on a lead
CHILDREN: Suitable for 12 years and over
COST: FREE
WHAT TO WEAR: Clothes for all weathers and well-treaded footwear
WHAT TO BRING: Binoculars if you have them
COVID: Do not attend if you have Covid symptoms or have been advised to self-isolate. We will aim to keep 2 metres distance from those outside our household or group.
Pony Power – Geri Skeens
Dates: Thurs 21 April, Wed 10 Aug, Thurs 8 Sept
Start and end time MORNING session: 10.15am for 10.30am departure – ending 13.00hrs
Start and end time AFTERNOON session: 13.45hrs for 14.00hrs departure – ending 16.30hrs
Start point: Postbridge forestry car park – opposite NT Visitor Centre – SX656772 (parking is free)
Route: via Lakehead Hill to Bellever Tor, returning via main track to car park
Maximum number: 15
Event description
Ponies have lived on Dartmoor for thousands of years and the way they eat, trample and – yes, importantly – poo affects what grows here. At Bellever a herd of Dartmoor ponies is busy ‘conservation grazing’; we will explore the results of their hard work and see if we can spot them. Climbing up to the top of Bellever Tor will give us the best chance of seeing these beautiful ponies, and some fantastic views.
Distance: 4 miles
Difficulty: Easy. We stay on paths, though these are uneven and muddy in places. The tor is a steady climb so a reasonable level of fitness is required but we take it at a gentle pace.
Dogs: Welcome on a lead
Children: Suitable for 7 years and over
Cost: FREE
What to wear: Clothes for all weathers and well-treaded footwear
Covid: Do not attend if you have Covid symptoms or have been advised to self-isolate. We will aim to keep 2 metres distance from those outside our household or group.
BOOKING – email admin@dpht.co.uk with your name, email and telephone number and total places required.
Call 01626-833234 between 9am and 7pm
