Pony Power

Cost £12 pp

Dates:  Mon 10 April, Thurs 3 Aug
Times:  10am to 2pm – 4 hours
Start point:  Postbridge forestry car park
Distance:  4 miles
Children:  Suitable for 7 years and over
Difficulty:  Easy.  We stay on paths, though these are uneven and muddy in places.  It’s a steady climb up Bellever Tor so a reasonable level of fitness is required but we take it at a gentle pace.
Dogs:  Welcome on a lead
What to wear:  Clothes for all weathers and well-treaded footwear.
What to bring:  Packed lunch.  Binoculars if you have them.
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.
Max Group 15

Ponies, People & Place

Cost £12 pp

Dates:  Thurs 13 April, Wed 25 Oct
Times:  10am to 2pm – 4 hours
Start point:  Postbridge forestry car park
Distance:  4 miles
Children:  Suitable for 12 years and over
Difficulty:  Easy.  We stay on paths, though these are uneven and muddy in places.  Bellever 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
What to wear:  Clothes for all weathers and well-treaded footwear
What to bring:  Packed lunch.  Binoculars if you have them.
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.
Max Group 15

An introduction to mosses, ferns and lichens

Cost £15.50 pp

Dates:  Wed 7 June, Sat 28 Oct
Times:  10am to 3pm – 5 hours
Start point:  Bellever Forest’s Bellever village car park, PL20 6TP. (NOT Bellever Forest’s Postbridge car park).  At Postbridge turn off the B3212 onto the minor road signposted to Bellever.  After 1.5km you reach Bellever Village.  Note a triangle of grass.  Continue for 150m past that triangle then turn right onto the car park track.  We meet near the toilets.  Grid reference:  SX656771.  Parking costs £5 all day.
(Or your tried and tested directions if you have any.)
Distance:  2 miles
Difficulty:  Easy.  We stay on a well-made level track.
Dogs:  Not suitable for most dogs as we will mainly be standing around
What to wear:  Clothes for all weathers and well-treaded footwear
What to bring:  Packed lunch.  Hand lens if you own one, but they will be available to borrow on the day.
Children:  Aimed at adults but under 18’s with an adult interest in the subject are welcome
Event description:  We slow down to take a closer look at ‘lower plants’; the mosses, ferns and lichens we might otherwise stride past.  These primitive organisms were vital to the evolution of life on earth and continue to play essential ecological roles.  You will begin learning how to identify them and almost certainly be captivated by their variety and beauty.
Max Group 10

Exploring Heathland at Laughter Tor

Cost £15 pp

Dates:  Sat 5 Aug
Times:  10am to 4pm – 6 hours
Start point:  Bellever Forest’s Bellever village car park, PL20 6TP. (NOT Bellever Forest’s Postbridge car park).  At Postbridge turn off the B3212 onto the minor road signposted to Bellever.  After 1.5km you reach Bellever Village.  Note a triangle of grass.  Continue for 150m past the triangle then turn right onto the car park track.  We meet near the toilets.  Grid reference:  SX656771.  Parking costs £5 all day.
Distance:  3 miles
Difficulty:  Mostly on easy paths but uneven, trackless ground on the tor
Dogs:  Not suitable for most dogs as we will spend a long period at the tor not moving round much
What to wear:  Clothes for all weathers and well-treaded footwear
What to bring:  Packed lunch.  Binoculars and hand lens if you own them (hand lenses will be available to borrow).
Children:  Aimed at adults but under 18’s with an adult interest in the subject are welcome
Event description:  Laughter Tor and the area around it are classified in Natural England’s Priority Habitat Inventory as Upland Heathland.  It’s an excellent example of dwarf shrub heath, abounding in bilberry, western gorse and heathers.  We visit in high summer when the heathers are at their finest and you will learn to identify these species and enjoy this precious habitat and the stunning views from the tor.  Much less visited than Bellever Tor, Laughter Tor is the habitat gem of the Bellever site, where our ponies help keep the heath in tiptop condition.
Maximum Group 12

Laughter Tor and Bellever Tor

Cost £15 pp

Dates:  Mon 8 May, Fri 29 Sept
Times:  10am to 4pm – 6 hours
Start point:  Postbridge forestry car park
Distance:  7 miles
Children:  Under 18’s able to walk the distance are welcome
Difficulty:  Moderate, with some easy tracks and some uneven, trackless moorland
Dogs:  Welcome on a lead
What to wear:  Clothes for all weathers and well-treaded footwear
What to bring:  Packed lunch.  Binoculars if you have them.
Event description:  This walk takes in much that our site at Bellever has to offer:  wonderful moorland, fantastic views (weather permitting!) from the tops of the tors, and prehistoric sites.  En-route we learn about the moorland habitats we walk through and the impact of our ponies’ conservation grazing on them.  At the furthest point of our walk is a remote standing stone; we return via Bronze Age settlements and burial sites, and a stone row.
Max Group 15