Mists. Myth. Music. Magic. The new Dartmoor Tors Festival

Dartmoor is an inspiring place, an intoxicating blend of rugged natural beauty, ethereal mists, rare wildlife habitats, Bronze Age settlements, stone circles, stories, myth and folklore, not to mention its vibrant arts scene. How remarkable that there has never been an annual festival dedicated to the many aspects of Dartmoor…until now.

A new festival taking place this May aims to remedy the oversight with a celebration and exploration of the landscape, nature and culture of this special corner of the world. Devon folk legend Seth Lakeman will be the headline act.

The Dartmoor Tors Festival is a brilliant initiative conceived by a local couple from Ashburton: Sophie Pierce, a writer and former BBC journalist, and her husband, the artist Alex Murdin. They hope that the festival, scheduled for the late May bank holiday weekend, will become a regular fixture in future years, bringing together thinkers and creatives who are interested in natural landscapes and how we relate to them. The festival offers an eclectic mix of exhibitions, talks, discussion, art, workshops, music, folklore, story-telling, guided walks, and open studios. It’s a wondrous cocktail.

The idea for the festival arose naturally as a result of the work that Sophie and Alex have been doing for the last decade or so. Alex has been drawing the tors and also has an ongoing project to depict Dartmoor’s longest stone row, called ‘A Thousand Stones’. Sophie is the author of five books including ‘Wild Swimming Walks Dartmoor and South Devon’, and a memoir, ‘The Green Hill: Letters to a Son’, which is a moving meditation on love and loss set on Dartmoor and the surrounding landscape. Together, the couple have produced an illustrated book about Dartmoor called ‘Rock Idols: a guide to Dartmoor in 28 tors.’ 

Sophie explains: “We feel a powerful connection to Dartmoor in both our emotional lives and our creative work, and we wondered why there was no annual gathering to celebrate Dartmoor and share ideas about our responses to this extraordinary place. So we thought, let’s start one!”.

The Festival kicks off on Friday, 23rd May, with Cornish-based singer-songwriter Martha Tilston performing at Ashburton Arts Centre. (now sold out) Martha was nominated for Best New Act in the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards, and her luminous voice is goose-bump-gorgeous. She says: I wanted to offer to the world a collection of songs that sooth, heal, and open our hearts - it feels like now is a time when we might need a little musical balm.”

On the Saturday there will be talks and conversations at Ashburton Arts Centre and workshops at the Field System Gallery followed with Seth Lakeman’s evening performance. Sunday offers a varied programme of guided walks, concluding with ‘The Dark Side of Folk’, a conversation and performance by Beltane Border Morris whose powerful dances dispel the jolly ‘bells and hankies’ image of morris dancing to evoke the myths, legends and wilds of Dartmoor.

Andy Williamson, Arts Director at Ashburton Arts Centre says: “This festival celebrates the fabulous landscape and rich heritage of this unique part of England. It also shows that fantastic arts and culture of all kinds are alive and well here today, with Dartmoor’s ancient granite producing world-class music and art for the 21st century.”

Visit the festival website to find out more and buy tickets: dartmoortorsfestival.co.uk

Dartmoor Tors Festival: Day of Talks

On Saturday 24th May, the Dartmoor Tors Festival presents five fascinating talks at Ashburton Arts Centre.

9.30am: ‘Dartmoor: open to all?’

Who really holds the power on Dartmoor? As a National Park, Dartmoor is supposed to be accessible to all. (Until recently it was the only place in the country where wild camping was freely permitted). A recent court case threw all that into doubt. Is access to nature and wide open spaces a human right, essential to our health and mental well-being? A panel of eminent historians, writers, social scientists and campaigners discuss the past, present and future of this contested landscape.

11.00am: ‘Rock Idols: Dartmoor’s Extraordinary Tors’

Dartmoor’s 280-million-year-old tors are iconic landmarks in Southern Britain. Victorian antiquarians described them as ‘rock idols’, believing them to be stone deities worshipped by the Druids. Our ancestors built ceremonial stone rows and circles aligned on them. Festival founders, Alex Murdin and Sophie Pierce, along with author Wyl Menmuir, pay homage to Dartmoor’s tors in words and drawings, exploring their emotional power and the myths and stories that surround them.

12.30pm: ‘The Secrets of Cut Hill and Piles Hill’

Archaeologists Andy Crabb and Lee Bray present the latest updates on one of Dartmoor’s most exciting discoveries: the Cut Hill Bronze Age burial kist. Its secrets are gradually being decoded. Andy and Lee will also talk about their fascinating work at Piles Hill where a mysterious surface made of quartz was unearthed beneath a Bronze Age stone row.

2.00pm: ‘Beyond Human: Landscape’s Emotional Resonance’

What role does place play in human stories? How can our emotional response to wild landscapes deepen our lives and those of the other living beings with whom we share our planet? From caves and rivers, to moors and marshes, join three writers - Sean Borodale, Fiona Williams and Caspar Walsh - for readings and conversation about our relationship with the landscapes that surround us.

3.30pm: ‘Dartmoor is the Artist’

Dartmoor’s wild landscapes have been portrayed by artists like J M Turner, William Widgery and many others. Four contemporary artists discuss their sources of inspiration in Dartmoor and other wild places. One of the artists, Abigail Tinnion from artists’ collective ‘Lore & Land’, charmingly describes herself as ‘interested in dirt, bones, ruin, spirits, dreams, rivers, creatures, transmutation, gods and forgotten things’.

Dartmoor Tors Festival: Guided Walks

It’s going to be a challenge to choose from this imaginative and compelling programme of walks! Visit the festival website to buy tickets and for details of where to meet.

SUNDAY 25th MAY

9.30am: A morning walk with archaeoastronomer Carolyn Kennett and Dartmoor guide Paul Rendell

The lengthy Down Tor Stone Row is about 4,000 years old and features a high standing stone and cairn circle at its western end. This immersive walk will leave you with a greater appreciation for Dartmoor’s rich heritage and a profound sense of connection to its ancient inhabitants. Carolyn Kennett specialises in exploring the ancient relationship between humans, landscape, and sky. Paul Rendell is a historian, author, and walking guide who has lived locally all his life.

9.30am: A morning story walk with Lisa Schneidau and Sara Hurley

This walk offers the opportunity to connect to the landscape through the live telling of traditional Dartmoor tales in the actual places where the stories themselves are set. The walk will be led by Gillian Healey from Dartmoor Walking Tours alongside Dartmoor-based storytellers Sara and Lisa, who have spent the last two years seeking out the places where giants roamed, pixies led farmers astray, and Dewer the Black Huntsman rode with his Wild Hunt.

1.30pm: Dartmoor’s newest prehistory with archaeologist Alan Endacott

In Autumn 2024 Dartmoor made international news with Alan Endacott’s discovery of two new prehistoric stone circles as well as a fallen dolmen. Walkers will visit the dolmen and one of the stone circles. Alan was born and raised on Dartmoor, and has spent his life studying and thinking about the moor’s Neolithic people and the monuments they left behind. He was the first person in a century to find a new stone circle on Dartmoor (Sittaford) lending weight to the intriguing possibility that there could be a mega-circle of stone circles across northern Dartmoor.

MONDAY 26th MAY

4.45am: Sunrise and Stones: A dawn walk to Merrivale Stone Rows

Archaeoastronomer Carolyn Kennett and Dartmoor expert Paul Rendell will take you on a gentle stroll to the Merrivale Stone Rows, one of Dartmoor's most impressive and atmospheric prehistoric sites. Carolyn will talk about the possible celestial alignments and the role these monuments may have played in rituals and time-keeping for our Neolithic ancestors. Imagine visiting Merrivale as the first light of the day illuminates this extraordinary site! Bring your stories and poems and anything else about the stones and dawn you’d like to share.

9.30am: A walk among the tors with Dartmoor guide Paul Rendell

Join Paul on an exploration of five spectacular Dartmoor tors including Great Staple Tor with its impressive rock stacks. Our ancestors would have seen these rocks (which look like faces) and maybe even worshipped them as gods. Paul will explain how the tors were formed and reveal some of the stories behind these granite outcrops.

2.00pm: The Crucible: A Walk with Garry Fabian Miller

A unique opportunity to walk with world-renowned progressive photographer Garry Fabian Miller whose ‘camera-less’ photos are held in private and public collections worldwide. Walkers will experience the landscape through Garry’s eyes within ‘The Crucible’, his imagined circle eight miles wide around his Dartmoor home. He has walked the crucible in all weathers for the past 37 years.

THURSDAY 29th MAY

9.30am: Walking and drawing at Haytor with Kay Pearson

Sometimes to walk slowly and observe closely is a great way to see Dartmoor. Kay, a well-established artist and moorland guide, will help with drawing ideas, adding Dartmoor knowledge and stories along the way in a walk to the quarries below Haytor Rocks. No drawing experience is needed!

FRIDAY 30th MAY

10.00am: Ten Tors: East Dartmoor’s Most Beautiful Tors

Paul Rendell will guide walkers to ten different tors including Hound Tor, Greator Rocks, Smallacombe Rocks, Haytor, Saddle Tor, Top Tor and Bonehill Rocks. The walk will also include a visit to the remains of the medieval village below Hound Tor where Paul will explain why it was abandoned.