It's been a busy week. On Monday DNPA hosted a visit by HRH The Duke of Cornwall, who went to the HMVC in Princetown to mark the 60th anniversary of the National Park. HRH unveiled the medieval cross found on the King Way near Great Nodden, the finding of which we reported in our News pages in Issue 101, winter 2010. The cross, thought to be early medieval (dating from the 12th–14th century), has now been mounted on a new granite base and will be returned to the moor near where it was found in the autumn. The group of walkers who found it are still scouring the area on a regular basis in search of the original base!
On Tuesday the biennial Edward Morshead Awards took place at Parke: these awards are given in recognition of significant contributions to National Park purposes, and are highly regarded. If you want to find out more about who won what, it will be reported in the autumn issue of the magazine! Importantly at the event both Professor Ian Mercer (former Chief Executive of DNPA) and Maywyn Wilkinson (DNPA Voluntary Warden) received lifetime achievement awards for their work towards the good of Dartmoor.
Thursday saw the launch of a significant new book, The Field Archaeology of Dartmoor, by Phil Newman, the outcome of 20 years' research into Dartmoor's landscape history from 4000BC to present. The book (published by English Heritage in partnership with DNPA, the Ministry of Defence and the National Trust) presents the results of an extraordinary amount of fieldwork carried out across the moor, and will be reviewed in the winter 2011 issue. It is an important addition to the library of Dartmoor literature available.
The last 'social' event of the week came about when I visited the Prince Hall Hotel on sunny Thursday afternoon, while working out a circular walking route that will take in the West Dart and Swincombe Valleys, Sherberton and Dunnabridge, which should appear in the magazine at some point next year. We have a plan to introduce a new walking element in the magazine, which will comprise a shorter walk than that usually provided by Deborah Martin, including details of a recommended pub or cafe. This series is being developed at the moment, and I hope to introduce it with the spring 2012 issue. Our recent reader survey showed that walks are a popular element, so it seems sensible to add a shorter walk to cater for a different level of expertise. (And incidentally – having done a fair amount of cream tea sampling of late – the Prince Hall version can be highly recommended, and the views are second to none!)
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