It was a clear, sunny afternoon on Monday 12th August and after all the recent rain we had been experiencing we were all highly delighted to be able to enjoy superb visibility on our visit to Moorlands Farm.
Our hosts were Layland and Gill Branfield and we were even more delighted when Layland suggested that our tour was to start at the Prince Hall Farm buildings which are now sadly in quite a sorry state but still made a very useful contribution to Layland and Gill’s story on Dartmoor.
After hearing their early farming life history, we set off on to the open moor where there were a number of highlights including some spectacular moorland views of nearby Tors such as Bellever and Skir Hill.
We also saw clear evidence of remains relating to the unique First World War aerial ropeway that moved logs and timber from the Brimpts Plantation to the railway at Princetown, as well as 4,000-year-old archaeology consisting of reaves, and four hut circles.
The whole afternoon was rounded off in Layland and Gill’s beautifully positioned garden where we tucked into delicious home-made cakes and copious amounts of tea and coffee.
It had been a thoroughly enlightening and most interesting afternoon.