Forthcoming Events

Excavation at Whitehorse Hill

Kistvaen at Drizzlecombe

During the summer Dartmoor National Park Authority are excavating a kistvaen on Whitehorse Hill. The dig is expected to start on 8th August with an Open Day provisionally scheduled for Thursday 11th August. This excavation is being funded by several different agencies including the Dartmoor Preservation Association. There will be a limited amount of 4WD transportation available at the Open Day to enable those who are less mobile to reach the site. However, booking is essential.

The site was first discovered in 2001 by Joe Turner when the western edge of the cist was exposed as its end stone fell out of the peat hag;this most probably was caused by the weathering away of the peat. There was no previous record of it.

Annual General Meeting

The Annual General Meeting of the DPA will take place at Bridestowe Village Hall on Saturday 28th May starting at 2pm.

Bridestowe Village Hall is conveniently close to the A38. Coffee and biscuits will be served from 1:30pm and refreshments will be served after the meeting at 4pm.

At 10am John Watson will be leading a guided walk from Prewley Moor (SX 543 911) to visit the old Ice Works on Sourton Tor. It will be a short walk of about 2 hours (less than 3 miles). There is plenty of parking at Prewley Moor and it is very close to Bridestowe.

The AGM is a great opportunity to meet other members of the DPA and catch up with what has been going on over the past twelve months. We look forward to seeing you.

Guest Speaker  -  Mr Anthony Gibson OBE

Anthony Gibson retired from the NFU in May 2008 at the age of 59, after a career spanning 36 years, mostly spent in the South West, with a strong emphasis on communications.  He was NFU South West Regional Director for 14 eventful years from 1992 to 2006, before a final two years as Director of Communications.  He is probably best known for the championing role that he played in the two great farming crises of recent years, BSE and the 2001 foot and mouth disease outbreak.

In his time with the NFU, he played a key role in developing the potential of the local food market with Taste of the West and West Country Cooking and was the driving force behind a number of successful regional initiatives, including the South West Chamber of Rural Enterprise (SW CoRE) and the Rural Enterprise Gateway.  He is an accomplished broadcaster and journalist, on cricket as well as farming, and continues to write a weekly column for the Western Morning News.

He is the Chairman of the Somerset Water Management Partnership, a Director of Farms for City Children, a Director of the Royal Bath and West, Chairman of the Bridgwater Challenge regeneration project and an adviser to the Devon County Show. During the summer he commentates regularly on Somerset cricket for BBC Radio Somerset. He has published two books:  A Celtic Odyssey, which describes a camper van trip down the Celtic coast of Europe in 2008; and Of Didcot and the Demon, a selection of his father, Alan Gibson's, writings on cricket, which was awarded Cricket Book of the Year 2010 by the MCC and the Cricket Society.

Educated at Monkton Combe School and the Queen's College, Oxford, he has honorary degrees from the Universities of Exeter and Plymouth, is a Fellow of the Royal Agricultural Society and was appointed OBE in the 2003 Queen's Birthday Honours.