Useful Links

Holiday Cottages from Helpful Holidays

Helpful Holidays is a family business based on Dartmoor with around 600 holiday cottages throughout Devon, Cornwall, Somerset and Dorset. They have over 85 holiday cottages to choose from on Dartmoor, each one personally inspected and star rated for quality. You can view property details, photos, availability and customer reviews on their website, create a shortlist and book online. Holiday Cottages

 

Dartmoor Farmers Association

Joining forces in 2007 and with the support of HRH, the Prince of Wales, a group of Dartmoor hill farmers formed the Dartmoor Farmers Association, responding to demand for quality local British produce and to ensure the future success of upland farming on the moor. View Website

The Dartmoor Archive

For many years, The Dartmoor Trust have been campaigning for a Dartmoor Archive. Initial plans were for a Dartmoor Research Centre to be established somewhere on the Moor. However, with the increasing use and popularity of the internet, it became clear that a digital archive would provide better access for all those interested in learning more about Dartmoor. In 2000, The Dartmoor Trust created two exhibitions: Dartmoor Century I and II. These displayed for the first time a selection of photographs taken from two major collections - The Taylor Collection and The Burnard Collection. The aim of the Dartmoor Century exhibitions was to emphasise the importance of collecting and conserving old photographs and, by comparing them to recent photographs of the same site, to highlight the changes that have taken place on Dartmoor. Both exhibitions were very successful and are still touring the country, attracting many hundreds of visitors. The photographs from the exhibitions have also been published in two accompanying books. As a result of these exhibitions, and the ideas of The Dartmoor Trust, the Dartmoor Archive was born. Now several years since it's birth the Dartmoor Archive website is entering a new and exciting phase! The website has been reworked from the ground up to be cleaner, more user friendly and allow the user to experience more of what the Archive has to offer. View Website

Meat Dartmoor

Meat Dartmoor is an independent group of Dartmoor farmers who practice traditional extensive farming methods that are responsible for much of the scenery on Dartmoor today and market their beef, lamb and seasonal turkeys direct to the consumer.   Contact details can be found on the website for individual farmers giving you the opportunity to buy from someone very local. Visit Website

Dartmoor Partnership

The Dartmoor Partnership is the tourist trade organisation for Dartmoor. If you are planning a visit then have a look at the accomodation, restaurants, activities and events shown on this site. Visit Website

Dartmoor National Park Authority

Dartmoor National Park Authority is a special purpose local authority created under the Environment Act 1995. The Authority is a freestanding local authority employing around 105 staff and is governed by 22 appointed Members. Prior to 1995 the National Park was administered as a committee of Devon County Council

The Authority's duties, responsibilities and powers are derived from a number of Acts of Parliament, in particular the Environment Act 1995 which sets out two statutory purposes which the Authority has the duty to pursue:

• to conserve and enhance the natural beauty, wildlife and cultural heritage of the National Park
• to promote opportunities for the understanding and enjoyment of the special qualities of the National Park by the public

In pursuing these statutory National Park purposes we also have a “socio-economic duty” to seek to foster the economic and social well-being of the communities within the National Park. View Website

The Dartmoor Trust

The Dartmoor Trust is an independent charity established in 1996 to grant aid practical projects which help benefit Dartmoor, the region designated as a National Park, its landscape, communities and visitors. The Trust's principal activities involve the provision of grants and the proactive support of adopted projects. View Website

Young Devon

Young Devon is a Voluntary organisation and registered charity (no. 1057949) that was established in 1949 to support and deliver services to young people living in Devon. In that time Young Devon has grown to become the largest voluntary youth service in the area with a workforce of 120 paid and 300 unpaid staff. Visit Website

Walking Forum

WalkingForum is a forum for discussing all aspects of country walking & hiking in the UK with boards for general chat, gear, photography, and all the popular UK walking destinations. View Website

Mitchelcombe Farm

Mitchelcombe Farm  are committed to:

• Breeding true to type Dartmoor ponies
• Ensuring that semi-feral pony herds remain on the commons of Dartmoor.
• Training each and every wild foal giving them an excellent start in life
• Using careful communication techniques to train their ponies.
• Ensuring that their ponies are safe and well prepared for new homes
• Matching the right pony to the right home

Mitchelcombe Farm is run by John French and his partner Kerry Smith. The French family have been farming in Mitchelcombe since the 1870's.  In the heyday of the farm the family ran a herd of over 250 Dartmoor ponies on Holne common, there were many thousands of ponies roaming the commons of Dartmoor at this time. Today it is a very different story, the numbers having declined dramatically over recent years.

Mitchelcombe Farm now runs a small herd of 25 ponies on Holne Moor, which are the traditional, true to type Dartmoor ponies.  This small herd of unregistered, wild ponies is one of few such surviving herds, providing the only source of new genes for the pedigree Dartmoor pony, which is a rare breed.

For John and Kerry this is much more than just a business - they believe passionately in what they do and in helping to keep these valuable herds on Dartmoor for future generations to enjoy. View website