Family Favourites - December 2014
We have just spent an amazing autumn day on Dartmoor, in the cold wind but with bright blue skies and fabulous views.
We drove up to the car park at Hound Tor, which took an hour from Dartmouth. From the car
Hound Tor, Dartmoor
park (free, no toilets, but there was a trailer selling tea etc) we walked straight up the hill to Hound Tor, only about a ten minute walk. We played on the rocks for a while, stumbled upon our first Geocache and had a little stop. After that we carried on over the tor and down into an abandoned medieval village, where we set up a stove and frying pan and our friends cooked us a hot lunch.
We chose a “house” which had a flat space inside and was quite high up in the village (so we could watch the kiddies playing) and spent a good two and a half hours there, running about, playing hide and seek, treasure hunts, etc. We laughed really hard when other walkers walked through the house: you could see where there had been doors on both sides but it made us laugh because it felt like our house and everyone was just walking through. The houses are not much more than walls at waist height but you can see where the rooms were and take a guess as to which was the living room, bedroom and kitchen. It is a fun place for kids to play and I have never seen the dog so exhausted having been off the lead for a full 4½hours.
I still consider myself new to Dartmouth and there is so much left to explore. I can honestly say
Letterboxing
I cannot wait to get back on Dartmoor, as it is close by but so different from the South Hams.
By chance we put our bags down on a rock at Hound Tor and, as we were walking off, we noticed a plastic box underneath the rock. We wondered if someone had left something behind but then we realised it was a Letterbox – a similar activity to Geocaching - with a notebook and stamp inside. Letterboxing is an activity that takes place on Dartmoor and uses a catalogue and grid references to find treasure that is hidden in a box. It was started in the mid nineteenth century by a Dartmoor Guide and, to start with, there was only one site for people to visit, which was a cairn where they had to leave a message for the next “Letterboxer” to see.
Now it has spread all over Dartmoor and there are lots of sites to find and a strict code of conduct so that after a certain period of time the Letterbox is moved to stop the area being eroded too much and to maintain the level of challenge. Interestingly there is even a dog’s club for Letterboxing, whereby if a dog has visited a hundred Letterboxes (has to be logged) they get awarded a badge to wear on their collar! http://letterboxingondartmoor.co.uk
Previously I have written about the National Trust’s Fifty Things challenge, and “Go Geocaching” is one of the challenges in their book. The biggest Geocaching website tells you “Geocaching is the real-world treasure hunt that’s happening right now, all around you. There are 2,517,739 active geocaches and over 6 million geocachers worldwide” (www.geocaching.com) and there are plenty of Geocaches around Dartmouth for you to go and find.
My children are very different: I have one child who likes to go for a walk, just for the sake of walking and will run through the woods, whereas the other child needs to have a purpose to her walks – go with a friend, finish at an ice cream van etc. For her, Geocaching is perfect because it keeps her interest on a walk. We have an app for this but all the Geocaches are listed online too and there are some in town, at Little Dartmouth, on Slapton Sands, round the coastpath etc. Some people get addicted to Geocaching and it becomes a huge part of their life but others like us just use it as a reason to go somewhere new.
As we can now start to look ahead to Christmas, we are already planning how to enjoy the festivities in Dartmouth. Obviously Candlelit Dartmouth starts it all off for us but the churches in the Parish of Dartmouth have loads going on too. Father Will and Father Nick, both Dads of young children, are very keen to make families welcome in our churches.
At St Clements, at 11am on Sunday 7th December will be the family service and the start of Advent. The Crib Service on Christmas Eve at 4.30pm is always crammed full, and any children that attend are invited to come dressed as their favourite character from the Nativity and join in with the service. This year, the church is making a big appeal for children to bring a toy that they no longer play with to the crib service, and are asking you to wrap and label it with gender and suggested age of gift. These will be given out to those in need on Christmas Day by the Dartmouth Toy Bank.
The toy bank gave out loads of presents last year and hope to give out even more this year – a very worthy cause. Following the Crib Service, the Christmas Day Eucharist at 11am at St Saviour’s church has a very family friendly theme (get the kids out of the house and go to church so those cooking the turkey can get on in peace!) In other churches in our parish, children are always welcomed. At St. George’s, Dittisham on Sunday 21st December at 4pm there is a family, candlelit carol service, followed by warming refreshments.
All the details for the Parish events/services can be found at www.parishofdartmouth.co.uk. Also the Rotary Club and the church will hold their annual carol service on Wednesday 17th December at 6pm at St Saviour’s. This is a great event for all the family and will really get everyone into the Christmas Spirit. Enjoy the festive season everyone;loads more Family Favourites lined up for 2015.
First published By The Dart December 2014