Granite Elements Stand

A lovely day on Sunday for engaging with the outdoors at The Dartmoor Wildlife Festival at Yarner Wood. Viv and volunteers from the Heritage Centre ran a stand about Granite Elements, to help inform people about the Granite tramway. and the opportunities to engage with it. 

Cleaning the granite tramway

There has been some lovely days recently - Sunday was one of them when Volunteers went up to Haytor with DNP to clean a bit more of the tramway. The Granite tramway does require a bit of looking after at times to keep it visible. 

Ventiford Basin Granite Tramway

We went on a reccie to see how long it would take to get to the Ventiford Basin excavation site , parking at Teign Bridge Car Park we walked back along the Templar Way, which is now the vastly improved new route, of course suitable for cycling and walking. Stopping to look at the highlights of Stover Canal along the way passing Teigngrace Lock and Graving Dock Lock and with time to read the notice boards it took us 3/4 of an hour to get to Ventiford Basin where the newly discovered part of the granite Tramway is.
A very pleasant walk suitable for people with mobility problems. 
Phil Newman who is leading the dig will be there from 14 May , but suggests that from 21 - 27 May there will more to see of the next part of the excavations. Enjoy 

Granite tramway excavated 2015

Ventiford basin Tramway Excavation

A fantastic opportunity has come along. Phil Newman is supervising the archaeological excavations at Ventiford Basin at Stover Canal from 21 - 27 May if you want to visit, you will have to walk or cycle there as there is no parking nearby. You can cycle or walk from Bovey Tracey down the new cycle route which starts near the Landrover Garage  following the Templar Way signs. 
Contact Bridget for further information

Phil says of the photo. This represents about 18m of track but we have reason to believe the total exposed by the end of the dig this year will be 70m, plus an additional short siding, the junction for which is partly exposed in the foreground of this photo.

8 May Cleaning the Tramway at Haytor

Volunteers needed to continue work on historic tramway Come and join Dartmoor National Park Ranger Simon Lee on Sunday 8 May as he leads a team of volunteers to continue working on the popular Templer Way walking route near Haytor. The day runs from 10:30 until 3:30 and starts at the National Park Visitor Centre, Haytor. The Templer Way follows the route by which granite was taken from the quarries in the Haytor area during the 1800s on an 18 mile journey toTeignmouth on the south coast. A granite tramway was used to transport the stone down to Stover Canal from where it was shipped down to the docks at Teignmouth. Large parts of the old tramway still exist, especially in the area near Haytor itself. Conservation work days are a great way of getting healthy exercise in a fantastic environment and meeting like-minded people as well as helping look after this special place. You will also learn more about Dartmoor’s fascinating history and moorland management. If you are interested in coming along on one of Simon’s Haytor conservation work days please get in touch by emailing slee@dartmoor.gov.uk  or calling 07711 104541. Booking is essential as tools and equipment need to be organised. For those who come along regularly there will be plenty of variety with practical work being carried out on habitat management and archaeological sites as well as helping keep this iconic Dartmoor location looking good.

Bovey Tracey Heritage Centre

There is a display about the Granite Tramway in the Heritage Centre showing the tools used and an example of a Feather and Tare  marking in a piece of Granite 

First Artist Walk along the tramway

We managed to sneak a walk in between the showers from Shaptor Studio to the Edgemoor Hotel and back to introduce some artists to the granite tramway. Found some feather and tare features along the way and listened to some amazing bird songs !