Buckland in the moor.

Hi all,This latest blog is again about our favourite place, "Dartmoor", in particular Buckland in the Moor.This beautiful picture postcard village nestles in a valley on a slope over the river Dart on the edge of Dartmoor, roughly between Ashburton and Widecombe.Its little church (of St Peter's) lies on a hill top about 1/2 a mile from the village centre and can be traced back to the 12th century.The church is famous in its own right for its clock face which carries "My dear mother" instead of the usual numbers.Also for several world bell ringing records from back in the 1980s and 90s.These first two pictures ar'nt ours but you can click on any of the others to enlarge them.

All of the pictures that we took were taken in either Winter or Spring otherwise the cottages are hidden behind lots of foliage.

 Here are a few pictures of this lovely little village/hamlet, where all these cottages are rooved with real Devon thatch.. All of these cottages have grade 2 levels of preservation on them, also most of the outbuildings/sheds too.Property prices here are among the most expensive in Devon.

Imagine living in one of these beautiful cottages then? although on the down side a few of them only get a small amount of Sunlight in Summer.

Buckland is now owned by John P Bastard esq and has been in the family since at least the 16th century.
Recently one of the above cotages came on the market.

Buckland is also unique for its carved stone tablets high above the village, on these 10 (11) commandments were carved, they were ordered by Mr William Whitely in 1928 who commissioned an Exmouth stone mason Mr W A Clement to make them.Mr Clement lived in a stone hut on site for the duration of the work, working up to 9.5 hours a day. Between 23rd July 1928 and completed them on 31August the same year, during this time Mr Clement carved 1,547 letters in all at a cost of £50.All this was done 380 metres above sea level where it gets extremely windy and cold at night even in August.In addition to these 10 commandments he carved an 11th one with a verse from the gospel of St John.During May 2009 a team of Stone Masons working with the Dartmoor National Parks authority started work recarving the stones which by then were well weathered and Litchen covered.

More here http://www.bbc.co.uk/devon/content/articles/2009/06/04/buckland_beacon_repair_feature.shtml

Joke of the day.

Service

I became confused when I heard the word “service” used with these agencies:

Revenue Office “Service”
Post Office “Service”
Telephone “Service”
Cable TV “Service”
Civil “Service”
City, Provincial & Public “Service”
Bank Customer “Service”

This is not what I thought “service” meant.
But today, I overheard two farmers talking, and one of them said he had hired a bull to “service” his cows.

BAM! It all came into focus. Now I understand what all those agencies are doing to us !!!!!!