Yarner Wood has a long history of colourful interpretation, dating back to the times a permit was required to visit the woodland. From these early signs, a leaflet was then created – the first editions of which were black and white. Our leaflets and brochures have come a long way since then! You can find our current literature in each of the bird hides and in the office at Yarner Wood. Alongside the first examples of signage and leaflets wasRead more
Posts filed in: Events
A Focus on Lichens and What They Need
The East Dartmoor National Nature Reserve (NNR) is special for many things, and one of them is lichens. Therefore, we were very fortunate that as part of the Festival of NNRs Granite Elements held an exhibition titled ‘Focus on Lichens: a Weekend of Art and Science‘ on 11th and 12th June at The Woodland Centre situated in Yarner Wood. Please see the summary by Clare Benson (Granitite Elements). “Lichens are all around us, but are easily overlooked. This exhibition wasRead more
Moth Night at Yarner Wood
Devon Moth Group help celebrate Yarner Wood’s species richness on 20th May 2022 Nineteen people gathered for the first Devon Moth Group field meeting of the year and to celebrate national Moth Night. The theme of this year’s Moth Night was woodland, so Yarner Wood, part of the East Dartmoor National Nature Reserve, was a fitting location and we’re grateful to the warden Albert Knott for facilitating the event. Thirteen traps of various designs were deployed along rides radiating fromRead more
Nice Day for a Bio-blitz
1952 was a landmark year for Yarner Wood and, as a fine example of an upland western oak wood it became England’s first ever National Nature Reserve. Over time, the area protected for Dartmoor’s wildlife has expanded and now the East Dartmoor National Nature Reserve also includes the heaths, bogs and streams of Trendlebere Down that connect with ribbons of mixed woodland flowing along the Bovey Valley. After a significant 7 decades of protecting the habitats and species of EastRead more
DIY Rainforest Restoration
On a blustery, wet Wednesday in the wake of ‘Storm Arwen’ more than 20 attendees, including landowners and woodland managers joined Plantlife, Natural England and the Woodland Trust for a participatory demonstration workshop on restoring habitats for rare communities of lichens and bryophytes. The high levels of rainfall and humid conditions the group endured was testimony to why the west coast of Britain supports one of the world’s rarest woodland habitats, temperate rainforest. The National Lottery Heritage funded partnership projectRead more
Children Celebrate the Granite Railway – 200 years on
We are in the 200th year since the Granite Tramway from the Haytor Quarries to Ventiford Basin on the Stover Canal was opened as Devon’s first railroad on Dartmoor. It was an incredible engineering achievement rolling 7 miles across the landscape and, unusually, its rails were hewn from the granite rock of Dartmoor in 1820. In 1813 George Templer inherited Haytor Quarry as part of the family business empire. One of his tenants, John Hatherly was working the Haytor Quarry onRead more
East Dartmoor Woods blog 