What's going on with the boat?

After ten years living on Tarquilla we have moved to land. I'm often asked if we love the house or miss the boat and the real answer is - both. We still have Tarquilla and we are open to all options at the moment as far as her future is concerned. We will carry on working on her, it would be great to be able to sail her again. The Scilly Isles, Portishead marina, Bristol harbour and Falmouth are all places we have talked about as well as many others further afield. But, on the other hand, if a family was looking for a boat, ready to do the preparation she needs and wanted to take her on then we would sell her. She is not ready to sail off into the sunset but has a lot of life left in her. If you or someone you know would be interested then please contact us. She is 3 ply cold moulded, 42 foot long, one off design built in the 1960's. She has 2 double cabins and 2 single berths, a good size saloon, a decent size galley, head and a covered cockpit. She has two engines and a full suit of sails. We have lots more photos and can provide more details or answer questions. In the meantime, this blog has come to a natural pause for now as we take on new adventures.

Blogtober 17 - A romp of otters - 70 years of National Parks

I've written about Dartmoor before I know but this summer marks the 70th anniversary of the founding of National Parks in Britain. That seemed like enough of an excuse to write about such an important and stunning place again. Dartmoor was one of the first four areas to be designated as a national park in 1951; there are now 14 in Great Britain. 

 

Remote moorland with scrubby trees and a river

 

Dartmoor is very much a working landscape and home to about 34,500 people. There are villages and towns, working farmland, managed forests, quarries, MOD firing ranges and open grazing over much of the moorland. Other areas are very remote and wild with inhospitable peat bogs and granite outcrops - the famous tors. The history of the moors can be seen written all over the land with stone rows and circles, cairns, enclosures and stone huts being only a few of the imprints that humans have left on this landscape that has been inhabited since at least 4,000 BC.

 

Remote moorland with stone row stretching into distance

 

All rivers run to the sea. Many rivers in Devon have their source on the upland peat bogs of Dartmoor. This area is criss crossed with water courses running over and underground and large areas are frequently swamped through the winter months. Upland peat bogs are very unusual and occur here due to the underlying granite. Dartmoor is also home to Britains only rainforests which look like they have been taken from a fairy tale with their moss mounds and trees dripping with lichens. Many bridges carry the highways and byways over the rivers including small wooden footbridges, the famous clapper bridges and stone arches carrying roads.


Stone bridge over river with green grass and blossom in foreground, blue sky in background

 

With the experience and knowledge from 70 years of caring for and protecting this very special landscape the national park association have set out their future plans. Sustainability, accessibility and restoration are high on the agenda. New visitor centres, a focus on future custodians with a renewed junior ranger programme and restoration of rivers and peat bogs are just some of the works being undertaken. There has been an increased appreciation of green spaces available to us due to the pandemic and new people have discovered or rediscovered the moorland. This has caused some frictions but education is key. Two of the biggest issues they deal with are littering and feeding the ponies. Whilst the need to take your rubbish home with you should be obvious not everyone realises why the ponies should not be given food. Often it is kindness which drives people to give grass cuttings, apples, carrot or other 'treats' to the ponies but their stomaches are not able to cope with it and it can make them very ill. Added to this, feeding the ponies can make them associate cars with food leading to them being at greater risk of being hit by traffic. 

 

Trees in foreground, narrow lane in centre of picture, church to left of picture


The quality of water in the rivers is important and many measures are in place to maintain the waterways. This summer the National park again launched an 'Otter spotter' quest to raise funds for conservation and access projects on the moor with 81 individual pieces of art scattered over the national park. As well as raising a substantial amount of money it also supported buisnesss through exploration of the area with people commenting that they had discovered and visited places new to them.


 

With so much to explore in this stunning landscape, many rare plants and animals and a wealth of history it's no wonder that Dartmoor is considered to be so special and its management and preservation so important.

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