Category Archives: Dartmoor livestock

Fifty years a friend

Posted on 09/09/2020 by campaignerkate

Fifty years ago today I first met my friend Marion Saunders. Continue reading →

Posted in Dartmoor, Dartmoor livestock, Exmoor, Memories, National parks | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

A TV opportunity

Posted on 02/05/2020 by campaignerkate

My first TV interview was 40 years ago, the day the first Dartmoor Commons Bill was rejected by parliament. Continue reading →

Posted in Access, British Horse Society, campaigns, common land, common rights, commons, Dartmoor, Dartmoor livestock, National parks, Open country, Ramblers, riding, walking, wild country | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Unforgettable Bar

Posted on 28/08/2019 by campaignerkate

I like to remember my friend Barbara MacDonald on her birthday, 28 August.  She would have been 107 this year.  This is what I said at her post-funeral gathering in her home village of Moretonhampstead on Dartmoor on 30 September … Continue reading →

Posted in campaigns, commons, Dartmoor, Dartmoor livestock, National parks, Open Spaces Society, Ramblers, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Moses Room, commons bill, and George

Posted on 19/06/2019 by campaignerkate

Forty years ago I fought the first Dartmoor Commons Bill before a House of Lords committee. Continue reading →

Posted in Access, British Horse Society, campaigns, common land, commons, Dartmoor, Dartmoor livestock, Open country, Open Spaces Society, Ramblers, riding, walking, wild country | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Eyes and ears on the paths

Posted on 19/03/2018 by campaignerkate

The benefits to landowners of having paths across their land is that walkers and riders spot problems with stock and report them. Continue reading →

Posted in Access, Chilterns, Dartmoor, Dartmoor livestock, Open country, Public paths, riding, Turville, walking | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments

Barbara was always there

Posted on 28/08/2017 by campaignerkate

My friend Barbara MacDonald would have been 105 today. I remember her devotion to the Dartmoor cause. Continue reading →

Posted in Access, campaigns, commons, Dartmoor, Dartmoor livestock | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Dee’s centenary

Posted on 28/01/2016 by campaignerkate

My friend Dee Ivey would have been 100 today, 28 January 2016, and so I am thinking of her especially, and the huge influence she had on me and numerous other pony-loving children. She introduced me to Dartmoor and to its … Continue reading →

Posted in Dartmoor, Dartmoor livestock, Memories, Obituary, People, riding, wild country | Tagged , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

What should we tell the children?

Posted on 28/08/2015 by campaignerkate

My fighting friend Barbara MacDonald (1912-2002), aptly known as ‘the red-haired rebel’, would have been 103 today, 28 August.  Last year I celebrated her birthday by publishing her powerful poem about wilderness.  This year I have reproduced her polemic of 1974, What should we … Continue reading →

Posted in Access, campaigns, Dartmoor, Dartmoor livestock, wild country | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Catch the Canine Culprit campaign

Posted on 23/02/2015 by campaignerkate

Our open upland and uncultivated landscapes are maintained by grazing animals, but the survival of traditional hill farms is increasingly precarious.  One of the tragedies which farmers face is that of sheep worrying by dogs: sheep and lambs are killed … Continue reading →

Posted in campaigns, common land, Dartmoor, Dartmoor livestock, Defra, National parks | Tagged , , , , , | 4 Comments

Barbara MacDonald, my feisty friend

Posted on 28/08/2014 by campaignerkate

Today my feisty friend Barbara MacDonald (1912-2002) would have been 102 years old. She fought for Dartmoor’s livestock and landscape, she loved to burst the pompous bureaucratic balloon, and she was a straight talker with a great sense of fun.  I wrote … Continue reading →

Posted in Access, Dartmoor, Dartmoor livestock, wild country | Tagged , , | 2 Comments