Dartmoor Christmas gathering

[falling rain]

I don't suppose that the beautiful surrounding woodland is available for hammock hanging?

Tents and pole bashas only?

You could probably get away with a hammock across the other side of the stream as there are trees there but you may end up getting a visit from Daisy, Ermintrude, Buttercup and Co. (Plenty of scope for a few jokes there!!!)
Wayne - I hope Tom will be able to make it down for a brew if I can get hold of him.
Firewood is not a problem we can cross the little stream and gather from there. I was there a few weeks ago and there is a fairly large Ash tree down on the deck which I used a bit of for my cooking fire. If people do want some stew on the saturday night I'll need to know how many so I can get the ingredients. If anyone wants to do a workshop don't be shy. As mentioned I'll do a Bow drill workshop. I'll supply the drills and hearths or you can bring your own. I'll have enough either way.

Really looking forward to it, and catching up with a few old faces and meeting some new ones.

 

[Womble]

I think this is a great idea, and if I can make it I will.

Shall I contact Jakunen or has someone done this already?

 

[andyn]

So whats the deal in terms of payment etc. Is it pay in advance or "on the night" (so to speak)?

Also just out of interest - how far from the camp are the cars? I'm guessing that the ground could be pretty wet so is there somewhere suitable to put a non 4x4,if not is anyone taking a 4x4 that could pull us out the mud if need be LOL

Really looking forward to this - will be great to meet up with a few peeps down here.

 

[falling rain]

We can all pay the chap who owns the site when we arrive. He lives in the farmhouse nearby. (£2.50 per person per night)The track is a gravel one and ther are no problems at all with boggy ground. I havn't got a 4X4 either. The ground is fairly solid and is mainly granite and very flat, and you can park right next to your tent. As already mentioned tents are advisable.

 

[andyn]

Super - thanks for confirming that.

Look forward to meeting you all

 

[Bushpig]

Hi there !! I managed to miss the earlier meet there but I've visited the site recently as im in the area..I would love to come along...is there space for another one ? Sory I read the first post and immediatly hopped to make a reply lol.


Boooshpig

 

[andyn]

Hi falling rain, whats the count on this at the moment, as my big bruv would like to come too- he can be very well behaved if kept on lease and not given any booze, sharp objects or incendary devices.

Cheers.

 

[falling rain]

posted the reply here insted of this weekends meetup thread to save confusion

Glad you all had a good time Leon. Did you have the place pretty much to yourselves?

We should have it totally to ourselves in December. The chap who owns it is a really nice bloke :You_Rock_ so how about we chip in and get him a bottle of Christmas cheer I was chatting to him last time I was down there and he has angina so maybe it would be a nice gesture at Christmas. He's doing us a big favour by letting us stay there out of season after all. We can have a chat about it when were down there if you like.
Another idea if people fancy it is we could take a trip down to Exmouth on the Saturday for some longline fishing and gather some winkles, limpets, mussels and razor fish. If we catch some flounder we could have a bit of beach barbie. and then back to Dartmoor for the campfire and evening stew and a couple of If people are interested in this I'll run up a list of what to bring for the fishing. We can dig lug and rag worm for bait and use a handline (crabline)
It will depend on the tide times though as we have to let it come in and go out again and the days will be short. Anyway just a thought. I lived in Exmouth as a child so know the area well. Really looking forward to it and catching up with everyone.

 

[leon-1]

It was a really good weekend and the whole site was more or less empty apart from people clad in green carrying axes

The Exmouth idea sounds good as well Nick so I would be up for it.

I wouldn't mind chipping in for some Xmas cheer for the guy that runs the site (he took a bit of a tumble last night and got a cut above his eye), with the farm eggs, currently the pumpkins that he sells he is quite a nice old character and with the site costs so little to stay at it would almost be rude not to

 

[outdoorgirl]

If we're free that weekend we could be up for it - are dogs allowed on site? (We have a small terrier, she's quiet and calm... ..well, most of the time)

Not sure that we could provide a workshop, unless anyone wants to bring some game - we can show people how to pluck, skin, dress, joint etc.

We'd definitely be up for the fishing trip though (assuming we can actually make the weekend)...

ODG

 

[falling rain]

Hi falling rain, whats the count on this at the moment, as my big bruv would like to come too- he can be very well behaved if kept on lease and not given any booze, sharp objects or incendary devices.

Cheers.

Sorry Andyn I missed your post.

I havn't done a count up yet as such, but I think around 6 - ish so your big bruv is welcome of course.
Actually about the fishing we could go to Powderham as it's shorter to reach than Exmouth from Dartmoor, and the channel runs deeper there, and that's were all those flounder 'll be (hopefully). another idea is to dig a hanghi on the beach and cook a slab of meat while we're waiting for the tide to go back out if people fancy that? there'll be no problem to have the brew fire on the go on the beach while we're waiting too.
I'm going to check the tide times and moon and will post back shortly

 

[andyn]

Sounds excellent, No problem my end chipping in for something for the owner.

Only probelm is...and im almost embarrased to say it is that I have never done any fishing other than once when i was about 9. So i don't have any fishing gear (other than a small "emegancy kit" that came in a survival kit) or knowledge of what to do But i'd be more than happy to come watch you guys fish and i'll keep the fire burning and play with some flint or do some carving or something

Looking forward to coming down and meeting you all.

 

[falling rain]

The moon will be in the first quarter so it'll be a low tide. Couldn't find any info on tide times for December in the Exe estuary as they usually give out for up to the next week or so. We can still do the longlining but it'll maybe mean we catch less or nothing at all but that's fishing.
Outdoor girl. Yes dogs are allowed. I'll probably be taking my Whippets (excellent hot water bottles in winter )

Count up so far is

Arctic hobo,Bushpig, Andyn and big bruv, Leon 1, Neil 1, Greg 2935, Outdoor girl, bikething,clipper,jdlenton,lithril,nick g,Wayne,Womble,falling rain
Hope I didn't miss anyone and not everyone has definately confirmed

 

[falling rain]

Sounds excellent, No problem my end chipping in for something for the owner.

Only probelm is...and im almost embarrased to say it is that I have never done any fishing other than once when i was about 9. So i don't have any fishing gear (other than a small "emegancy kit" that came in a survival kit) or knowledge of what to do But i'd be more than happy to come watch you guys fish and i'll keep the fire burning and play with some flint or do some carving or something

Looking forward to coming down and meeting you all.

Don't worry about that andyn. that's why we do these things to have a social time and share knowledge. I've fished most of my life so if I show you some fishing maybe you can show me some stuff with the flint you mentioned.
I've got loads of hooks and braid/nylon so just get yourself a crabline and we're away. Crablines are only a few quid

 

[andyn]

Super, will pop into town and try and find one.

I'm still learning flint knapping but will happily show you want i can and bring a few flakes and maybe a big chunk of flint (if i can get hold of a decent peice) and you can try pressure and percussion flaking

 

[falling rain]

Excellent. Sounds like we got ourselves a deal :You_Rock_
There'll be plenty of time sitting around waiting for the tide to go out fully so we'll have time to do lots of stuff. We can get the brew fire going for a start As mentioned earlier I'm going to do a Bow drill workshop for those who want to learn it. May as well do it on the beach. I know many of those who've replied so far can already do bowdrill and it'll be interesting to share views on techniques etc, Also the hanghi, collecting the shell fish and cooking them will keep us busy. A bit on flint knapping will go down a storm andyn. I'm a novice at this so thanks for offering........
Of course we don't have to do any of these things I was just trying to put some structure to the weekend, so as long as everyone is up for it?...............

 

[elma]

is there room for one more, I'd love to come

 

[The Joker]

After a bril weekend with everyone in Dartmoor this weekend, I think I might invest in a tent for this one

 

[JonnyP]

Sorry Andyn I missed your post.

I havn't done a count up yet as such, but I think around 6 - ish so your big bruv is welcome of course.
Actually about the fishing we could go to Powderham as it's shorter to reach than Exmouth from Dartmoor, and the channel runs deeper there, and that's were all those flounder 'll be (hopefully). another idea is to dig a hanghi on the beach and cook a slab of meat while we're waiting for the tide to go back out if people fancy that? there'll be no problem to have the brew fire on the go on the beach while we're waiting too.
I'm going to check the tide times and moon and will post back shortly

Hi Falling rain.......After such a good time at this Dartmoor meet, please count me in for this one............Thanks....................Jon

 

[andyn]

Falling rain, if there is a 15 person limit on this and there are more people wanting to go than that please remove my bruv from list as it should obviously be open to BCUK first. Just thought i'd offer that rather than anyone miss out.

Cheers.

Only 6 weeks now WOOHOO.