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Merchants, privateers and pirates on the River Dart and the Shipman of Dartmouth

Spawned from rainfall on the heights of windswept Dartmoor, two streams —the East Dart and the West Dart — gather tributaries as they gush over waterfalls and rush under ancient clapper bridges.  When they reach Dartmeet they join to become the River Dart, which then continues its tumbling descent from the moor, through the towns of Ashburton and Buckfastleigh and on towards Totnes. 

From there the wide river makes its stately progress between high wooded banks towards the sea at Dartmouth.

The Last Wishes of Katherine Raleigh

"Deare Sonnes"

On the 18th April in the year 1594 Katherine Raleigh lay in her bed in a house close to the Palace Gate, near Exeter Cathedral. She was well into her seventies, a long life for a woman of her time.

Fearing her end was near, she called for her grandson, Arthur Gilbert, one of Sir Humphrey's many sons. Along with Nicholas Bolte and Richard Jerman, probably Exeter merchants, Arthur Gilbert witnessed her last will and testament. 

As she lay, probably very near death, Katherine’s overriding concern was to see all her accounts on earth …

Berry Pomeroy - searching for an Elizabethan lady

It’s not hard to understand why the ruins at Berry Pomeroy Castle are listed among the most haunted sites in England. Even on a bright March day the stone walls seem to hold echoes of the footsteps of those who walked here long ago. The ragged turrets reach up to a clear blue sky and sunlight streams through gaping holes where finely glazed windows once glittered.  

But even in this clear …

Tudor Teenagers

 Guest post for The Historical Fiction Blog

Rosemary Griggs - A Woman of Noble Wit

Tudor Teenagers

Parents of today will recognise that moment when their cherubic, enthusiastic, biddable children seem to transform into moody monsters who sleep all day, never tidy their rooms and are generally out of sorts with the whole world.  I mean, of course, when they become teenagers.   It’s a difficult time for youngsters when hormones are racing around, they are changing both physically and mentally, and there are many new challenges to meet. The …