Celebrate Dartmoor’s remarkable landscape at the Marvellous Mires Family Fun Day
Thursday 20th July 2017
Bug hunting at Devon Wildlife Trust family event - Matt Austin
A Devon Wildlife Trust partnership project is inviting local people to celebrate the amazing bogs and mires of Dartmoor at a unique family fun day.
Organised by the Magnificent Mires project, the event aims to showcase the remarkable and often forgotten landscape of Dartmoor. The family fun day will take place on July 27 at Haytor Visitor Centre, starting at 10.30am and finishing at 3.30pm.
Families can get stuck into a range of activities provided by the Butterfly Conservation, Moor than meets the eye, and Devon Wildlife Trust. Then visitors can hop on the free Dartmoor hoppa bus and be taken to Emsworthy Mire nature reserve for pond dipping, plant hunts and storytelling, inspired by Dartmoor’s legendary bogs.
The valley mires on Dartmoor, including Emsworthy’s, are of international importance with many rare plants and wildlife. In the summer, the mire is home to many dragonflies and butterflies, including the rare marsh fritillary.
Guided walks from wildlife experts
As well as activities for children, wildlife experts will be offering guided walks around the mires, introducing visitors to the birds, plants, butterflies, and other wildlife that makes a home on Dartmoor.
Jasmine Atkinson, Community Engagement Officer for the Magnificent Mires project, said: “Our Marvellous Mires Family Fun Day is set to be a great day out for all the family. We’re really excited to have organisations like the Butterfly Conservation and Moor than meets the eye exhibiting at this event.
“Moor than meets the eye is a really exciting project that aims to help people to understand how we have shaped the moor over the past 4,000 years. They’ll be taking families back in time and showing them how amazing bogs are for archaeology, as well as doing Bronze Age craft activities!
“The butterfly conservation will also be exhibiting – they’ll be doing butterfly crafts with the children and providing butterfly walks around the moor.”
Dartmoor's bogs
Found on the highest slopes of Dartmoor, blanket bogs formed over thousands of years are home to spongy sphagnum mosses, carnivorous sundews and bobbing cotton grasses. They are forgotten places, only seen by the most adventurous of walkers. The Magnificent Mires project hopes to bring these amazing habitats to people through a programme of community engagement.
Visitors can park at the Haytor Visitor Centre and take the free hoppa bus to Devon Wildlife Trusts’ Emsworthy Mire nature reserve, where more activities will be taking place.
The Magnificent Mires project is led by Devon Wildlife Trust in partnership with Dartmoor National Park Authority, Dartmoor Preservation Association and The Duchy of Cornwall. The project is supported by the National Lottery through the Heritage Lottery Fund.
More information about the Marvellous Mires Family Fun Day can be found on our events pages.
Details on the Magnificent Mires project can be found at www.devonwildlifetrust.org/magnificent-mires