Friday 20 June 2014

Active Dartmoor goes to Princetown Visitor Centre

What a wonderful afternoon. The very lovely Richard Drysdale, who happens to  be one of  my favourite people, very kindly invited us to go and have a look at the progress being made in the Dartmoor National Park High Moorland Visitor Centre.

What can I say? It's brilliant!

It's fabulous, light and airy with really great local produce and products available to buy, and extraordinarily imaginative displays. Walls have come down or been moved, making the reception hall so much bigger and user friendly. There are several great fun areas where visitors can dress up as Sherlock Holmes or Park Rangers, and have their photograph taken in front of very realistic backdrops. There are open rooms designed for the amusement of children, one where you can choose from hundreds of leaflets which will help you plan your trip, and even a superb little movie theatre down at the end featuring one of the Legends of Dartmoor, which really mustn't be missed. The  Tale of the Hairy Hands has a little twist at the end which is great fun!

The jewel in the crown for me personally is the outstanding gallery of Dartmoor photographs by the hugely gifted Alex Nail and Guy Richardson, the pinnacle of which is the 8 minute long time lapse film.
The musical score is haunting and extremely atmospheric, you can sit and immerse yourself in the glorious surround sound and breathtaking scenery of Dartmoor in comfort on the plush stools that are available.

I don't want to say too much more, there is so much more to see and experience but I have no intention of spoiling your visit by giving it all away, you need to go and see it for yourself. You will come away educated, amazed and enthused, and hopefully with a few "home produced on Dartmoor" souvenirs as a lasting memory of your time in this thoughtfully and skillfully improved High Moorland Visitor Centre.

Hats off to Richard and his team, they are achieving fantastic results. Get yourself to Princetown and enjoy it!

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