Join folklorist and storyteller Helen JR Bruce for a guided walk through the Dartmoor landscape of legend. Taking in Hound Tor, the ruined medieval village and nearby Bowerman's Nose, Helen will be exploring Black Dog folklore in some of the exact places which inspired the tales. 

Having researched Black Dog folklore for almost 20 years, Helen has traced the evolution of these stories from origins in the pagan Wild Hunt, through Christian influenced retellings of Hellhounds, all the way through to modern interpretations as omens and spirit guides. The folkloric ancestry of the dog is tangled with humans as far back as 12,000 years ago, with black dogs becoming a powerful archetype that, across many cultures and mythic systems, is believed to be able to cross between this world and the otherworld. As we will learn, black dogs not only accompany Dewer, Old Crockern and the Dark Huntsman, they are also a form that cursed human souls can take.

Sometimes a guide and protector, sometimes an omen of death, the folklore around Black Dogs is as fluid and shapeshifting as the creatures themselves, readily melting and reforming like Dartmoor mist. But their presence in myth is enduring, the silhouette of the spectral hound a symbol held deep within the human psyche and a motif that returns in folktales again and again. You will leave this walk with a deeper knowledge of the legendary Dartmoor hounds in the context of their kin in folklore across the country.

Tickets are just £13! Get them HERE

Meet at Hound Tor car park at 10.45 am for an 11.00am start! 8+ (under 16s must be accompanied by an adult). Dogs on leads please.

This event is part of Dartmoor Tors Festival 2026

Story Teller, Dartmoor Guide and Communications Officer for Dartmoor Preservation Association, Helen JR Bruce.