A collection of walks, discoveries, insights and pictures of exploring Dartmoor National Park
September 27, 2024
Robert Burnard Family Picnic – White Ridge
Robert Burnard (1848 – 1920) was an eminent writer and photographer who will be remembered for establishing the Dartmoor Preservation Association in 1883. In 1887, he published his first paper on Dartmoor’s antiquities
In 1893, with Robert Burnard and his family were on holiday at Postbridge and together with George French with his cart went to White Ridge to have a picnic. A photograph of the event was recorded by Burnard, showing they had turned the cart on its end to make a shelter / wind break and had their picnic next to a very distinctive triangular rock.
With guidance from Matthew Johnson, the author has hiked to the location of the Burnard picnic and taken photographs to create this ‘Then and Now’ post. One can imagine that very little has changed in the landscape (except perhaps the trees on the nearby Assycombe Hill and those of Bellever Forest ) in the 131 intervening years.
The Burnard family in 1893. George French is stood by the wheel of the upturned cart. The triangular rock next to the family is very distinctive and is close to a Bronze Age settlement on White Ridge. There appears to be a tarpaulin or similar between the rock and the cart. The weather looks dull and possibly a little chillyThe author and the Burnard photograph next to the ‘Burnard Picnic Rock’ on White Ridge – September 2024Transporting the Burnard Family and George French into the 21st CenturyInterlopers from 2024 in the 1893 picnic. George French has been replaced by the author and the Victorian lady by the rock has been replaced with one of the author’s walking friends (Avril Money)The location of the 1893 picnic was in one of the Bronze Age Settlements on White Ridge. The grid reference is SX64689 81608Contextual picture of the ‘Burnard Picnic Rock’. The Burnard’s and George French would have looked across at a treeless skyline at Assycombe HillThe ‘Burnard Picnic Rock’ in the sunshine – picture by Matthew Johnson
