The Cranmere Pool Letterbox By Paul Fox A more unlikely site for a letterbox would be
difficult to find, sited as it is in a boggy and tussocky area forming the head of the rivers West Okement, East Dart and Taw. Originally filled with water up to six feet deep, the pool was partly emptied in 1789 and as dry as it is today by 1844. The present structure dates from 1937 when a former tin miner by the name of Aubrey Tucker built it using funds donated by the Western Morning News. It contains a visitors’ book, a rubber stamp, a selection of pens and pencils and usually a small supply of toffees.
James Perrott left a glass jar in a cairn to hold visitors’ calling cards
The form and function has evolved over the years since the Dartmoor guide James Perrott left a glass jar in a cairn to hold visitors’ calling cards in recognition of their journey in 1854. By about 1900 the jar was replaced by a tin box containing a visitors’ book, which in turn was replaced by a more robust zinc version in 1905. A tradition grew of leaving a self-addressed stamped letter or postcard in the box to be taken and posted by the next visitor, which led to the term ‘letter box’. The Cranmere Pool letterbox is thought to mark the origin of the activity of letter- boxing, which involves locating small containers
holding a stamp and visitor’s book hidden in nooks and crannies across the moor.
In Perrott’s day a trek to Cranmere Pool would
have involved a round trip of 16 miles from Chagford by the then driest route. With the arrival of the military ring road from Okehampton camp to Observation Post 15 (OP 15) on Okement Hill this was cut to around 2 miles. Although recently closed to civilian vehicles it still provides the quickest and driest pedestrian route to Okement Hill with a spur track leading to the pool at Ockerton Court before the final bog-hopping approach to Cranmere.
For the last two years the run from the car park
below Row Tor to OP15 and on to Cranmere Pool to sign the visitor’s book has provided a healthy way to start the New Year. Only on Dartmoor could a run involve a trip to a letterbox that isn’t a letterbox, in a pool that isn’t a pool!
More from the moor next month............
For those who would like to gain a nationally recognised qualification or if you would just like to explore a
different side of the moor off the beaten track, visit
email: enquiries @
4windsnavigation.co.uk or call 07971 954588 for full details
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