About Geri

Geri is a moorland guide and lover of nature. She lives in the delightful stannary town of Chagford within Dartmoor National Park.

Geri is Devon born and bred. She spent many happy childhood days running around the tamer parts of Dartmoor, progressing to expeditions into the heart of the moors as a teenager, when she developed her navigation skills. After many years working away – running a small business, working in Learning & Development in Britain, helping rural communities develop sustainable businesses in Africa – Dartmoor drew her back.

“I was working with a fishing community in Mozambique when the pull of Devon became too strong to resist. Nowhere else has hills quite the right shape. So I came back and took myself up onto the moors. It was a bitterly cold day in February, the ground was half frozen, an icy wind was blowing, my navigation skills were pretty rusty so I wasn’t quite sure where I was, and I had a kind of epiphany: deeper than thought, deeper even than feeling, I just was in the right place, the place I’m going to spend the rest of my life. Dartmoor had claimed me.

I’d already planned to spend the rest of my life working in conservation, so I thought how I could do that on Dartmoor, knowing my skills are in working with people, and I decided to train as a guide. In the process, I became fascinated by the mosses and lichens that adorn Dartmoor’s granite; I’ve always been more interested in big-brained animals, having worked with primates, but now it’s the tiniest plants I am drawn to. I never thought I’d find plants exciting; it’s like a whole new world opening up.”

Geri spends much of her time running nature events and navigation courses. She also leads general guided walks and walks focusing on themes such as Dartmoor’s rich Bronze Age history. She puts on public events, does bespoke work and works for several charities and other organisations on Dartmoor.