Exploring habitats
Brilliant bog
Did you know that the Earth’s bogs store more carbon than its rainforests? Bog mosses are hero plants, building peat bogs at the rate of a metre per millennium. The bogs that blanket the upland plateaux of Dartmoor not only lock away carbon and regulate river flow but are home to some rare and extraordinary plants and animals. Plants here have to live off just rainwater and sunshine; all that is except those which have taken to eating insects, as seen on The Green Planet!
What you’ll learn
We’ll go in search of sticky little insect-eating plants and others that flower in high summer such as colourful bog asphodel and the waving heads of bog cotton. We’ll learn about life on the bog and enjoy the wild, remote beauty of Dartmoor’s peaty heart.
Information
Time
10am — 4pm
Start point
Postbridge visitor centre car park PL20 6TH. Grid reference: SX646788
Distance
7 miles
Knowledge level
Beginner
Walk difficulty
Moderate — some rough, wet and slightly boggy ground
Equipment
Come prepared for all weathers, with waterproofs, warm layers and sun protection. Walking boots or other well-treaded waterproof footwear; no need for wellies. Binoculars if you own them. Food and drink for the day.
Children
Suitable for 16 years and above.
Dogs
No
Maximum group number
Ten
Available for small group bookings.
“I must say a big thank you to you for all of your efforts on our behalf. It's as if I had forgotten what had started my interest in biology all those years ago, which was poking about in different locations just to see what was there, and that it had risen to the surface again.”
— Clare Lowrie