EAST DART HOTEL As mentioned on the opening page, the hotel was built in 1862 by Alex's great great grandfather, John Webb, as an inn. From about 1880 until 1930 the establishment was a Temperance house and sold no "Evil Drink"! Rumour has it that Alex's Great, Great Grandmother and some other Methodist ladies rolled the beer barrels out into the road and smashed them, letting the beer run down towards the river. According to local legend, a black dog from Greyhound Farm is supposed to have drunk some of the beer and gone mad. This gives rise to speculation as to whether Sir Arthur Conan Doyle may have been inspired by this tale for "The Hound of the Baskervilles", since his fictional village of "Grimpen" was based upon Postbridge. The hotel was re-licensed in 1930, by Soloman Warne, but only with a "Table License". A full license was granted again in about 1950.

POSTBRIDGE The hamlet of postbridge is on the B3212 road between Two Bridges and Moretonhampstead, and sits at an elevation of approximately 1,200 feet above sea level. The village is probably best known for it's famous Clapper Bridge, recorded as early as 1380, believed to have been built to facilitate the transportation of tin by pack horses to the Stannary town of Tavistock. It is constructed of huge granite slabs and is one of the few clapper bridges on the moors that are still complete.

Tin Mining was carried out on Dartmoor for hundreds of years with the last mines closing in the 1930's. The remains of tin workings can still be seen close to Postbridge at the locations of the Golden Dagger and Vitifer and Birch Tor Mines. Alex's family were very much involved in the mining industry and are recorded in Postbridge as early as 1801. It is believed that the family came up from Cornwall in the 1740's to work in the mines around Mary Tavy, some of them moving over to the Postbridge area. In 1840 there were Warnes at the Greyhound Inn, at Pizwell and at the Warren House Inn. Much detail of the family connection with tin mining is recorded in Dr. Tom Greeves book, "Tin Mines and Miners of Dartmoor". Mr. Gilbert Warne of Princetown (Alex's uncle) who died in August 2000 was the last surviving Dartmoor tin miner.

If you wish to know more about the history of Postbridge and the surrounding area, an excellent book is available by: Reg Bellamy, entitled "Postbridge - The Heart of Dartmoor". The book, which represents ten years of detailed research and a great deal of Reg's personal knowledge of the area, was launched on 28th January 1999 at the East Dart Hotel and is published by Halsgrove of Tiverton, Devon.

The book is a large format (297x210mm) hardback and contains over 200 photographs, illustrations and other pictures.

Information on how to order the book can be obtained from Alex at the East Dart Hotel by e-mailing alex@dartmoorhotels.com