Adrian Partridge

Adrian holds the Mountain Leader award and has been walking on Dartmoor for over 45 years during which time he has enjoyed sharing his enthusiasm for the landscape with scouts, school groups, family and friends. Adrian has been a member of the Dartmoor Rescue Group since 1985 and currently specialises in training navigation with the team. He has been a Dartmoor National Park Guide since 2005 and particularly focuses on longer walks and walks with an archaeological interest. Adrian runs his own hillwalking business “Hillwise”, freelances as an expedition leader in the developing world for World Challenge, and works as a steersman for Canoe Adventures 12 man Voyageur canoes on the tidal Dart.

andy dunstan

Born and raised in Exeter, the great outdoors got into Andy’s blood from an early age. Along the way, Cubs, Scouts, Venture Scouts and an Exeter based Dartmoor youth walking group ‘Operation Dartmoor’
cemented his passion for exploring the moor.
Following a career in the Police Service, Andy obtained his Hill and Moorland Leader award and has completed Mountain Leader training.
He now enjoys introducing other people to the National Park. Andy has been involved with the ‘Wheeled Access Group’ since its inception in 2017, finding and guiding accessible routes on Dartmoor suitable for disabled ramblers using mobility scooters.
He has also been a 'Duke of Edinburgh Award' volunteer leader, helping young people develop skills and confidence in the outdoors.

andy oliver

Andy Oliver is an International Mountain Leader as well as holding the Summer UK Mountain Leader award and is a member of the British Association of International Mountain Leaders (BAIML) as well as the Mountain Training Association (MTA).  Andy has lived in Devon all his adult life and lives with his wife In South Zeal on the edge of North Dartmoor. Andy is a retired Police Inspector and as such has vast experience of Dartmoor having been heavily involved with the Ten Tors event as West Devon Police Chief and with over 20 years of working with the RAF Air Cadets. Andy manages his time with guided walks on Dartmoor as well as the occasional overseas expedition. Andy is an assessor for the Gold D of E Award and is also working with Kevin Harding on the recently formed Gear Change company offering coaching, team building and more( https://gearchangecc.com)  A National Police Trainer, working within the Police Leadership and Development unit and delivering various nationally accredited Leadership courses within the MOD family  has allowed Andy to develop a host of skills to help people of all ages achieve their full potential. Andy is also a British Nordic Walking Instructor, soon to be offering Nordic walking in the Dartmoor area.

amanda head 

Amanda was born and grew up in London, but caught the hill walking bug after taking part in Ten Tors in 1977. In 1989 she finally made the move to South Devon and now lives with her family near Newton Abbot. A career change 15 years ago took Amanda into teaching Geography and Outdoor Education, where she has great fun exploring everywhere from the local area with the youngest children to parts of Africa with the older ones, and all via Dartmoor with as many youngsters as possible.  Amanda is also an Assistant Scout Leader with a very active group and helps to run bush-craft activities and frequent hike camps throughout the UK as well as regular trips to the Swiss Alps. Amanda joined Moorland Guides in 2012.

caron gaisford

​Caron Gaisford is a microbiologist / immunologist by training. Having worked in academia, researching and teaching she took time off to travel.
On her return she has been involved in outdoor education, not only to sharing her love of the outdoors but helping people to build confidence, resilience and knowledge. She has a summer Mountain Leader, climbing instructor qualification and is a NNAS navigation tutor and DofE assessor and trainer.
Not only a keen runner, hiker, climber, mountain biker, her interest is in the history and flora and fauna of wild places such as Dartmoor. It's interesting to see the effect that man’s influence has had on the environment from early times and how nature slowly returns, finally flourishing in such disturbed environments.
Living in the small town of Moretonhampstead, she is involved in a number of community projects and can been seen working in the local sports centre, community allotment and orchard, rounding up sheep and walking with them when they need to be moved. Life in Dartmoor is all about community.

debbie jenkin

Debbie Jenkin was born and raised in Yorkshire, moving to Devon in the 1970s where she formed an immediate attachment with Dartmoor, similar in many ways to her native North York Moors. Working as a primary school teacher, she and her husband and children moved to Dartmoor in 1990 when her passion for the moor grew. She began leading groups for walks on the moor and qualified as a Moorland Leader, joining the pool of Dartmoor National Park guides in 2002, where her guiding work included school groups, foreign students, navigation courses and walks for all ages and abilities. She joined “Moorland Guides” from its launch in 2011. She remains fascinated by Dartmoor, its history and archaeology, geology and wildlife, and has a delight in its legends, which, like many folk-lore stories handed down through time, are often woven into factual events.
Debbie also loves walking in other wild places in Britain, such as the Lake District, the Yorkshire Dales, Scotland, Wales and Northumberland. She has written a number of walking guide books for hotels in Devon.
Debbie loves Dartmoor in all its moods and in it, finds refreshment of spirit and a place to escape to. She says that, “to be in a position to show this jewel to others, is a huge privilege.”

ian johnstone

Ian was born at Hampton Court in Surrey and grew up in west London near Heathrow airport. Whilst at school he started the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Scheme, gaining his gold Award in 1969. It was this that started his fondness for Dartmoor as his expeditions were done here. After completing gold Ian went on to become an assessor for the D of E expeditions in 1971. He started teaching in a primary school near Heathrow and moved to Devon to be near Dartmoor in 1976. It wasn’t long before he joined the Rescue Group and the DNP guides – in 1978. He is now semi-retired, enjoying some supply teaching, running his own living history business for schools and guiding. His particular interests are archaeology of all types and legends, but his walks always include flora, fauna and geology- anything to do with the moor.

liz miall

Born and brought up on Dartmoor Liz became a Dartmoor National Park Guide in 2008. Liz gains great pleasure from sharing every aspect of Dartmoor with visitors, interpreting the landscape, tailoring walks to the wishes of the clients and having a few smiles along the way. Qualifications and experience include Hill & Moorland Leader, South west Mountain and Moorland Leader, Mountain Leader training, walking in Wales and the French Alps.

phil watson

Phil’s mountain experience began, as did so many others, with the Duke of Edinburgh award schemes. Serving as a musician in the Royal Marines for 33 years gave him many opportunities to develop mountain skills, including the 10 day Unit Expedition Leaders course run by the Army. Phil now likes to walk as much as possible in the Lake District and on Dartmoor, with the occasional sortie to Snowdonia, Scotland or the Brecon Beacons, and delights in introducing people to the great outdoors.
A few years ago he underwent his Mountain Leader training, becoming qualified in 2013. Since then he has led many walks and expeditions in the UK, with friends, family and young people groups. He has trained Ten Tors teams for the past 8 years.
Phil now lives in Totnes and organises walks under the name of ‘Mustard Seed Walks’, a group started with a few friends from his church, but which has grown in number (see his Facebook site – Mustard Seed Walks).
Phil joined the ranks of the Moorland Guides at the end of 2017 and looks forward to sharing walking experiences with others on Britain’s mountains and moorlands.

simon dell

Founder of Moorland Guides, Simon spent 32 years in the police, being awarded an MBE for services to the community in 1997. Simon spent years volunteering for mountain rescue and is now a chaplain at Princetown prison. He still lives in Tavistock with his wife Shirley and in his spare time he enjoys relaxing mountaineering both in the UK as well as the Alps and Himalayas. When not found on Dartmoor or up a mountain, he can be found playing in the South Wales Police Band or on Lundy Island where he volunteers as an ambassador. 

chris bourne

Chris Bourne has been involved with outdoor activities since a young age and continued these
adventures with his growing family and grandchildren. He has undertaken Wild Country Supervision & Assessment for the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award, (DofE) both here in the UK and overseas. He has led and supervised groups on Dartmoor, Exmoor, Bodmin Moor, The Brecon Beacons, The Lake District, The North York Moors, Snowdonia, The Scotland Glens and Mountains, in France on
their footpath network and in the Pyrenees, in South Africa in the Baviaanskloof Mega Wilderness Reserve, The Groot Vaders Bosch World Heritage Site, Landeberg Mountains and the Drakenberg Mountains.
He runs Pegasus Outdoor Ventures with his wife Brenda, which has been developing and evolving
since Oct 2006 where he has become more directly involved with environmental education and awareness through sensory perception. More lately this has been dedicated to mental health, PTSD and CPTSD as a Registered Therapy Practitioner. He leases and manages woodlands on behalf of the landowners, it is here where the Bushcraft, Woodcraft, Survival Skills and Woodland Rest and Recuperation Days and Weekends take place.

geri skeens

Geri is a guide with a particular interest in natural history.  She leads guided walks and runs natural history events.  She also teaches navigation, being a National Navigation Award Scheme course director.  She has an infectious love of nature and wild habitats. You can find out more about Geri at her website: www.geriskeens.co.uk

Inge page

Inge is a Walk Group Leader who lives in Ashburton and has spent many years exploring accessible and interesting routes on Dartmoor. She has set up Dartmoor Walks This Way which offers made-to-measure walks for people wanting to explore the quieter and less obvious parts of the moor -www.dartmoorwalksthisway.co.uk. Inge worked for 17 years at Schumacher College in Dartington where she was responsible for planning and managing their renowned short course programme. She developed the Earth Pilgrim courses which took participants out onto Dartmoor in the company of Satish Kumar, one of the College founders, to experience wild nature and reflect on the way our relationship to the natural world affects how we live in these challenging times (http://www.schumachercollege.org.uk/courses/earth-pilgrim-2012). Inge is a fluent German speaker and therefore interested in working with and developing connections with groups from the German-speaking world.

mike jeffery

Mike was born, bred and lives on Dartmoor, he has just retired as a boiler engineer. He holds Walking Group Leader and, National Navigation Bronze Silver and Gold awards Mike has always had a keen interest of Dartmoor and is always willing to share his knowledge with others. His other interests are, bell ringing and miniature engineering He is also a District Councillor and a member of the Dartmoor National Park Authority.

richard gooding

Richard is a Moorland Guide and a Dartmoor National Park Guide. Richard lives in Plymouth with his wife and two children. Richard spent 32 years in the Royal Navy as an engineer and then as a project manager with Babcock. Ever since he was a boy his parents used to take him onto the moor and he has always liked to walk and explore. During his time in the forces they were encouraged to get out and compete in Adventure Training to keep fit and work as a team. As he travelled the world he wanted to visit more remote areas and take like-minded ships’ personnel to experience life away from the vessel. To do this he qualified as a mountain leader (Joint Service Expedition Leader (MLT)) which enabled him to plan his own expeditions and excursions. He completed and attained the Mountain Bike Instructor and Assessor award for wild country terrain to give people who had never tried mountain biking the ability to attain a level where they would feel competent on a bike over rough ground.
Since retiring he has enjoyed spending time walking, camping and biking on the moor and decided to use these skills in joining the Dartmoor National Park and Moorland Guides. Richard loves taking people out and being able to show  them just how interesting and fascinating Dartmoor can be with a sense that he is giving something back to the community. 

sue goodfellow

Sue is passionate about bringing people and wildlife closer together for their mutual benefit and has spent many years showing people the delights of Dartmoor’s habitats and species.
She is an environmental consultant specialising in conservation policy, environmental assessments and sustainable tourism as well as leading many events for the public and specialist groups.. She worked for the Dartmoor National Park Authority for over 30 years latterly as Director of Conservation and Director of Park Management, heading up a multidisciplinary team working across many disciplines, and formerly as the Park Authority’s ecologist. She is currently the Chair of Natural Devon, the Devon Local Nature Partnership and a trustee of the Devon Wildlife Trust.
Sue is a qualified Hill and Moor Leader, a First Aider and experienced navigator. She has trekked and botanised in many mountain ranges including the Himalayas, the Caucasus, and the Tien Shan.
She lives on Dartmoor in the Teign Valley.

craig scollick

Craig grew up in Scotland which meant he was lucky enough to have access to the hills and mountains since his teenage years. He's walked most place in the UK, been mountaineering and ski touring in the Alps and Pyrenees and has been further afield to Nepal, Australia and New Zealand. 
 
Since moving to Devon a little under 20 years ago Craig has spent lots of time on Dartmoor, either as a member of Dartmoor Search and Rescue Ashburton or leading groups of adults or children.  Since gaining his Mountain Leader (Summer) qualification in 2014 he's taught and assessed on Hill & Moorland Leader courses and taught on Mountain Leader(Summer) courses. He's also taken private clients onto Dartmoor on fell runs, guided walks, navigation refreshers and navigation master classes.
 
He has a BSc in Geology and a real interest in Dartmoor flora, archaeology and industrial history and really enjoys sharing his knowledge of the outdoors with others.

gillian healey

After travelling the world for over 15 years, Gillian finally put down roots in Devon over 17 years ago.
She’s always been drawn to the outdoors, noticing the positive effects on mental well-being.
A passionate photographer, she can guide you to some of her favourite views and ‘secret’ spots. Immerse yourself in the beauty of Dartmoor, history, myths & legends and connect with nature.
Gillian also gives her time to nurture the ‘get outside bug’ in the next generation by training young teams for the Ten Tors and Duke of Edinburgh awards.
She’s a qualified Hill and Moorland Leader (HML), Outdoor First Aider and Mental Health First Aider, so you know you’re in safe hands.

karen pearson

Landscape, walking, and art are Karen's passions and she takes great pleasure in creating opportunities to share them. Karen is a qualified Hill and Moorland Leader and an artist with an MA in Contemporary Fine Art. 
As a Moorland Guide and through her website www.karenvpearson.co.uk Karen is available to lead a variety of walks for individuals, small groups, and families. She can accommodate walks just for the pleasure of being on the moor with a guide who can add more layers to your experience to walks where she can give you an opportunity to be on Dartmoor with an artist and storyteller, where you have an opportunity to draw, have fun, and see the moor in more detail.
Karen is a Devonian and after some years living in Scotland and near London, the moor and the coast drew me and my family home again and she considers herself very lucky to have lived in Ashburton on the edge of Dartmoor for over 20 years. 
Her areas of interest are the layers of human history, the legends and stories and the relationship we have with the landscape, and all this informs my art practice. Karen has run creative workshops for all ages and confidences and led walks and drawing experiences for small groups and events.

nigel grist

Nigel Grist is a biologist by training specialising at university in moorland ecology and marine studies. A further research period was spent on the growth of seabird colonies. His interest in flora, especially moorland plants and some of the non-flowering groups such as mosses, liverworts and lichens has been maintained; Dartmoor is a terrific place for these groups.
Photography has been important for both work and pleasure for 40+ years and he has worked and printed in both film and digital. For the last five years he has been developing his photography and other artistic ventures including printmaking (especially linocuts and etchings) though exhibitions, and he has an online presence and links with online image agencies. (www.theunseenview.com)
His interests are varied but might be grouped under wildlife and landscape in a very broad sense: very keen on the detail of macro images but also in trying to capture some sense of a landscape. Dartmoor and the moor’s multi-layered complexity has figured prominently in recent years and he walks there frequently; the Bronze Age sites being of particular interest. Over eleven months between July 2013 and May 2014 he walked all of the named tors and hills on the moor; 1200km and 370 targets in total.
Nigel holds the Mountain Training Association’s WGL award and Bronze and Silver NNAS certificates. He greatly enjoys showing others some of the huge variety of sites and scenes the moor has to offer. He is also very keen on navigation as an enjoyable pursuit for its own sake and enjoys taking small groups on training walks.

richard matthews

Richard has been exploring Dartmoor for nearly two decades starting with his Ten Tors experience at 13 and he now trains multiple teams every year. Alongside this, his adventures have lead him far and wide across the world both by himself and through his work running expeditions in the mountains and in vehicles. His real passion lies in geography however where he is a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society. When you join Richard on a walk you’re sure to learn something; whether it’s about our natural world or something silly he has done! You can find out more about Richard and his adventures at www.richard-matthews.co.uk

sue perry

Sue has always been attracted to the great outdoors and is a part time English teacher.
Some years ago, as part of the military, Sue took part in expeditions to Snowdonia, the Brecon Beacons and Popocatepetl, Mexico; but more recently she has spent time on Dartmoor with DofE and Ten Tors through schools. Since moving to Devon in 2016 she has rambled all over Dartmoor and has taken the opportunity to renew her outdoor leadership qualifications by completing her HML.
A perfect day on the moor for Sue would probably involve a Bronze Age site and a dip in a Moorland stream.

dawn williamson

Dawn was brought up in Somerset and has since lived in Australia and in several parts of England. She studied geography and also more recently conservation. She had an early career in mapping and remote sensing before working in the education departments of two Wildlife Trusts. It is here that she realised the importance of encouraging people of all ages and children in particular to visit and understand the outdoor world. She is also a qualified Forest Schools leader. She has walked in hills and mountains around the world and since moving to Devon is enjoying walking (and running) on Dartmoor. Dawn has gained her Hill and Moorland Leader (HML) award. She is one of the leaders of the Wheeled Access Group and also a guide for the DNPA.

hannah durdin

Hannah grew up walking on the moors, the hills and the coast and spends as much time as possible outdoors. She’s been working for the last 8 years for local outdoor education company, The Outdoors Group and is a qualified Forest School Leader. In 2024, she underwent her Mountain Leader training and is passionate about enabling access to the moors for everyone, particularly those who might not otherwise be able to explore it and benefit from the mental and physical health benefits it brings. She is a keen trail runner, wild swimmer and rambler and always up for an adventure, large or small.

keith lambeth

Keith has in the region of 35 years of backpacking and mountaineering experience with over 25 years active service in Dartmoor Search and Rescue Team Ashburton. Keith Grew up in Sussex and moved to Dartmoor in 1992.He now leads and guides small groups and individuals on a variety of public and bespoke hikes and walks. Keith is a passionate explorer of the links between history, legend and landscape of the British Isles and Dartmoor in particular.
Keith is fully insured and holds the South West Mountain and Moorland Walking Leader and Camping Leader Award and the National Mountain Training Hill and Moorland Leader qualification.

paul rendell

​Paul Rendell, also known as ’Dartmoor Paul’, was born in Plymouth and became enthusiastic about Dartmoor from an early age after being taken on numerous outings by his parents. Burrator and Sheepstor were two of the favourite places they went as a family.
Very early he found he was fascinated by the moor’s industrial archaeology and its wildlife. Because he was dyslexic his schooldays were not very easy for him but he struggled on until school leaving age.
After leaving school, Paul trained as a chef and worked in a number of establishments within the Plymouth area, as well as some on Dartmoor.
Later on he became the Head Gardener at Devonport Dockyard and for stayed there several years but his love for Dartmoor led him to look for work away from the city. His boyhood explorations had already provided him with a knowledge of the moor that only a few possess and his interest led to a second job: leading guided walks and giving talks. Through sheer grit and determination he became a full-time professional guide; this in turn has enabled him to introduce countless people to the delights of walking on Dartmoor and throughout the West Country.
As a keen local historian, Paul has written many articles for newspapers and magazines and wrote his first book, called ‘Exploring the Lower Walkham Valley’. In 1991 he founded the ‘Dartmoor News’, a bi monthly magazine which he still edits today.
Paul is frequently out and about gathering information on matters relating to Dartmoor. For a number of years he was the Conservation Officer for the Dartmoor Preservation Association. He walked for the Dartmoor Pony Heritage Trust leading walks and doing conservation work Bellever near Postbridge for 10 years.
Paul was now a Dartmoor National Park Guide for over 21 years.
He loves taking photographs and many of his pictures can be found on Christmas cards, postcards, calendars and in magazines. Paul has written three books:
Exploring the Lower Walkham Valley,
Exploring the Burrator Area and
Okehampton Through Time . Paul is working on his next book called Ghostly Dartmoor.

richard ware

Richard moved to Tavistock in 1985 from the wilds of North Cornwall and immediately started exploring Dartmoor. The remoter the area the more he wanted to explore and find out all he could about the natural beauty, Wildlife and Cultural Heritage. After 25 busy years as Managing Director of the family Landscape Contracting business he decided to give something back so he became a National Park Guide in 2009. He has enjoyed everything about the job since then and has particularly enjoyed the school walks and walks with families. He believes all walks should be fun and one of the main attributes of a Guide should be a good sense of humour.