DARTMOOR guide Emma Cunis has produced a new book retelling some of the moor’s most famous folk tales, and interpreting what they mean today.

Emma is the granddaughter of Eric Hemery, author of High Dartmoor – Land and People (1982) – one of the most celebrated books on Dartmoor, which is often referred to as ‘Dartmoor’s bible’.

Now Emma has followed in her grandfather’s footsteps by publishing a book Dartmoor Myths and Legends: Exploring Origins and Inspirations, in which she takes old legends, including Kitty Jay, Old Crockern and the Hairy Hands, and delves into their roots and relevance.

It is illustrated by artist Gina Hemery, her aunt.

Emma said: ‘Folk tales engage our imaginations, inviting us out of the mundane and into a world of timelessness, magic and archetypes.

‘They can help to remind us humans of our necessary reciprocal relationship with the world.

'They are also some of the oldest and most effective ways to communicate and teach about us about everything from sources of food, water and shelter, to dangers and threats to avoid.’

For some years, Emma has worked as a guide on Dartmoor, after leaving an international corporate job in London 11 years ago due to ill health.

Coming back to her roots has been an enormously positive experience.

She explained: ‘My maternal family has lived on and around Dartmoor for generations.

‘My Granny Val introduced her first husband, my grandfather Eric Hemery, to Dartmoor in the 1940s, and they moved here in the early 1950s.

'Recovering from a leg injury from the war, he walked regularly on the Moor and became interested in its beautiful mosaic landscape.

‘Throughout the 1950s he styled himself The Dartmoor Guide giving lectures and leading guided walks and pony treks across Dartmoor supported by his family.

‘For example, Granny would bake cakes and make teas for guests as well as local hotels whose guests would join him on walks, and my Mum Sally would help out on his walks and pony treks as a teenager when she was home from school.’

Emma wrote the book after guests on her guided walks suggested she record the stories she often tells while out leading hikes and nature-connection experiences to locals and visitors to Dartmoor.

She said: ‘Initially the book was just going to be a retelling of the myths and legends that I had grown up with.

'But my first degree was in history and, as a Dartmoor Guide, I couldn’t resist researching more deeply and interweaving themes of archaeology, geology, flora, fauna, ponies, and more.

‘My hope is that readers will both enjoy the book as well as learn and care more deeply about Dartmoor its land and its people.’

The book is available at various outlets including in Ashburton; Ashburton Information Centre and The Field System, Chagford; Astor’s Bookshop & Art Materials, Princetown; DNPA Visitor Centre and Old Police Station Cafe, the DNPA visitor centre at Haytor, The Burrow in Bovey Tracey and Greenhill Arts in Moretonhampstead or online at Visit Dartmoor.