In response to david's original request on peat history, some information
that may be of help:
R. Hansford Worth, a gentleman scientist from Devon, wrote reasonably
extensively on the Dartmoor peat and quotes the following from Ure's
Dictionary of Arts, Manufactures and Mines (7e, 1875):
"On Dartmoor the peat is cut by convicts, working in gangs; and being
dried, is carefully stored in one of the old prisons...." Worth also
comments on the palaeo-stratigraphy of the Dartmoor peat and
considers whether there is evidence of large scale diggings by tin
streamers. Nothing on conservation though.
A summary of his work (published originally in the Transactions of
the Devonshire Association in the 1920s and 30s) can be found in:
Worth, R.H. (1967) Worth's Dartmoor. David and Charles, Newton Abbot.
Hope this helps.
> Date: Mon, 22 Feb 1999 16:11:00 -0500 (EST)
> Priority: NORMAL
> Subject: peatland history
> From: BESDWILK <[log in to unmask]>
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Reply-to: [log in to unmask]
> THE HISTORY OF THE CONCERN FOR PEATLAND LOSS.
>
> Three years ago in the Mires Research News (issue 5) I
> wrote a brief article on the history of concern over
> peatland decline. The first British source that I
> could find that described Peatlands as declining was
> 'The Great Ice Age' by James Geikie (1874), this
> provides (pages 338-339) a clear description of the
> decline in Scottish mires but without any suggestion
> that they should be conserved.
> In 1996 I asked 2 questions.
> 1) Did anyone know of an earlier description of human
> caused decline in mires?
> 2) When was the first published plea for peatland
> conservation?
>
> No-one replied!!
> Can anyone on this discussion group help?
>
> (NOTE FOR ANYONE WHO IS INTERESTED; my main peatland
> research interests are in Quaternary paleoecology and
> testate amoebae)
>
> David M Wilkinson
> Biology and Earth Sciences
> Liverpool John Moores University
> Byrom Street
> Liverpool
> L3 3AF
>
>
>
*************************
Dr Andrew J. Baird
Lecturer in Physical Geography
Department of Geography
University of Sheffield
Sheffield
S10 2TN
Research area: shallow groundwater systems
http://www.shef.ac.uk/uni/academic/D-H/g/staff/ajb.html
Tel: +44 (0)114 2227949
Fax: +44 (0)114 2797912
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