Dartmoor Tors Festival: Love, Loss And Landscape: The Wild And The Ancient

Event information

What role does place play in our emotional lives? Join writers Fiona Robertson, Sophie Pierce and Kirsteen McNish for a conversation about the human relationship with landscape. In the turmoil of our feelings, from love, to grief and everything in between, why do we feel drawn to the wild and the ancient? Whether it be exploring Britain’s prehistoric sites, swimming in wild waters or walking remote moors, how do places transform us?

Fiona Robertson is a writer, editor and megalith enthusiast. Her book Stone Lands uncovers the magic and rich history of Britain’s prehistoric stones, but is also a personal story about the death of her husband and the resonance and emotional power of the sites built by our ancestors.

Sophie Pierce is a writer and broadcaster; her memoir The Green Hill, about the sudden and unexpected death of her son, explores the role the Devon landscape played, and still plays, in her grief.

Kirsteen McNish is a writer, events curator and broadcaster who has a regular column for Caught By The River. She is interested in lesser heard voices, care and how this interpolates with place. She was writer in residence for Exeter Quay Words in 2025 and contributed to the Dartmoor Collective's publication Flow. She was long listed for the Nan Shepherd Prize in 2023


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This is part of the second Dartmoor Tors Festival, happening at various places around Dartmoor from 30 April – 3 May 2026. Tickets for festival events at Ashburton Arts Centre are all available at wegottickets.com/dartmoortorsfestival2026. All of the festival goings on are listed at dartmoortorsfestival.co.uk.



Ashburton Arts Centre
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