From her remote Exmoor home Hope
Bourne saw the Moor at all seasons for
nearly sixty years until her death in 2010.
She knew this unique and lovely place
in all its moods. Here, then, in this
commemorative edition of her classic
book is a detailed record of life on the Moor
in the days when time ran more slowly.
With a true countryman’s eye, Miss Bourne
chronicles the cycle of the year, month by
month. She tells of the laying of hedges and
the poking of hay, of the cutting of peat and
the shearing of sheep, of the deer and the
hounds and the ponies and the dwellers on
the Moor.
Described as the most significant book to
appear about Exmoor since Fortescue’s
Story of a Red Deer, Living on Exmoor is an
acute reminder of the fragility of rural life
and the environment and a fascinating
portrait of the Exmoor landscape and the
way of life of its people.
Hope Bourne was born in Oxford in
1918 but brought up at Hartland in
North Devon. She lived on Exmoor
for some 60 years, for two decades in
a caravan at Ferny Ball nearWithypool.
Growing or shooting her own food, she
earned her living as a writer, publishing
four books in her lifetime as well as
pamphlets and a regular newspaper
column. In later life three television
documentaries about her life brought
her to the attention of an even wider
public.
Hope Bourne died in August 2010 a
few days short of her 92nd birthday.
Imprint: Exmoor Books. ISBN 978 086183 449 5, hardback, 215x138mm, 200 pages. Commemorative Edition Published October 2010. New Edition May 2014.