Dartmoor Person: Joe Turner

Two Moors Way plaque to Joe Turner Devon County Council 2003

Two Moors Way: The nearby sculpture celebrates the vision of Joe Turner who created the route for all to enjoy - Devon County Council 2003. Photo taken on 10-07-2015

Introduction

Eventually the aim of this website is to include short pages recognising some of the very many people who have made a substantial contribution to Dartmoor. This very short page is a stub and it is hoped that at some point in the future it will be expanded upon. This early version is to address an issue as explained below.

Explorer and archaeologist

In 1990 Joe Turner's paper Ring Cairns, stone circles and related monuments on Dartmoor was published by the Devon Archaeological Society. The first database listings of cairns on this website were put together in 2012 and came in large part from Joe Turner's work. Turner also assisted Lesley Grinsell with his field work for his 1978 paper Dartmoor Barrows and is mentioned specifically for assisting with fieldwork done in 1976 and 1977. The initials JRT appear frequently as the field worker in the Grinsell listings. Perhaps the best known discovery that Joe Turner made was of the Whitehorse Hill cist which delivered such spectacular results when excavated in 2011. It is very sad that Turner was not alive to see such remarkable discoveries.

The Two Moors Way

As well as an archaeologist Turner was a passionate campaigner for access and rights of way. He was a member of the Ramblers Association (RA) and the Dartmoor Preservation Association (DPA). Turner played the main role in establishing the Two Moors Way (TMW) and that is perhaps his greatest legacy.

The first guide to the TMW was edited by Helen Rowlett and published in 1976. This included an introductory piece by E. R Vinnicombe of the RA entitled "Background to the Project". The idea for the TMW originated in 1965 and initial work was done by "a small group of members of the RA, DPA, and YHA and he Exmoor Society". The first proposal was submitted to the National Parks Commission in 1967. However, it took nearly 10 years before the route was officially opened on 29 May 1976. Meanwhile, it was Joe Turner who walked and re-walked the route to keep it clear of obstacles and vegetation and viable as a route. He negotiated with farmers and landowners over contested aspects of the route especially relating to the mid-Devon section.

The author of this website decided to walk the TMW in June/July 2024. I was interested to see the plaque on the path down to Drewsteignton that states "The nearby sculpture celebrates the vision of Joe Turner who created the route for all to enjoy. Devon County Council 2003." I was aware of the amazing contribution that Turner had made and was very pleased to see such a memorial to him. It was a little frustrating though as I missed the Peter Randall-Page sculpture completely, I walked straight pass and didn't notice it. So, I posted a query about this on one of the Dartmoor facebook forums and received many helpful replies which prompted me to go back on a cycle ride just to find the sculpture (see photos below). Afterwards, something struck me and that is all of the online accounts say that Turner died in 2004. Yet, here is a memorial dedicated to him by Devon County Council a year earlier in 2003. How can that be?

If I may I will take a brief detour via the Stingers Hill Cist. The entry on this website many years ago had a grid reference which was wrong by over half a kilometre at SX 6337 6494. I had taken the grid reference from the Historic Environment Record at the time, they had inherited it from the National Monument record and all known accounts of it replicated this same mistake. I even tried finding it at that location, needless to say this was not a successful endeavour. The problem was either a typo in the grid reference reversing two of the digits or possibly associating it with the wrong cairn in Grinsell's listings (see http://prehistoricmonumentsofdartmoor.weebly.com/ms66c.html#stingers-hill). It is in fact at SX 6339 6559. The point is authors make mistakes and those mistakes can be replicated in good faith. In the internet age that can become the established truth.

A correction on Joe Turner's year of death

In the last week I have now had correspondence with many people which confirms that Joe Turner died suddenly and unexpectedly in 2002. This was the year after his piece on the discovery of the Whitehorse Hill cist (2001) and of course a year before the date of the DCC memorial plaque (2203) which I guess was put up either late in 2003 or possibly early in 2004. There is coverage in the May/June 2004 edition of Dartmoor News (issue 78) which I guess is the first edition after the memorial was put in place (thanks to Paul Rendell of Dartmoor News for this).

The story of the memorial circulating in 2004 is perhaps the origin of that date. There is also a reference in Willand Matters May-June 2004 (presumably a local newsletter from Willand in Devon) that marks this event and states "Joe Turner who died suddenly in 2002". I have also had correspondence with Sue Viccars of both Dartmoor Magazine and the Two Moors Way and they also confirm the correct date is 2002. I have also had private correspondence with John Bambridge (Chief Executive Officer of the DPA at the time and friend of Joe Turner) which confirms the year as 2002.

Finally, I welcome feedback on this. I tried to find more biographical details about Joe Turner without much success in the last few days. I would very much welcome details such his date of birth and date of death but also any other details you might expect to find in a biography. I came to be an author on Dartmoor after Joe Turner had passed away so I never had the pleasure to meet him.

Contact email: info@dartmoorwalks.org.uk

Bibliography for Joe Turner

Turner, J.R., Chambered Cairns, Gidleigh, D.A.S.P. No.38 pp.117-19 (1980)
Turner, J.R., Ring Cairns, stone circles and related monuments on Dartmoor, D.A.S.P. No.48 pp.27-86 (1990)
Turner, J.R., A possible henge at Teignhead, D.A.S.P. No.42 pp.103-106 (1984)
Turner, J.R., A Cist on Whitehorse Hill, D.A.S.P. No.58 pp.249-250 (2000)