Simon Dell

Simon Dell MBE served as a Devon & Cornwall police officer in Tavistock for over 30 years, becoming a founding member of the Tavistock section of Dartmoor Search and Rescue Group, which he later chaired. In 1997 he was appointed MBE for his services to the group and to Mountain Rescue England and Wales. He helped establish Dartmoor's search-and-rescue dog section in 1985 and developed search-management methods still used today, teaching them at Bangor and York universities and assisting the BBC's 2010 planning for an Everest search for the body of Sandy Irvine.

After working as a Dartmoor National Park guide until the guide service was cut in 2012, Simon founded Moorland Guides, which grew to 33 guides working across the moor, and established the Dartmoor Walking Festival along with the Wheeled Access Group behind the Miles Without Stiles initiative. He is a familiar contributor to local magazines and has written more than 20 books, including guides to Dartmoor's history, industrial archaeology and Dartmoor Prison; his account of the 1932 Dartmoor Prison mutiny is regarded as the definitive record of the event.

In 2025 the Dartmoor Society presented Simon with its annual award, marking fifty years of service to the moor.

Books on this site

• Mutiny on the Moor: The Story of the Dartmoor Prison Riot of 1932 (2006)
• Dartmoor Wilderness Walks (2011)
• The Real Beatrice Chase: A Dartmoor Author (2015)
• The Beat on Western Dartmoor (1997)
• Dartmoor's Policeman Poet (2000)
• The Dartmoor 'Conchies' (2017)

Photograph by Max Piper.