Whatever you do, don't make the mistake of calling Chagford a village. Even though the entire parish boasts a population of no more than 1600, the locals will tell you Chagford is a town and they're right. It has been since 1305 when a charter from King Edward I decreed it should be one of four Dartmoor towns licensed for the 'stamping' of tin and the collection of the royal tin tax. The charter established a Stannary Parliament and Stannary Court and provided the town with remarkable autonomy. The traditions of independence and specialness, the 400th anniversary of which were celebrated last year with a pageant in the town square, continue to this day, even if the Court and Parliament do not.

This is not some sleepy backwater. Round the picturesque Square and 'pepper pot' market house, the town has more than twenty five shops, four pubs, three restaurants, three churches (St Michael's 15thC.), two banks and a primary school. Bustling, surprising and very friendly would be more apt descriptions of Chagford. At the top of the square, right next to one another, are two (world) famous ironmongery stores, Webbers and Bowdens. The word is that if they don't have what you're looking for, they'll get it - anything - but they have most things, from air conditioners to welly boots and the warrens of little rooms piled high with treasures makes it worth a trip to the town just to see them.

The village hall busily hosts pantos, markets and concerts from surprisingly decent bands (Hayseed Dixie recently) organised by Chagford's very own impresario, Will McCarthy. The town has a fantastically fresh open air swimming pool (open daily from May to September, 2pm to 5.45pm), the largest in Devon, fed by the sparkling waters of the River Teign and solar heated. The recently refurbished sports pitches and pavilion are widely regarded as some of the best and prettiest in the South West.

As you would expect, there are plenty of local legends. On 11th October 1641, Mary Whiddon, a local girl, was gunned down during her wedding by a jealous suitor. She is buried in the church and a moving part of inscription on her memorial reads 'Behold a matron, yet a maid'. Legend has it that there's a secret passage from Whiddon Park House, where she lived, to The Three Crowns Inn in Chagford and her ghost is said to haunt The Bishop's Room and upstairs corridors of the pub. R D Blackmore may have partly based the story of Lorna Doone on the story of Mary Whiddon and brides traditionally lay a flower on her tombstone in the church after signing the register.

Other legends suggest that Chagford may have been a rather racy place in the past, so much so that novel methods were devised to deter wives from straying and to punish those that did. The legend of the Faithless Wives of Chagford tells how unfaithful wives were made to trek across the neighboring moor for several miles, washing their hair in Cranmere Pool on the way, to a stone circle called The Grey Wethers. There they had to lie in front of one of the stones and earnestly pray for forgiveness. If the stone remained erect, the lady was forgiven, but it fell, she was not!

Chagford has always been an innovative place (needs must) and an 'early adopter' of much cutting edge technology. It was one of the first communities in the country to have electricity. In 1891, a hydro power plant on the nearby River Teign provided the town with its first public electricity supply, whilst many much larger places in the country still depended on gas. The tradition continues to the present day; behind the narrow streets and in the surrounding countryside, quite unexpected businesses like Bowdens International, Helpful Holidays and Round Ash Associates link themselves to the outside world via high speed internet connections and, while tourism plays a part in the local economy, it is most certainly not a 'museum community'. Chagford seems to have it all - a vibrant local community and economy, an easy-going way of life, a picturesque setting and great facilities, but the strongest impression visitors frequently get is how apparently friendly the place is and a morning browsing the shops around The Square offers a glimpse, perhaps of an earlier time, before cars, when communities were more isolated, more self-reliant and, as a result, more self-supporting.