Saturday 29th August 2020
I plan my walks a long way in advance so in March this year I already had plans to go to the Cairngorms at the end of May and to spend two weeks in the Lake District at the end of August while all my accommodation and trains were booked for a week at Easter in Scotland walking from the Trossachs through Glasgow to the Falls of Clyde. However, these plans all fell apart as a result of the global pandemic that forced me to stay at home and once I was able to go for walks I was unable to go any further than day walks in the Peak District. Youth Hostels have opened only for private rooms which makes it prohibitively expensive for someone on their own. Eventually I realised my only realistic option was to camp and that was when the idea of going to Dartmoor came to my mind. Although wild camping is legal without permission throughout Scotland the only place in England where this is possible is in Dartmoor, but I had never taken advantage of this before and I had not even been to Dartmoor since 2008. After a frustrating delay, partly thanks to poor weather, I eventually left the East Midlands for the first time this year and drove to the West Country stopping in the village of Belstone near the northern edge of Dartmoor where I, luckily, managed to find a space in the packed car park.
I plan my walks a long way in advance so in March this year I already had plans to go to the Cairngorms at the end of May and to spend two weeks in the Lake District at the end of August while all my accommodation and trains were booked for a week at Easter in Scotland walking from the Trossachs through Glasgow to the Falls of Clyde. However, these plans all fell apart as a result of the global pandemic that forced me to stay at home and once I was able to go for walks I was unable to go any further than day walks in the Peak District. Youth Hostels have opened only for private rooms which makes it prohibitively expensive for someone on their own. Eventually I realised my only realistic option was to camp and that was when the idea of going to Dartmoor came to my mind. Although wild camping is legal without permission throughout Scotland the only place in England where this is possible is in Dartmoor, but I had never taken advantage of this before and I had not even been to Dartmoor since 2008. After a frustrating delay, partly thanks to poor weather, I eventually left the East Midlands for the first time this year and drove to the West Country stopping in the village of Belstone near the northern edge of Dartmoor where I, luckily, managed to find a space in the packed car park.
The bank holiday weekend and good weather had drawn many people to the area, although a brisk, cold wind made the day’s walking more bracing than it could have been. Setting off through the village and up Watchett Hill I stayed on the track for some relatively easy walking rather heading through rocky ground towards Belstone Tor. Initially, I was walking through pleasant scenery beside heather and gorse, both in flower, but after crossing the East Oakmount River the terrain deteriorated into dreary grass, typical of Dartmoor, as I followed the maze of tracks eventually coming off to reach the top of Rowtor and, after that, West Mill Tor, which I had, hopefully, thought was Yes Tor, but once I was there it was obvious that Yes Tor was the next hill so I continued my slog along the northern edge of Dartmoor until, finally, I reached the prominent peak of Yes Tor. The views north throughout this traverse had been stunning thanks to the good weather which had also brought many other people out, including those who had driven their cars as far as they could go up onto the moor, which doesn’t seem right to me, though there was limited parking lower down and I had been lucky to have found a parking space in Belstone.
The top of Yes Tor was very windy, but it had been even worse when I first climbed Yes Tor in 2007, though the weather was better the following year when I climbed Yes Tor at the start of a traverse of Dartmoor. I have always climbed Yes Tor when in Dartmoor, partly because it is so prominent, but mainly because it is right next to the highest point, High Willhays, and used to be considered the highest point itself. High Willhays is a short walk across a wide ridge and the highest point is at the southern end of the ridge so I made my way along the ridge passing the fine cairn that marks the summit. There are no tracks south of High Willhays, but I could see a faint path through the grass heading towards the small Dinger Tor where I found a track that heads back north. As the weather deteriorated with overcast skies I followed this track until I reached a junction where I turned right as I resolutely followed these tracks rather than heading straight across the tussocky grass as I had done in 2008. Much of the northern part of Dartmoor is a live firing range and these tracks owe their existence to the army, who were not using the range in August so I was easily able to make my way to Okement Hill.
Continuing along the track I crossed the young River Taw and up to the top of Hangingstone Hill where the track finally reduced to a path. As I neared the top I realised I had been repeating my route of 2008 without deliberately doing so, probably because I didn’t really have a destination in mind and was just blindly heading south. The map indicates a path on Hangingstone Hill goes around the boggy top so I followed this rather than heading straight across as I had done in 2008 and this was better ending with a climb up a peat pass to a memorial stone on the southern top. I was so pleased at spotting this I tried to locate another one, marked on the map, further south on Whitehorse Hill, but despite repeated searching I was unable to find it. All I had achieved was losing the path and leaving me in the middle of a tussocky, boggy plain with no idea where I was going. As it was now late in the afternoon I drifted into the valley of the young East Dart River where I found a place to camp not far from the remains of the first tinner’s hut in the valley. With the weather clearing once more I had a lovely evening on my own, miles from anyone else surrounded by the vast open moor beside the stream.
Continuing along the track I crossed the young River Taw and up to the top of Hangingstone Hill where the track finally reduced to a path. As I neared the top I realised I had been repeating my route of 2008 without deliberately doing so, probably because I didn’t really have a destination in mind and was just blindly heading south. The map indicates a path on Hangingstone Hill goes around the boggy top so I followed this rather than heading straight across as I had done in 2008 and this was better ending with a climb up a peat pass to a memorial stone on the southern top. I was so pleased at spotting this I tried to locate another one, marked on the map, further south on Whitehorse Hill, but despite repeated searching I was unable to find it. All I had achieved was losing the path and leaving me in the middle of a tussocky, boggy plain with no idea where I was going. As it was now late in the afternoon I drifted into the valley of the young East Dart River where I found a place to camp not far from the remains of the first tinner’s hut in the valley. With the weather clearing once more I had a lovely evening on my own, miles from anyone else surrounded by the vast open moor beside the stream.
The appeal of Dartmoor is the rocky tors that sit upon the peaks and the best walking involves exploring these tors if you can avoid the bogs. The main problem with this walk was that I had nothing really planned before I started, except a starting point, so I had wandered aimlessly around and went up Yes Tor simply because that is where I always go. However, it was enough for me to finally be able to get away and go on holiday with the actual walk being less important than the satisfaction of being out there.
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