Outdoor adventurers have laced up their hiking boots and headed back on to Dartmoor to celebrate the restoration of the right to wild camp in the only national park in England where such a freedom exists.
Adrian Partridge was among those spending a night under the stars to commemorate the court ruling on Monday. Partridge, 63, camped on Dartmoor on Thursday night with his son Oli, 22, who suggested the trip after the judgment.
“We had a really enjoyable camp, breezy but not wet. We enjoyed looking for old granite artefacts abandoned nearby and climbed a summit for some 360-degree views. Lovely sunrise, too,” he said.
As a mountain leader, Partridge is often on the moor training scouts in the early months of the year and was elated at the outcome of the appeal. He said he hoped it would herald further change. “It’s not right that Dartmoor is the only place in England you can legally wild camp. I’m hoping it’s the first step in a complete shake-up of national access to land and water. The momentum has started,” he said.
Campaigners are pushing to expand the right to wild camp without landowners’ permission, while Labour has vowed to roll out the right across national parks.
While most campers respected the land, Partridge noted that this was not true of all. “There’s a need to make sure people who go wild camping stick to the rules – you don’t want to be finding tents and rubbish where people abandon it like a festival. It’s been a bit of a problem since Covid,” he said.
Green space offered significant wellbeing benefits, Partridge said. “It’s a place for pleasure, but also for healing and getting your head sorted out. If you’re angry, you can just get up there on the moor and walk it out.”
While August is here, the sunshine has yet to arrive, and some wild campers said they were making plans to get out on the moor to celebrate as soon as the weather improved. For Isabel Martin, a keen climber and camper, this year had brought home the importance of making the most of access to nature.
Martin, 27, who works as a doctor in Exeter, said she spent many a summer evening rock climbing on the moor before wild camping while she was a student at the University of Plymouth. “I felt heartbroken at the initial ruling and regretted taking for granted how close I was to the moors. With the overturning, I fully intend to get back out there,” she said.
“It’s the most amazing skies – you just don’t see it anywhere else, even in Devon. There’s something completely different on Dartmoor – it’s just you, the wind and the stars.”
She said the public should not have to ask for landowners’ permission for access to green spaces. “There shouldn’t be barriers based on inheritance or ability to purchase,” she said. “If you educate people, they can respect the land and use it well. There are huge swathes of land that people own – [landowners] wouldn’t even know that someone’s there, but that person will have a wonderful experience that will stay with them forever.”
However, others have voiced concerns about the ecological impact of the growing number of visitors to Dartmoor. Richard Bunning, 69, a farmer in Devon, said that while he was pleased with the outcome of the appeal, he believed the number of wild campers and other visitors should be regulated.
“Without some controls on numbers tramping the moor, loss of habitats and species is inevitable,” said Bunning, giving the example of ground-nesting birds. “I am in favour of wild camping, but would suggest setting aside locations for it, which must be booked, and so controlling numbers.”
“Dartmoor is a very sensitive habitat,” he said, though he underlined that the climate crisis was the dominant driver of ecological degradation on the moor, and that there were also issues with invasive species of flora. “The ecology of Dartmoor is under a lot of pressure.
“I’ve been camping on Dartmoor in deep snow as a teenager. It’s a magical experience. It’s an extreme environment and people should be allowed to enjoy it, but not with a blank cheque.”
For Paul, sleeping under the stars and waking to the sunrise was part of childhood and, after the appeal ruling, the semi-retired farmer from South Hams said he hoped to take his eight-year-old grandson on his first wild camping trip to Dartmoor next week.
“After fishing until dusk, we will trace the constellations and tell stories in turn,” said Paul, 67. “The light will hopefully bring a magical misty morning. Whether we catch a fish is of little consequence; they always get returned. We will leave no trace but flattened grass, and a little boy will learn some life lessons.”
Paul said he had been amazed at the fight people had put up. “It’s been a fairly deep-seated thing. In the West Country, people are fairly quiet but when stirred up, we tend to get serious about it. The young eco-activists have done a lot of the heavy lifting and all credit to them. It’s for the people who live in the area and not one selfish landowner,” he said.
