Latest news with #wildcamping
Yahoo
28-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
‘Losing the right to wild camp on Dartmoor would have been unthinkable'
Jolyon Chesworth is fondly remembering the last time he wild camped on Dartmoor with his family. His children Max and Barney were running around, climbing rocks and swimming in pools. They were, he says, truly free. 'That sense of adventure and connection to the landscape is so important,' says Chesworth. 'The simple act of finding a place to sleep, having something to eat and just chatting together in almost unimaginable space… they absolutely love being on Dartmoor. 'So the potential loss of all these incredible benefits would have been unthinkable.' Yet such a loss was, until last week, something Chesworth and many families like his were preparing for. So they were overjoyed when the Supreme Court backed wild camping on Dartmoor, marking the end of a long argument about whether pitching a tent under the stars in the Devon national park was permissible and, possibly, the start of a wider debate about what public access might mean in other parts of the country. There is no general right to wild camp on most private land in England, but an exception was made for set areas of Dartmoor Commons in 1985. Over the decades, it's become a haven for Duke of Edinburgh's Award trips and the famous Ten Tors challenge. For Chesworth, wild camping in the area has offered 'an opportunity to connect to nature, and to people past, present and future who are doing the same thing'. Campaigners, meanwhile, say the battle raises a wider problem over access rights. The legal wrangle over the park began in 2022, when landowners Alexander and Diana Darwall challenged the right to wild camp on their 4,000-acre estate on Stall Moor. They noted the 'potential harm' caused by campers, including litter, fires and threats to their livestock. But the crux of their case hinged on whether a specific section of the Dartmoor Commons Act 1985 conferred on the public a right to camp there overnight. Campaigners were quick to take note. Lewis Winks, from the group Right to Roam, recalls a handful of activists gathering in a Devon pub shortly afterwards to plot their response. 'We called our campaign The Stars Are for Everyone, because as Devon locals we made use of these wild camping rights regularly – I took my daughter up on Stall Moor and she loved it,' he says. 'It seemed absolutely ludicrous that somebody should be able to snatch that away.' Winks adds there was widespread belief among campaigners that the Darwalls' case would collapse. 'There were many people… who just didn't think Dartmoor was going to be lost,' he says. But it was. In January 2023, a High Court ruling set out that the 1985 Act 'does not confer on the public any right to pitch tents or otherwise make camp overnight on Dartmoor Commons'. 'Any such camping requires the consent of the landowner,' the ruling stated. 'It was at this moment we really saw a lot of people stand up and say, 'this is a tragedy',' says Winks. 'Actually it had far-reaching effects beyond the Darwalls' estate. It meant a loss of wild camping rights across the whole of Dartmoor as they had existed.' A week after the High Court ruling in 2023, thousands of people met on Stall Moor to protest. Meanwhile the Dartmoor National Park Authority (DNPA) had to work quickly with other landowners to put in place agreements to license their land for use by wild campers. Basically, the DNPA had to pay the landowners to allow people to camp. 'It was fairly panicked,' says Winks. 'Long term it would have been unworkable as a system, too, because of all the individual licences. The issue for us was that permission couldn't be a replacement for rights.' Dr Kevin Bishop, chief executive of DNPA, remembers that time slightly differently. 'It was testament to some of the Commons owners that we managed to develop that system so quickly – and it was mainly so we could get Ten Tors to go ahead, which the majority of landowners wanted,' he says. 'There were some who thought that system would be fine going forward, but it was always clear to us that the Commons Act creates a right of access on foot and on horseback for the purpose of open-air recreation. We've always interpreted open-air recreation broadly, whereas the Darwalls didn't.' So the DNPA appealed, with the support of other campaign groups such as the Open Spaces Society (OSS) in 2023. Kate Ashbrook, general secretary of the OSS, knows more about access on Dartmoor than most; in 1985 she was Anthony Steen MP's research assistant as he piloted the Dartmoor Commons Bill through Parliament. 'In every other legislation that grants access, you get a schedule of things that the access doesn't include, and camping is usually listed,' she says. 'So for it not to be listed in the Dartmoor Commons Act was an indication that it should be permitted. For us, it was as simple an argument as that.' The other reason the OSS and others were concerned was that the terminology used in the High Court ruling could have had ramifications way beyond wild camping. It might have led to a situation where open-air recreation on Dartmoor was restricted to activities undertaken while on foot or in the saddle. Bathing, sketching, rock climbing, even bird watching or fishing could have been seen as trespass. As Bishop puts it, at the extreme end of this interpretation, 'you couldn't even have stopped for a picnic'. The general consensus is that some of these interpretations were so farcical, they actually helped the appeal. And in July 2023, the Appeal Court ruled that the law 'confers on members of the public the right to rest or sleep on the Dartmoor Commons, whether by day or night and whether in a tent or otherwise… provided the bylaws are adhered to'. But, in turn, the Darwalls themselves immediately appealed to the Supreme Court, with the first hearings taking place in October 2024. In written submissions their legal representatives said the couple were 'not motivated by a desire to stop camping on Dartmoor'. Instead, they talked of campers not observing the 'leave no trace' rule and campfires leading to habitat destruction. Is there merit in at least some of these arguments? The last time Chesworth was wild camping on Dartmoor, he remembers being woken by fireworks at 3.30am. The next day, his boys picked up the revellers' rubbish on their way back home. 'With this sense of freedom and access comes responsibility and a need for stewardship,' he says. 'One of the reasons I like taking my children out there is that it teaches them that responsibility. It's like school, but more fun. 'What I would say though is that there's a big distinction between wild, backpack camping and fly camping, where people are bringing family tents and disposable barbecues and pitching up at the edge of a car park.' On local forums, there is much speculation that it is 'townies' who are going to Dartmoor with their crates of beer and fireworks and wrecking it. Right to Roam says it is aware that encouraging wider access to natural spaces does come with the potential for abuse. That's why the group developed the concept of 'Wild Service', where responsible access means respecting privacy, crops and nature while seeking to leave a positive trace and practising deep care for the natural world. The Darwalls, for their part, remain unconvinced that access translates to guardianship. The couple said they were 'disappointed' by the Supreme Court's judgment. 'Hollowing out the role of landowners and farmers will not improve the vitality of the Dartmoor Commons,' they said. 'Our aim from the outset was to protect and preserve Dartmoor, its flora and fauna.' Meanwhile, others are keen to see the outcome set a precedent for the rest of England. In opposition, Labour pledged to create a widespread right to roam policy if elected but U-turned after facing opposition from some landowners. The OSS and Right To Roam are now calling on officials to 'step up' and pass an act that can protect and extend public rights of access to nature across England. If wild camping is allowed on Dartmoor, then why not elsewhere, they argue. 'If Darwall vs Dartmoor is to be a truly landmark decision, the Government must act to ensure a right to sleep under the stars applies to all national parks and wild country,' says Ashbrook. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Telegraph
28-05-2025
- General
- Telegraph
‘Losing the right to wild camp on Dartmoor would have been unthinkable'
Jolyon Chesworth is fondly remembering the last time he wild camped on Dartmoor with his family. His children Max and Barney were running around, climbing rocks and swimming in pools. They were, he says, truly free. 'That sense of adventure and connection to the landscape is so important,' says Chesworth. 'The simple act of finding a place to sleep, having something to eat and just chatting together in almost unimaginable space… they absolutely love being on Dartmoor. 'So the potential loss of all these incredible benefits would have been unthinkable.' Yet such a loss was, until last week, something Chesworth and many families like his were preparing for. So they were overjoyed when the Supreme Court backed wild camping on Dartmoor, marking the end of a long argument about whether pitching a tent under the stars in the Devon national park was permissible and, possibly, the start of a wider debate about what public access might mean in other parts of the country. There is no general right to wild camp on most private land in England, but an exception was made for set areas of Dartmoor Commons in 1985. Over the decades, it's become a haven for Duke of Edinburgh's Award trips and the famous Ten Tors challenge. For Chesworth, wild camping in the area has offered 'an opportunity to connect to nature, and to people past, present and future who are doing the same thing'. Campaigners, meanwhile, say the battle raises a wider problem over access rights. The legal wrangle over the park began in 2022, when landowners Alexander and Diana Darwall challenged the right to wild camp on their 4,000-acre estate on Stall Moor. They noted the 'potential harm' caused by campers, including litter, fires and threats to their livestock. But the crux of their case hinged on whether a specific section of the Dartmoor Commons Act 1985 conferred on the public a right to camp there overnight. Campaigners were quick to take note. Lewis Winks, from the group Right to Roam, recalls a handful of activists gathering in a Devon pub shortly afterwards to plot their response. 'We called our campaign The Stars Are for Everyone, because as Devon locals we made use of these wild camping rights regularly – I took my daughter up on Stall Moor and she loved it,' he says. 'It seemed absolutely ludicrous that somebody should be able to snatch that away.' Winks adds there was widespread belief among campaigners that the Darwalls' case would collapse. 'There were many people… who just didn't think Dartmoor was going to be lost,' he says. But it was. In January 2023, a High Court ruling set out that the 1985 Act 'does not confer on the public any right to pitch tents or otherwise make camp overnight on Dartmoor Commons'. 'Any such camping requires the consent of the landowner,' the ruling stated. 'It was at this moment we really saw a lot of people stand up and say, 'this is a tragedy',' says Winks. 'Actually it had far-reaching effects beyond the Darwalls' estate. It meant a loss of wild camping rights across the whole of Dartmoor as they had existed.' A week after the High Court ruling in 2023, thousands of people met on Stall Moor to protest. Meanwhile the Dartmoor National Park Authority (DNPA) had to work quickly with other landowners to put in place agreements to license their land for use by wild campers. Basically, the DNPA had to pay the landowners to allow people to camp. 'It was fairly panicked,' says Winks. 'Long term it would have been unworkable as a system, too, because of all the individual licences. The issue for us was that permission couldn't be a replacement for rights.' Dr Kevin Bishop, chief executive of DNPA, remembers that time slightly differently. 'It was testament to some of the Commons owners that we managed to develop that system so quickly – and it was mainly so we could get Ten Tors to go ahead, which the majority of landowners wanted,' he says. 'There were some who thought that system would be fine going forward, but it was always clear to us that the Commons Act creates a right of access on foot and on horseback for the purpose of open-air recreation. We've always interpreted open-air recreation broadly, whereas the Darwalls didn't.' So the DNPA appealed, with the support of other campaign groups such as the Open Spaces Society (OSS) in 2023. Kate Ashbrook, general secretary of the OSS, knows more about access on Dartmoor than most; in 1985 she was Anthony Steen MP's research assistant as he piloted the Dartmoor Commons Bill through Parliament. 'In every other legislation that grants access, you get a schedule of things that the access doesn't include, and camping is usually listed,' she says. 'So for it not to be listed in the Dartmoor Commons Act was an indication that it should be permitted. For us, it was as simple an argument as that.' The other reason the OSS and others were concerned was that the terminology used in the High Court ruling could have had ramifications way beyond wild camping. It might have led to a situation where open-air recreation on Dartmoor was restricted to activities undertaken while on foot or in the saddle. Bathing, sketching, rock climbing, even bird watching or fishing could have been seen as trespass. As Bishop puts it, at the extreme end of this interpretation, 'you couldn't even have stopped for a picnic'. The general consensus is that some of these interpretations were so farcical, they actually helped the appeal. And in July 2023, the Appeal Court ruled that the law 'confers on members of the public the right to rest or sleep on the Dartmoor Commons, whether by day or night and whether in a tent or otherwise… provided the bylaws are adhered to'. But, in turn, the Darwalls themselves immediately appealed to the Supreme Court, with the first hearings taking place in October 2024. In written submissions their legal representatives said the couple were 'not motivated by a desire to stop camping on Dartmoor'. Instead, they talked of campers not observing the 'leave no trace' rule and campfires leading to habitat destruction. Is there merit in at least some of these arguments? The last time Chesworth was wild camping on Dartmoor, he remembers being woken by fireworks at 3.30am. The next day, his boys picked up the revellers' rubbish on their way back home. 'With this sense of freedom and access comes responsibility and a need for stewardship,' he says. 'One of the reasons I like taking my children out there is that it teaches them that responsibility. It's like school, but more fun. 'What I would say though is that there's a big distinction between wild, backpack camping and fly camping, where people are bringing family tents and disposable barbecues and pitching up at the edge of a car park.' On local forums, there is much speculation that it is 'townies' who are going to Dartmoor with their crates of beer and fireworks and wrecking it. Right to Roam says it is aware that encouraging wider access to natural spaces does come with the potential for abuse. That's why the group developed the concept of 'Wild Service', where responsible access means respecting privacy, crops and nature while seeking to leave a positive trace and practising deep care for the natural world. The Darwalls, for their part, remain unconvinced that access translates to guardianship. The couple said they were 'disappointed' by the Supreme Court's judgment. 'Hollowing out the role of landowners and farmers will not improve the vitality of the Dartmoor Commons,' they said. 'Our aim from the outset was to protect and preserve Dartmoor, its flora and fauna.' Meanwhile, others are keen to see the outcome set a precedent for the rest of England. In opposition, Labour pledged to create a widespread right to roam policy if elected but U-turned after facing opposition from some landowners. The OSS and Right To Roam are now calling on officials to 'step up' and pass an act that can protect and extend public rights of access to nature across England. If wild camping is allowed on Dartmoor, then why not elsewhere, they argue. 'If Darwall vs Dartmoor is to be a truly landmark decision, the Government must act to ensure a right to sleep under the stars applies to all national parks and wild country,' says Ashbrook.
BBC News
25-05-2025
- BBC News
Dartmoor wild camping 'teaches you so much, it becomes addictive'
"It can teach you so much, so much within yourself, and about the environment - it becomes addictive," said Becky Harrison of going wild 52-year-old from the South Hams in Devon first tried it three years ago and "never looked back".Wild camping involves sleeping in the countryside rather than in a campsite, and Dartmoor is one of the few places in England where it is widely this week a Supreme Court judgement upheld the right for the practice to continue on the moor, after an unsuccessful appeal by two landowners. Ms Harrison said she was "over the moon" about the judgement."It is a magical thing to do," she said of being out in the natural environment and sleeping under the stars."No harm can come to you, as long as you do it respectfully and learn how to walk on the moors and respect the moors," she said. 'I've never looked back' She recalled her first experience as being a bit daunting as she "didn't even know where I was going"."I researched it and I just went for it and from then on I've never looked back."Ms Harrison, who is trained as a moorland guide, said wild camping had given her a number of memorable experiences including seeing the northern believes it can give a "freedom, especially for young people" and can greatly benefit a person's mental health and Supreme Court ruling means that people are legally allowed to camp in set areas of Dartmoor if they follow a code of the ruling, Dartmoor wild campers were urged to "tread lightly and leave no trace" by the park authority. What are campers allowed to do? Tents and camping equipment must fit in a carriable backpackNo more than six people are allowed to camp togetherCampers must blend into the landscape, out of sight from roads and buildingsMaximum camping length is two nightsNo overnight stays in vehicles, campervans or motorhomesLeave no trace - do not light fires and take all rubbish away Marc Jeffrey, 48, from Landrake in Cornwall, said the activity opened his eyes to a new way of socialising after he temporarily stopped drinking as an experiment about three years ago."When I stopped going to the pub, I stopped seeing my friends," he said."For me, I love wild camping because it gives me a chance to meet up with a couple of my friends - it's a social activity and we've built a great little community."It's just an amazing thing to get out on the hills, see the sunrise, see the sun go down, it's just physically and mentally [good] for the body."He said he was "thrilled" with the Supreme Court decision adding: "We should be like Scotland, where we're able to go and be responsible and pitch up a tent and leave no trace in the morning."Wild camping has long been legal in Scotland under the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003, but in England there is no general right to wild camp on most private land, with Dartmoor being an exception. Amanda Higgins said she had been wild camping on Dartmoor for just over a year."I go wild camping every weekend, even at Christmas, even in the snow," she said it was "very important to be responsible", adding dogs should always be kept on the people dependant on their mobile phones, wild camping on Dartmoor may not be for them."Nine times out of 10 you've got no signal," she said."People spend way too much time these days on social media and scrolling."
The Independent
24-05-2025
- The Independent
Is it safe for two women to wild camp? What I learnt from a Dartmoor expedition
As a queer woman in my early thirties, I'm not a stereotypical wild camper: neither a solo man nor half of an outdoorsy heterosexual couple. I never camped as a child on family holidays and the first time I put up a tent was last year at the Knepp Rewilding Project in Sussex. But camping sans toilets and a designated site with electricity, rubbish bins and clean water has been a fascination of mine since reading Raynor Winn's The Salt Path during lockdown. In the book, Winn documents wild camping with her husband along the South West Coast Path from Somerset to Dorset. It wasn't just me gravitating to the great outdoors either, as post-pandemic Mintel research found that 4.5 million Brits went camping for the first time when restrictions eased. I've wanted to wild camp since then with my girlfriend, but she was hesitant. Was it safe in the wild for people like us? Only anecdotal evidence exists for LGBT+ camping, and few UK wild camping statistics are on-hand, bar a 2022 study by the Scottish Government that found 4 per cent of Brits had wild camped and were likely to be male and under 55. Being in a minority, I was determined to pave a way. With the company of a female friend in lieu of my girlfriend, the question stood: can two women in their mid-thirties safely embrace the wild? It's worth knowing that in England we only have the legal right to wild camp across designated areas of Dartmoor National Park in Devon, while you can request permission from landowners elsewhere. The same law applies in Wales and Northern Ireland, but wild camping in Scotland carries no restrictions at all and offers more freedom. Living in London, my pal and I plumped for Dartmoor, and we set off at dawn on a very rainy Saturday. Keen to make the most of the weekend, we intended to drive to Dartmoor after work the day before, but yellow weather warnings and the idea of pitching a new tent for the first time in darkness on a boggy moor canned that plan. Unlike with a traditional campsite, picking a hiking route and camping spot in the vastness of Dartmoor takes proper planning. The ever-shrinking Dartmoor Camping Map dictates where you can legally pitch up, so through-hikes have to be methodically (and conservatively) timed to ensure you have enough daylight. For our first hike, we chose beginner-friendly Great Mis Tor because it was a straight-line 40-minute hike from a car park, meaning there was little chance of getting lost, and we could always head back to our vehicle in an emergency. However, even straight-line routes shouldn't be taken for granted as there aren't signs or paths telling you where to go, and Dartmoor is mostly formless and incredibly misty. This means that sometimes it will just be you in the middle of thick fog with no indicator of where to go next. It was also important to brush up on my basic compass and map-reading skills, with the added comfort of impressive navigation using a Garmin fenix 7 pro solar GPS watch (more on my kit list below, although tech is never to be solely relied upon). We gave ourselves ample time to pitch up, because the strong winds of Dartmoor mean you need to find a spot within the tor that offers the best shelter and is flat and dry enough to not sink into a bog during the night. If wild camping in winter, keep a close eye on sunset times. We started pitching at 3pm, which meant by sunset at 4:30pm we were comfortably tucking into dinner with a whisky hot chocolate in the Thermos. Sitting in the pitch-black of the night, gazing up at stars (when passing fog allowed) in silence bar the whistling of the wind, isolated from any other humans and knowing there were about 30 Dartmoor ponies grazing below was pure magic. The only moment of alarm came when a pair of head torches, beaming in our direction, got closer and closer. After feeling an initial sense of panic, we were relieved to meet two lovely photographers pitched up at a neighbouring tor on a night shoot. Phew. Following a cosy night's sleep and picture-perfect sunrise, horizontal rain and gale force winds soon set in. We quickly packed up a soggy tent and hiked a few beginner-friendly tors a short drive away near Widecombe in the Moor. These included Top Tor, Pil Tor and then Blackslade Down to eye up a wild camping spot for when we return in the spring and attempt the Ten Tors through-hike. A hearty warm meal at nearby Cafe on the Green to thaw out was a treat before the five-hour drive home. During this trip I learnt that, while winter wild camping is no joke, it is freeing. We were enveloped with open arms and welcomed to share in the majesty of the wild. This shared sense of looking after the great outdoors is found in the Dartmoor National Park's Backpack Camping Code, which implores wild campers to take rubbish home and only stay one or two nights, among other rules. Recent news coverage about wild camping and the British wilderness further highlights how precious this outdoor space is. On Wednesday (May 21) a multi-millionaire landowning couple lost a Supreme Court case to restrict wild camping on Dartmoor following a long-running legal dispute. Additionally, the Right to Roam campaign is continuously working to expand the amount of English countryside walkers and campers are legally allowed to pass through. The main safety concerns I'd flag for future wild camping trips involve the practical art of survival. This includes access to clean drinking water (I used LifeStraw water filters, and you must plan a route that passes rivers or streams frequently enough to refill), as well as packing layers and waterproof clothing, because undoubtedly you'll get caught in the rain for hours like we did on the second day. It doesn't take long to get dangerously cold, so dry bags are essential for your backpack as well. Finally, proper navigational tools, such as a compass, OS Dartmoor map, and a GPS device are crucial. It takes time and diligence to plan a wild camping trip, and much more can be done to offer easily accessible information, especially for beginners. But it's worth it. As the cost-of-living crisis continues to bite and travellers are increasingly conscious about their carbon footprints, wild camping in the UK is an affordable (once you've invested in the kit) and local means of enjoying a break. It turns out, wild camping is not just for confident, rugged men. This Dartmoor trip was an opportunity to spend quality time with my mate, get some exercise and fresh air, and treasure this spectacular planet we are so lucky to call home.
The Guardian
23-05-2025
- The Guardian
Blissful isolation: wild camping on Dartmoor to celebrate a protected right
Gentle bird song and the soothing gurgle of water flowing over boulders wake me at dawn. The spring sun is not visible yet, but its pale-yellow light is catching the tops of the steep, tussock-clad valley where I spent the night. I am completely alone; it's just me and my thoughts. These are the kinds of moments of peace and blissful contentment in nature that cannot be commodified and have been under threat since the owner of the land where I pitched my tent launched a legal case two years ago to curtail the right for the public to backpack camp on Dartmoor. Alexander Darwall, a multimillionaire hedge fund manager, and his wife, Diana Darwall, claimed that wild camping was hindering their conservation efforts and putting their cattle at risk on their 1,619-hectare (4,000-acre) estate on the southern edges of the moor. But this week, the supreme court rejected Darwall's lawyers' argument that the act giving the public access to the moor for 'open air recreation' only referred to walking and horse riding. The three judges ruled that recreation should be understood far more widely, including wild camping. This landmark ruling means Dartmoor remains the only place in England where it is legal to wild camp without a landowner's permission. I passed the Darwalls' grand home – Blachford Manor – on the tough three-hour walk up on to the moor. Through a thick hawthorn hedge and barbed wire fence, I caught fleeting glimpses of the couple's shimmering fish pond and extensive deer park. But I didn't need to knock on his door and beg to camp on their open moorland: I just went ahead. In Scotland, people are allowed to pitch their tents where they please, provided they do not stray on to enclosed land, such as fields of crops. In England it's a different story, although many hikers, bikers and climbers do it anyway in remote uplands. Usually they are tolerated as long as they are discreet and responsible, but it is not a right. Countryside access campaigners hope the Dartmoor ruling will push Labour to open up more land to the public (as they once promised in opposition, with a right to roam). Some wonder if the judgment could prompt other national parks to allow responsible backpacking camping, as it makes clear that wild camping counts as open-air recreation. After all, the postwar bill establishing the national parks was designed to give people in bombed-out cities 'opportunities for open air recreation'. As the sunlight creeps down the sides of the valley, I fetch water from the River Erme and heat it on my stove. Soon, I have a warming mug of tea in my hands. This is very different from camping on a commercial site: there are no facilities or bins. You must carry out what you bring in – although you may carefully bury your own waste. It is not for everyone, but for those who love adventure and resent paying to be crammed between a palatial air-tent and an SUV with a safari-style roof tent in rural Suffolk. No one has staked out their group's patch with a fortification of wind breaks in something resembling a land grab. There are no queues and acrid smoke from burnt meat. The sense of freedom you get pitching your tent in open country is exhilarating. But of course, it brings a certain level of responsibility, and it is true some do not follow the rules. I reported on the spate of fly camping, where large groups left behind piles of rubbish and tents, during the pandemic. However, the supreme court judges made the point that it was far more effective for Dartmoor national park, which resisted Darwall's efforts along with a coalition of campaigners, to deal with irresponsible camping than leave it to private landowners to take action in the civil courts. Whatever the transgressions of this tiny minority, they pale into insignificance compared with the damage caused by irresponsible landowners across the UK. We live in one of the most nature-depleted countries in the world. Intensive farming coupled with the climate crisis has sent wildlife into decline, with nearly 1 in 6 species now threatened with extinction. Dartmoor itself is being overgrazed, particularly by sheep. The problem, which has prompted warnings from Natural England and a government action plan, is destroying habitats and putting rare birds at risk of local extinction. Darwall, who offers pheasant shoots, deer stalking and holiday rentals on his land, has been accused of endangering a rare beetle by releasing pheasants next to an ecologically important woodland. On my 17km hike through rugged moorland, rushing rivers and moss-draped woodlands, I didn't see a single piece of litter or scorch marks from a fire. The only rubbish I saw was feed bags and boxes left by farmers. As I descend off the moor, I follow the route of one of the largest ever countryside access protests ever seen in the UK. After Darwall won his initial court case in the high court in 2023, thousands came together to defend the right to wild camp. It is a testament to their efforts that this special place remains open to all.
