Walking on Dartmoor. Earle John

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      Dartmoor view with Great Mis Tor beyond

      Dartmoor is deceptive country for walking. Because it is not a true mountainous region and looks like a rolling, undulating landscape, many people think they will be able to keep up with Naismith's fastest timings. This is just not possible because much of the walking on Dartmoor will take you over tussocks of grass, heather, bracken in the summer months, peat hags, marshy areas, gorse bushes, rocky slopes all within a few miles of each other. It is also impossible to get into that slow, rhythmical, steady stride that will keep you going all day and that is so important for easy walking. All the same try to keep a steady pace and with luck you may be able to average just over 3km/h (2mph). You should allow at least 10 minutes every hour to rest and look around and certainly more if you wish to stop and explore some of the points of interest I shall mention.

      Avoid the really swampy areas (they are well marked on the maps) and also avoid the large clitters unless you have to thread your way through to get to a tor. The higher parts of the moor are not necessarily the driest but they may be better than the stream valleys.

      So plan your route. Work out how long it is going to take you. Check the weather by telephoning for a forecast before you set out and then keep a ‘weather eye out’, as they say, while you are walking.

      Check to see if there is any firing on the ranges, if you are going onto the North Moor, by looking in the local papers, post offices or telephoning if you have any doubts. Watch out for the red flags flying during the day and the red lamps at night on several high points on the edge of the ranges. Remember that it is dangerous to pass the line of red and white posts marking the boundaries of the ranges when there is firing in progress. (An address for information about firing on the Dartmoor ranges is given in Appendix B.)

      Solo walking is a most exhilarating and worthwhile thing to do but it has its dangers. Ideally your party should be three in number, from a safety point of view, so that in the event of an accident one of you can go for help while the other stays with the injured person. I hope it will never happen to you, but if you do find yourself in trouble on Dartmoor with an injured person, or one of your party is suffering from hypothermia, or if somebody is lost you may have to call out the Dartmoor Rescue Group. To do this either ring 999 and ask to be put in touch with the police or go to the nearest police station and they will call out the rescue team. This is the normal procedure in all mountainous areas when you need to mount a rescue operation.

      Some advice that I most certainly would not give for people walking in the mountains in other parts of Britain but that on Dartmoor would be quite safe, is to follow a stream or river down if you are really badly lost. It will take you off the moor to civilisation and probably a telephone.

      Finally, always leave word with someone telling them where you are going and how long you reckon you will be. Better still, leave a written route card with details of your walk and estimated times.

Using the Guide

      The walks are grouped into the four large areas of Dartmoor:

      South Moor

      The South Moor with the road from Ashburton to Tavistock being the northern boundary.

      Widecombe Walks

      The triangular eastern section with the road from Ashburton to Two Bridges being the southern boundary and the road from Moretonhamstead to Two Bridges the northern edge.

      North East Moor

      The north-eastern part of the North Moor with the Moretonhamstead to Two Bridges road as the southern limit and approximately the 60 easting grid line as the western edge.

      North West Moor

      The north-western part of the North Moor with the Two Bridges to Tavistock road as the southern boundary and again approximately the 60 easting grid line as the eastern limit.

      Obviously some walks, especially on the North Moor, edge occasionally into the neighbouring area.

      As explained there is little or no public transport for much of the year on Dartmoor, though it is possible to use the Dartmoor buses in summer. However, these services may not take you to the areas that I shall be suggesting as the starting places for some of the walks, so I have assumed that most of you will be travelling by car. This means that most of the walks will be circular.

      The walks are graded by length: long – 12km (7.5 miles) or more; medium – 4km to 12km (2.5 to 7.5 miles); short – under 4km (2.5 miles).

      They are also classed as hard, moderate or easy, depending on the difficulty of the terrain, the climbing involved and the mapreading and navigation skills involved. With this last, however, it is wise to remember that what may be easy on a clear day can become tricky if the mists come down.

      I assume that you will be able to find your way to the starting points by car from the six-figure map reference given, but I must admit that the maze of lanes, on the eastern edge of Dartmoor particularly, can be confusing!

      I refer to left and rights as if you are following the correct direction СКАЧАТЬ