Dartmoor - first trip there

Tobers

Tobers

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Andy
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I had a couple of spare days so decided to make a trip to Dartmoor for the first time to do some landscaping. I love the north west coast of Scotland but it's just too far away and I figured Dartmoor should be pretty interesting and only 3 hours away from me by car. And I was right, it's a very cool place to photograph. I stayed at the Bearslake Inn which I recommend - large room, excellent food, though a tad on the pricey side if you are looking for budget accommodation. This put me on the edge of the moors.

I had been looking forward to amazing sunsets and full-fat sunrises, but didn't get either. What I did get was thick fog, rain, wind, sodden boot sucking bogs, quickmud (like quicksand but mud), damp and cold. However, on the upside I had excellent outdoor gear, compass, map, 2 GPSs with spare batteries etc so was warm, cosy and not lost. With the weather as it was, my sunset and dawn walks were unrewarded in the high octane light stakes, but the mist opens up other opportunities which I quite enjoyed exploring.

I had 2 full frame cameras and 4 lenses with me, plus Lee filters, tripod and other bits, all in a small backpack along with my food & water plus a fleece. One camera was a Sony RX1 giving me a 35mm lens, and the other was a Sony A7R with 21 Olympus 3.5, Sony 55 and Konica M-Hexanon 90 2.8. This setup is super small and light - two big cameras and equivalent lenses would have been a massive weight to lug about.

Anyway, some pics...


Carnage - a recently felled pine forest by Tobers, on Flickr


Embankment - by the side of a road somewhere in the middle of Dartmoor by Tobers, on Flickr

Boggy - up on the top of Great Mis Tor, which is easily accessible up a 1 mile track from a car park by Tobers, on Flickr


Sourton Tors during a rare break in the weather by Tobers, on Flickr

There's so much variety on and around the moor so I'm very keen to return and explore in more detail, especially in winter. Good outdoor gear is essential!
 
Sounds just like Dartmoor. The rest of the UK can be in perfect sunshine while Dartmoor has torrential rain.
I love shots 2 & 3. Really atmospheric.
I'm heading down tomorrow morning for the day :)
 
Yep - Dartmoor at its best! A very 'atmospheric' place and you've captured it well. I'm trying to get down there again, though work commitments mean I'm pinning my hopes on the end of next week. A dslr & 18-135 handheld for me. I'm only little & my rucksack is heavy enough & walking is the main thing for me.
NW Scotland is great too, but a very long way away.
 
Thanks for the feedback. Monochrome was the order of the day for many of my shots as there was simply no colour, or it was all brown. Mind you the heather is coming into bloom nicely.

Count me in as a new Dartmoor fan. The tors are fantastic - difficult to get the scale from pictures without putting a person or something in there, but Great MIS Tor is big, and lots of other smaller tors around and about it as well. Easily accessible and well worth a visit.
 
Dartmoor is another world. Its a great place to go. I recommend Becky falls and Lydford Gorge.

I think youve got some good shots there. I really like number 3, its says Dartmoor. Its great that you made the most of the rubbish weather rather than not bothering. Good stuff!
 
Dartmoor can be an unforgiving place and it demands caution and respect. It is unwise to venture onto the moor when the mist is down. Even on a half decent day the mist can descend in a matter of minutes and catch out the unwary. In such conditions it is very easy to become disorientated even if you have a map and compass and know how to use them properly. Trying to moving around the moor in the mist brings with it the strong possibility of taking a fall and taking damage. You may not be able to call for help as mobile coverage is often patchy, especially in the interior. People die on Dartmoor.

If you are thinking of coming down and going for a stroll across this rugged terrain, read this safety advice - http://www.dartmoorsartplymouth.org.uk/keeping-safe/safety-advice/ - from the Dartmoor Rescue Group.
 
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Stuart M said:
Dartmoor can be an unforgiving place and it demands caution and respect. It is unwise to venture onto the moor when the mist is down. Even on a half decent day the mist can descend in a matter of minutes and catch out the unwary. In such conditions it is very easy to become disorientated even if you have a map and compass and know how to use them properly. Trying to moving around the moor in the mist brings with it the strong possibility of taking a fall and taking damage. You may not be able to call for help as mobile coverage is often patchy, especially in the interior. People die on Dartmoor.

If you are thinking of coming down and going for a stroll across this rugged terrain, read this safety advice - http://www.dartmoorsartplymouth.org.uk/keeping-safe/safety-advice/ - from the Dartmoor Rescue Group.
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Not to mention all those damn Pumas roaming around!
 
Quite right about the precautions you need to take. Happily Great Mis Tor is an easy one with a clear track leading up, but easy to get disorientated if you aren't familiar with the layout which I wasn't. Others are rather trickier in bad weather I imagine. With map, compass and 2x GPS units plus an emergency whistle I felt quite well prepped.

Amazingly when I was up on Black Tor, in the distance through my binocs I saw a man and girl struggling over the bog-land as a large storm moved in. He was in jeans and a t-shirt. She was in leggings and a t-shirt. Both had short ankle outdoor trainer/walking shoes on, but not ankle covering boots. They made their way over to me and we all took shelter in the lee of the Tor, me in several layers of gear, woolly hat, gloves. I gave the girl, who was about 14, an energy bar and some water. The rain just missed us but it was now cold and windy. I suggested they walk back along the longer route down by the river rather than back over the top of the moor, and let them go before then following them a few minutes behind to make sure they made it back to the reservoir car park OK. I was honestly quite prepared to do the 999 thing as, had they been caught in the rain on the tops they'd have been very very cold very very quickly. Not clever.
 
I'm pleased to note that you carried a whistle with you as not many people are aware of that one. You certainly sound as if you are experienced over this sort of terrain although your tale about your unprepared temporary companions clearly demonstrates the dangers. These are just the sort of people that end up being carried off the moor in body bags.
 
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Tobers said:
Quite right about the precautions you need to take. Happily Great Mis Tor is an easy one with a clear track leading up, but easy to get disorientated if you aren't familiar with the layout which I wasn't. Others are rather trickier in bad weather I imagine. With map, compass and 2x GPS units plus an emergency whistle I felt quite well prepped.

Amazingly when I was up on Black Tor, in the distance through my binocs I saw a man and girl struggling over the bog-land as a large storm moved in. He was in jeans and a t-shirt. She was in leggings and a t-shirt. Both had short ankle outdoor trainer/walking shoes on, but not ankle covering boots. They made their way over to me and we all took shelter in the lee of the Tor, me in several layers of gear, woolly hat, gloves. I gave the girl, who was about 14, an energy bar and some water. The rain just missed us but it was now cold and windy. I suggested they walk back along the longer route down by the river rather than back over the top of the moor, and let them go before then following them a few minutes behind to make sure they made it back to the reservoir car park OK. I was honestly quite prepared to do the 999 thing as, had they been caught in the rain on the tops they'd have been very very cold very very quickly. Not clever.
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It's amazing many people go into the wilds totally unprepared for anything. The number of times we have taken people off hillsides that have no decent jacket, let alone a map or compass. It's truly astonishing. On one occasion we found a couple between Pen y Fan and Fan y Big her with tee shirt, slacks and flip flops and him with tee shirt, shorts and pumps. Low cloud had come down it was dusk visibility about 10 Mts and all she had was 20 No6 and a zippo lighter.
It's worrying sometimes, we often discussed that there should be strategically placed signs warning holiday makers not to venture into the wilds without at least basic equipment. But then I guess a zippo is more use than a compass if you don't know how to use it. It's fortunate that GPS it so freely available now but I wouldn't trust my life to one, thankfully you had to learn to navigate with a compass accurately before the days of gps I'm glad I did. When they first arrived they weren't that good and they wouldn't let us use them anyway.
There's something about having a map and compass, and having a spare one in your pack of course;).
Dartmoor is a lovely place enjoy.
 
Steve,

Your last makes me think you are/were a member of Central. I say that because both those peaks you mentioned are within Central's area. An old Plymouth mate is/was a team member with Central ... do you know him? Alan Strudwick.
 
Central yes well Morlais then. Was some years ago, for a while but moved too far out of the area and then an accident finished any serious hill work, still support MREW. The name is familiar was he also with SARDA? I was based at Plymouth for a few years with the military. Are you out of the Uni? Wanted to settle down in Wales but the my work then moved me around a lot. Then coming out of the service and having a family I ended up in Hampshire, not that many peaks here;).

Used to do some work at Hampshires centre at Heol Senni and Argoed but unfortunately family commitments took over then my accident finished it. I take it you are still active.
 
I've known Dartmoor since my teens (which was a very long time ago) and I've seen (and probably rescued) some absolute idiots. Sadly if you put warning signs up some people will choose to ignore them. You see that often enough at the coast, and on the roads! The people in the rescue groups have my deepest admiration. Andy, I thought from your original post that you knew what you were doing. You can come again!
 
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