Phoebe Smith
author of Extreme Sleeps: Adventures of a Wild Camper
For my entire lifetime, Dartmoor has been a place I’ve associated with freedom. Its weather-scoured tors, ancient stone rows and endless, pathless opportunities have not only been accessible by train, but have also allowed me to wild camp without the worry that anyone has the right to move me on.
It has been the place that I’ve taken or sent countless newbies – from families eager to give their children a first taste of the wild and teach them responsible ‘leave no trace’ camping, to older hillwalkers only just getting into the activity and eager to ensure no laws are broken, to women already concerned about taking a leap into solo wild camping who don’t want the added stress of being asked to move on. Yet all that has now come to a devastating end.
The High Court has ruled that our much-documented right to wild camp that was believed to have been
