Dartmoor rally to extend public access to the countryside

Dartmoor rally to defend and extend our access to the countryside!

Rally at midday. Read on for details.

If you are planning to join us, please ensure you read on for important information, and select the appropriate ticket to help us prepare. Please do not bring dogs.

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We need new laws to defend and extend our access to the countryside.

The Supreme Court has ruled in favour of wild camping on Dartmoor. A right that was under threat has been defended. A tradition that connects us to the land, the sky, and something far older than laws has been upheld.

But this win is not the end. Because while Dartmoor’s stars remain free, much of our land is still locked away. Access is still a postcode lottery. The Right to Roam still doesn’t exist in law. The fact that one landowner came so close to extinguishing a centuries-old tradition, enjoyed by millions, shows just how fragile our current access rights truly are.

We need a Right to Roam Act to protect and extend access in England, to bring us in line with Scotland and Scandinavia where strong access laws provide a presumption of access with sensible exceptions.

Join us at Haytor on Monday 26th May to call on the government to step up on behalf of responsible access to the countryside and to make good on their manifesto pledge to improve responsible access to nature, and with it to provide people with the right to sleep under the stars.

GETTING TO HAYTOR

We’re rallying at Haytor for midday. You may want to arrive early, or make a day of it by walking over the moors. Read on for details…

While Haytor is one of the more accessible locations on Dartmoor, we still need your help to make this work. We're expecting large numbers and we encourage as many people as possible to walk to Haytor for midday. We are keeping the closest car parks available for those with the most need - otherwise we ask that you park further away at one of the other car parks marked on our map (see below) and walk to Haytor. Please consider which option is right for you.

If you are walking rather than getting a coach, please select the ‘i'll make my own way’ option as this helps to give us an idea of numbers to expect.

If you are unable to walk from a location further away, we’d encourage you to arrive earlier on in order to be able to park at one of the three nearby carparks.

If you are planning on travelling by train, we are running coaches from Newton Abbot Train station in the morning and returning in the afternoon. We are charging a small fee per seat in order to recover our costs as much as possible. If this is a barrier to you attending please contact hello@righttoroam.org.uk;

WHAT TO BRING

Please come prepared for the weather, and dress appropriately. The forecast can change quickly, and we’ll be on open moorland. Closer to the event we’ll send more information about the likely conditions.

If you are first-aid qualified please let us know when you select your tickets, and if possible come with first aid supplies. We encourage everyone to look after one another.

Bring lunch water and hot drinks, and snacks to keep you and others going. Please make sure you look after the moorland and pick up any litter you see.

HOW TO PREPARE

This case has always been bigger than Dartmoor and in this moment we are calling for the government to step up on behalf of access to nature across the country - it’s time for a Right to Roam Act - new legislation to protect, restore and extend our access to the countryside.

We’d like you to consider what a right to roam means to you - and why everyone should have the opportunity to sleep under the stars. We’d like you to make your own star to bring along on the day - and decorate it with your response to these questions.

This video might help to inspire you!

But also, please spread the word, encourage others to join the rally, and sign up to our newsletter.

Wildlife!

We are currently in the bird nesting season, and we need to take special care not to disturb birds at this time of year. There is a rare bird nesting area south of the main road near Hay Tor and others nearby … see this map from DNPA.

We'd like to ask you to avoid these areas before, during, and after the rally, and in general, if you are walking in from nearby or a distance, please keep to known footpaths. This way we can avoid unnecessary disturbance, and show clearly that, as well as being passionate about access, we are responsible and care about nature.

For the same reason, we ask that you do not bring dogs.

Also, we’re sure you know this, please don’t feed or pet the ponies if they are around!

See you on the moor.

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We need your support more than ever. We are a grassroots campaign, run on a shoestring, and almost entirely funded by individual monthly donations by our supporters. Our ability to keep campaigning for the future we all deserve is in the hands of people like you who choose to chip in a fiver or tenner every month. We now need to massively ramp up our campaigning - and we need your help.

Please become a regular donor to the Right to Roam campaign.