4 guides
Yes Tor and High Willhays: When Dartmoor's Highest Point Is Inside a Firing Range
High Willhays is Dartmoor’s highest point at 621 metres, standing beside Yes Tor within the Okehampton military training area. Public access to both depends on the range being open, so walkers must check the published firing times and red-flag warnings before setting out.
The Hairy Hands of Dartmoor: When Drivers Lost Control on the B3212 and Blamed Something Invisible
The Hairy Hands legend grew around early-twentieth-century accidents on the B3212 between Postbridge and Two Bridges, including a fatal motorcycle crash in 1921. Later accounts claimed that phantom hands seized handlebars or steering wheels, combining documented accidents with witness stories and Dartmoor folklore.
Vixen Tor: The Dartmoor Landmark You Still Can't Visit
When a landowner fenced off Vixen Tor in 2003, it triggered years of legal wrangling over whether the public had any right to clamber over this particular pile of Dartmoor granite. A public inquiry eventually concluded they didn't. Two decades later, the tor remains behind barriers—a peculiar footnote in the ongoing story of who gets to walk where on Britain's open moorland.
Bowerman's Nose: The Dartmoor Rock Stack That Punishes Working Weekends
This distinctive tor on Dartmoor supposedly marks the spot where a hunter and his pack were petrified mid-chase for the crime of hunting on the Sabbath. The details shift depending on who's telling it—some versions blame divine wrath, others point to a vengeful witch—but everyone agrees that working Sundays came with rather permanent consequences.