'Something beautiful has been swept away': Activists pledge to fight Dartmoor camping ban

Standing atop Hound Tor, the wind whistling, ponies grazing nearby and the greens and browns of Dartmoor visible through the filter of damp mist, the towering facade of the high court couldn't feel more distant.

But on Saturday morning, carrying his rucksack containing his tent, a trash can, a trowel and kitchen equipment, Mark Hayhurst, 43, came here to mourn a court ruling on Friday that made it illegal to wild camp on the grounds without permission. swept away,” he said, white-flecked rocks strewn on the ground behind him.

Most weekends he comes here to roam, pitching his tent when he is too exhausted to walk any further, and the next day, after a morning coffee cooked on his stove, continues. The outdoor enthusiast and educator regularly brings groups of youngsters to the moors and has led children on the Duke of Edinburgh's Awards and Ten Tors Expedition training.

It's a vital resource for everyone, especially those with poor mental health, he said. "It's something the government should protect, not erode," he added. “Who takes care of these people? People who come here for comfort?"

Although it is now technically illegal to do so, he plans to continue camping on Dartmoor, which he does recreationally for decades, ever since he started coming with his parents as a child.

He said, "This landscape is used and enjoyed for generations. It is for more than the rights of an individual. It is something that challenges the rights of any individual."

At night, between 100 and 150 people camp on the moor, he estimated .

Until the High Court removed the right to wild camping on Dartmoor, the area was the last remaining place in England and Wales where camping in backpacking was allowed without asking permission.

The Dartmoor National Park Authority (DNPA) argued that the decades-old tradition was protected by regulation of the law Dartmoor Commons Act 1985, which allows access "to all common property on foot and on horseback for the purpose of free access - aerial recreation".

But Sir Julian Flaux, Chancellor of the High Court, agreed with lawyers for Alexander Darwall, a hedge fund manager and Dartmoor's sixth largest landowner, who brought the case against the p arc national, saying the right to wild camping on the moors had never existed.

Flaux also said there was "no local camping custom that has force of law” and that some wild campers on Darwall’s 1,619-hectare (4,000-acre) Blachford Estate – where Darwall operates pheasant shoots, deer and vacation rentals – had caused problems for livestock and the environment .

The ruling, which means anyone wishing to camp on Dartmoor will first need to seek permission from the relevant landowner, has devastated roaming rights campaigners and nature lovers, who vowed to "go to war" against the decision and threatened a wave of protests.

DNPA said that she was considering her next steps regarding an appeal. The Observer understands that he intends to take the case to the Court of Appeal, where he hopes to have a more sympathetic judge.

Gillian Healey, a Dartmoor guide and wild camper, who takes groups of children to Dartmoor for the Duke of Edinburgh's Award and for Ten Tors training, said the new decision would create huge complications . "We have shelters with us as leaders, and if a storm comes does that mean we're breaking the law?"

And the implications are fine beyond Dartmoor, she told me. “We are witnessing a real erosion of rights and access to nature. Being a regular walker I see a lot of paths being blocked, signs being moved, old paths that are on the OS [Ordnance Survey] map that should be there that are no longer the...