Dartmoor: England's Last Wilderness? - Peter Caton (Paperback) 28-10-2024

A Dartmoor narrative, exploring many aspects of the moor by means of a series of varied walks and asking the question, is Dartmoor England's last wilderness? The author starts by telling us of the various mishaps he has experienced on Dartmoor and the lessons learned. He moves on to describing walks, each with a theme and including information on the history, legends, geography and people of the moor. Making use of his father's sixty-year-old notebooks, he refers back to some of his childhood walks in the 1960s & 70s. Some of the many controversies and conflicts relating to Dartmoor are discussed, including access, camping and rewilding and the book includes four chapters on battles to save the moor. The author considers what defines a wilderness, whether Dartmoor qualifies and if so, is it England's last. Illustrated with colour and monochrome photos, the book could perhaps be described as a Dartmoor miscellany with themes of walks, wilderness, controversies, and stories of the moor.