Tale of two tribes in Dartmoor wild camping row

His critics would have you believe Alexander Darwall is a modern day version of Poldark villain George Warleggan.

A stern faced, hunting and shooting, rich banker who made a fortune in France, gave £90,000 to Nigel Farage’s party, £5,000 to the local Tory MP, bought a large chunk of Dartmoor and promptly banned the ancient right of local folk to camp under the stars.

To his friends Mr Darwall is more like Ross Poldark, a heritage hero who is saving a national park by stopping people who endanger its wildlife and pollute the landscape with litter – and much worse.

The bitter debate that has divided Devon began when Alexander and Diana Darwall argued that some wild campers on their land caused problems to livestock and the environment. They sought a court declaration that members of the public could only pitch tents there overnight with their consent.

Mr and Mrs Darwall, who keep cattle on Stall Moor, which forms part of their more than 3,450-acre estate in the southern part of Dartmoor, secured a finding from a judge that a 1985 law, which regulates access to moorland, does not provide a right to wild camp.

But to those who, like their families before them, regularly enjoy overnight stays on the land, the decision is one they could not stand for.

Protests soon started to build and on Friday, an under fire Dartmoor National Park Authority announced it will appeal against the High Court ruling that declared people need Mr Darwall’s – the landowners – permission to camp.

The pressure has come from Britain’s camping and walking communities, thousands of whom travelled to protest against last week’s ruling.

Right to Roam, the environmental activist group, was one among those who travelled to the southwest, organising a march in which an estimated 2,000 people took part.

Walkers weaved through the picturesque village of Cornwood and past the Stall Moor, at the heart of the Darwalls’ court argument. There was singing and dancing at Croken Tor – the traditional centre of Dartmoor, where tin miners would meet to adjudicate disputes in years gone by.

Hand-painted signs with cartoon depictions of Mr Darwall featured slogans such as ‘Please sir, I want some Moor’ and ‘The peasants are revolting’.

While protesters came from as far as Essex and the Midlands, there was a strong local contingent determined to show their opposition against what they believe should remain a space free to use for all.

Devon native Guy Singh-Watson, a farmer and creator of Riverford, an organic farm and UK-wide organic vegetable box delivery company, said he camped on Dartmoor on many occasions over the past 50 years and has never found “so much as a crisp packet left behind”.

Mr Darwall’s decision to seek the court order had nothing to do with protecting Dartmoor, according to Mr Watson-Singh, who claimed that the hedge fund manager bought the land to “run pheasant shoots and holiday lets” and to “make even more money.”

Writing in his blog he even went as far to suggest that Mr Darwall’s “arrogance, ignorance and selfishness” risked the “trashing of our social contract by the rich and powerful.”

The Dartmoor National Park Authority (DNPA) has said it will “endorse” an apparent compromise – the “new permissive system” in which landowners would grant permission to the authority to allow the public to wild camp.

The authority also said it would investigate which areas of common land, owned by DNPA, could be opened up to backpack camping.

The “permissive system” would involve landowners entering into a legal agreement with DNPA, with up to £300 paid annually to landowners who opt in.

A DNPA report said this money would be taken from the Projects Fund in 2023/24 and in future years would be built into the revenue budget.

Xural.com