Hello people, I was hoping for a bit of advise ! I am going to dartmoor with bivi and tarp , and was hoping to have a small fire , to cook and sit around whittling away until early hours...but all I hear is fires are not allowed, yet in several you tube videos of people's experiences Fires seem to be central.....please can anyone advise?
Fires on dartmoor.
- Thread starter Gee72
- Start date
The problem with Dartmoor is that a lot of it is covered in peat, and peat is flammable. Worse, if you start a peat fire it can smoulder away and do a lot of damage. Laws notwithstanding, I might consider a fire on one of the shingle/sand beaches that you find on some streams but generally I wouldn't risk it anywhere else. A fire stove like the Honey stove would be an option but even then I would take great care.
I had a fire last time on Dartmoor. Nice spot on the banks of the river Dart, just upstream from Ventford reservoir.
xylaria
Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
If dartmoor looks like the tops in south wales at the moment, I wouldnt light a ciggie let alone a fire. Everything is tinderbox dry.
Put it this way me and the lad fancied a walk last weekend, it was toss up between betws north of swansea or the preselis. The preselis won the toss. Got to the top looked over to swansea only to see the mynydd betws with a huge heath fire. When I camped out in this before I pack hard rations that dont need heating.
Put it this way me and the lad fancied a walk last weekend, it was toss up between betws north of swansea or the preselis. The preselis won the toss. Got to the top looked over to swansea only to see the mynydd betws with a huge heath fire. When I camped out in this before I pack hard rations that dont need heating.
You can light fires on Dartmoor as long as they are enclosed (having a firebowl or folding fire box). Ground based fires are illegal unless agreed with the landowner, like the guy that runs the campsite at Cockingford just up the road from Widecombe in the Moor and he allows them next to the stream that runs through the site. Beyond that it's a camping stove.
The laws about fire on Dartmoor are byelaws as they are for most places in the country. Have a good read of them as the fine isn't worth it.
The laws about fire on Dartmoor are byelaws as they are for most places in the country. Have a good read of them as the fine isn't worth it.
just been to dartmoor with my missus for three day wild camping at easter. was not aware of wild fire law. on the last day we meet the ranger, she explained its illegal to have open fire even my one was set up in hobo stove surrounded by stones.
I have wild camped on Dartmoor many a time and I have had a fire beside the river on the shingle as the rest of the forum are saying, It wouldn't be wise to light a fire anywhere there is peat around as you put the fire out and all looks ok but can start coming back to life even a couple of days later, when I was in the Army Reserves (TA) we had to use fire boxes which were placed on a bed of stones to keep the fire off the ground, but even this is not really ideal, my advice is stick to the rivers and streams that run through the area.
Cheers for all the advise guys, I am a bit concerned now as i plan to use my home made wood gas stove to cook on .....I guess I will just stick to rivers and streams .
Shingle by rivers is ideal but you can find rocky places to put your stove on on much of the Moor. Just be aware and it should be fine. The weather forecast is for rain so that should reduce the risk too. I recall some years ago when there had been a long dry spell in the middle of summer, when it rained there was the most appalling smell from the accumulated sheep poo and pee!
Just as a heads up, the moor is very dry at the moment, although rain over the last few days and during the upcoming weekend will no doubt help a bit. There's already been one run-away swaling fire this spring that severely damaged a large area of the National Nature Reserve at Trendlebere Down. I suspect the rangers will be keeping a particularly close eye out for fires at the moment and taking a firmer line with things like hobo stoves and honey stoves than they would in wetter conditions.
