The Dartmoor appeal win is a victory against wealthy landowners

This evening, activists will gather under Haytor, Dartmoor’s iconic landmark rocks, to celebrate what feels like a rare victory for the right of citizens to roam. Today, the court of appeal has overturned an earlier decision that ended an assumed and ancient right: that which allowed you to lay your hat and your home without permission more or less anywhere on the park’s 368 square miles. I declare an interest as someone who both lives on the moor and who often disappears with my tent into southern England’s last wilderness for a natural mental health spa — and I am one of many who have been waiting for this appeal outcome for far too long.

In January 2023, a millionaire landowner and hedge fund manager Alexander Darwall challenged the widely held interpretation of the 1985 Dartmoor Commons Act that ‘outdoor recreation’ included the right to camp overnight. In what must count as one of the most perverse judgements in recent times, he won.