JANUARY 2023 · ADVENTURE
Right to Roam: Raising Old Crockern to Defend Dartmoor
Southern Dartmoor, England
Three thousand people came to Cornwood on 21 January 2023. The occasion was the Right to Roam rally — a response to a legal judgment by landowner Alexander Darwall that had removed the automatic right to wild camp on Dartmoor, the only place in England and Wales where such a right had existed. The rally was called Raise the Crockern, after the spirit of Dartmoor in local mythology: Old Crockern, grey, ancient, said to gallop across the moor on dark nights.
The march assembled in the lanes around the village — hedge-lined, narrow, the kind of Devon lanes where two people can barely pass. Signs: "No Darn Walls Here," screen-printed on boards. "Hedges Not Hedgefunds," handwritten on card. "Our Space Are For Everyone," on a wooden roadside sign. A woman with an illustrated map of Dartmoor on her placard, the detail visible from close up.
The scale became visible at golden hour on the moorland: thousands spread across the open ground, colourful coats and banners, the stone village buildings silhouetted behind them.
Cornwood — January 2023
People moved through the hedge-lined pathways and across the open moorland, gathering mass as they went. The scale became visible at golden hour on the moorland: thousands spread across the open ground, colourful coats and banners, the stone village buildings silhouetted behind them. Dense crowd in front of the stone church in the village square. Orange banners. Colourful hats.
The effigy of Old Crockern was ornate — straw construction, dressed in green fabric, decorated. Someone adjusting the cloth strips on it at sunset, methodical. The effigy surrounded by the gathered crowd, then paraded. Musicians and costumed performers at the rally end, a guitar player, masked figures, dusk light going amber behind them.
The Dartmoor right to wild camp was restored by Parliament later that year.
Right to Roam banner held among thousands of Dartmoor protest participants
Woman adjusting decorative cloth strips on Old Crockern effigy at sunset
Ornate straw effigy dressed with fabric surrounded by gathered protestors
Protesters holding signs with messages about nature access rights
Wooden signage reading 'Our Space Are For Everyone' at roadside
Protester holding illustrated sign showing map design on Dartmoor
Group walking along country lane with protest banners visible
Hiker in colorful jacket leading a group down rural woodland path
Protesters moving through hedge-lined pathway on Dartmoor moorland
Wide view of marching protestors crossing open moorland landscape
Colored stone buildings framing crowd gathered in town square
Dense crowd of Dartmoor protestors gathered in front of stone church
Handwritten pink sign reading 'No Mans Land' held above crowd
Wooden protest sign with brown lettering in front of gathered people
People holding handmade signs with environmental access messages
Group displaying signs about hedgerow protection and land access
Crowd in town square with colorful hats and orange banners
Sign reading 'No Darn Walls Here' displayed on storefront window
Gathered crowd beneath stone structures and bare trees at gathering
Protesters assembling in hedge-lined lane before reaching rally point
Colorful crowd gathered at sunset on Dartmoor moorland
Dense gathering of participants with 'Leave No One Behind' sign visible
Protestor holding 'Right to Roam' banner above gathered crowd
Person with 'Hedges Not Hedgefunds' sign among assembled protestors
Crowd gathered at dusk with moorland landscape visible beyond
Masses of people spread across open Dartmoor at golden hour
Vibrant crowd with 'Leave No One Alone' sign at sunset gathering
Sunset illuminating gathered protestors on moorland
Thousands assembled with stone village buildings silhouetted at dusk
Crowded moorland gathering with 'Right to Roam' signs displayed
Old Crockern effigy draped in green fabric among crowd participants
Decorated straw figure with colorful fabrics surrounded by celebrating crowd
Old Crockern effigy close-up showing ornate costume and decorations
Musicians and costumed performers at rally with flags and instruments
Celebratory gathering with guitar player and masked performers at dusk