Page 46 - 2018 AMA Winter

CLIMBINGMEETS
Bellever Tor
production, storage and management of gunpowder and was operational until 1897. Consequently, it closed in response to the advent of dynamite as the preferred explosive. From Powdermills, the public bridleway was taken into the West Dart valley to pick up the Devonport Leat down-stream to Beardown Farm and Two Bridges. Originally constructed by hand to provide water to Plymouth Docks, the leat is fed by the West Dart River before contouring Beardown Hill and the Cowsic valley to Princetown, culminating near Burrator Reservoir. When first constructed it travelled all the way to Plymouth Docks, a distance of 27 miles. The home stretch to Princetown was mostly on roads with the amphithe- atre of the open moorland and towering tors giving way to the ominous outline of the towering granite walls of Dartmoor Prison.
The history of the prison is well documented by the prison museum
Daz on Fogintor Quarry
and online at www.dartmoor-prison. co.uk. The prison came into existence during the Napoleonic Wars with the first prisoners arriving in 1809. Despite reaching capacity in its inaugural year, by 1813 additional American prisoners from the ‘War of 1812’ exacerbated overcrowding before post-war releases witnessed the final prisoners depart in 1816. A period of closure followed before the gates were reopened as a penal establishment in 1850 to accommodate Victorian convicts, many of whom were ‘mostly invalids and imbeciles who it was thought would benefit from the fresh Dartmoor air’. Over time, the invalids and imbeciles were replaced with the worst criminals that Victorian England had to offer but it wasn’t long before the prison returned to its roots as a wartime gaol. Rebranded a Government Labour Camp during the Great War of 1914-18, it was used to house Conscientious Objectors under slightly more liberal conditions. However, times have changed in the last
100 years and the prison now houses low category prisoners. The days of hard graft (quarrying, digging, armed guards and strict punishment) are long gone.
And so, it was that I arrived back at the Plume of Feathers, tired, hot, sweaty, stained brown by bog water and thirsting for a pint – the latter gratefully consumed. The climbers by this stage were already back reminiscing of their day on Sheeps Tor and Foggintor Quarry tackling the many available single pitch routes. The tales of miles walked, pitches climbed, sites and sights seen, disco legs and granite sapped strength continued well into the evening and over dinner where hearty meals of local produce were devoured in a desperate attempt to replace lost calories.
I hung up my boots on Sunday, opting to accompany the climbers to the Dewerstone, a prime climbing venue which UK Climbing reports as having over 140 climbs. These crags are ‘a fantastic low to middle grade venue which remains climbable year round... consist[ing] of a number of contrasting crags which vary from multi-pitch classics to single pitch micro routes’. However, in no way will I elaborate on my half-hearted attempt on what proved to be a challenging ‘VDiff’ route. A route that was accomplished by Daz and Natalie, the ‘real’ climbers, with comparable ease. As with Wistman’s Wood, the Dewerstone is steeped in legend. Dewer (aka the Devil incarnate or Wisht Huntsman in other stories) is alleged to have roamed the moors with his hounds, chasing unsuspecting travellers to their death over the crags of the Dewerstone at which point they were devoured by his ravenous hounds...
...And this tale of terror concludes the Dartmoor meet.
46 / ARMY MOUNTAINEER
Wistman’s Wood