Roaming Rippon Tor Rifle Range

As I walked along, appreciating the quiet un-spoilt undulations of eastern Dartmoor and a brief break in the October rain I was perturbed to find a monstrous man made edifice, a huge stepped red block rising from the ground as if someone had fallen asleep on their Minecraft controller.

This was in fact the back of Rippon Tor Rifle Range. There are ranges all over Dartmoor and have been since the 17th Century. Rippon Tor Rifle range was part of Haytor Range and built during the second world war when the majority of Dartmoor was commandeered for training. Reading up afterwards I learned the range was active until the mid sixties finally closing in nineteen seventy seven. Many interesting structures on Dartmoor were destroyed once they became redundant, apparently the rifle range was saved by the landowner due to it’s historic interest.

There are a number of features remaining, including the imposing stop butt, the thing is massive, reportedly 55 metres long by 15.5 metres wide and around 9.2 meters high. The range area, clearly delineated by fence posts is 600 meters long and 80 wide.

Entrance gate, markers gallery right, stop butt left.

The stop butt is there to stop projectiles hurtling into the moor, its angled to prevent ricochet and sufficiently distanced from other structures to prevent them being hit by backsplash, material thrown up by impacts.

Across the moors from the top of the stop butt

Something which puzzles me slightly is that the stop butt slopes downwards, while the firing points are level.
A quick detour to the west finds a water tank guarded by ponies…

Nearby is the site of a summerhouse, which according to Legendary Dartmoor was used by a local family for shooting rabbits.

An abandoned excavator sits near the entrance gate.

Heading back down range the next structure is the markers gallery, this is where targets were raised and assuming something was hit, scores given. The gallery is protected by a manlet with curved reinforced concrete supporting a large mound of earth.

The first of the twelve target frames

Looking up the markers gallery

Roofless workshop and store building attached to the gallery.

The targets were mounted on Hythe Target Frames, which may be seen at various similar sites in Britain. Marvellously they are still listed here and the site which sells all sorts stuff explains:

“A very useful & long lasting device, which can very easily be operated. It is made of steel consisting of long four steel uprights, two diagonals, one steel shaft with two iron pulley, grooved for wire ropes. There are two targets carriers in the form of double girders with fixed ball bearing. It saves time wasted in target repair”

Beside the target markers gallery is a target store and workshop.

Inside the workshop are what could be the original window frames.

Walking further down range There are four earth mounds perpendicular to the targets with sunken firing points, the rearmost are prominent, while the nearest to the gallery is indistinct and covered in vegetation. Galumphing around it is easy to miss the firing pits and take a tumble.

Firing Pits in the first bay are thoroughly over grown. SX 750 737

Looking along the nearest firing point.

The two rear most embankments.

Firing Pit at SX750736

One of six Firing Pits, SX750735

Equipment to communicate across the range, on the embankment at SX 751 734

Moving down the tarmac road we find the latrine block...

….and the troop shelter and office.

Troop hut with bench brackets.

Rear of the troop hut

There's a lot more to see than structures, the woods nearby are full of life.

Further Reading & references

https://www.legendarydartmoor.co.uk/rippon_rifle.htm

https://military-history.fandom.com/wiki/Rippon_Tor_Rifle_Range

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rippon_Tor_Rifle_Range

https://www.heritagegateway.org.uk/Gateway/Results_Single.aspx?uid=MDV55113&resourceID=104

Trekkertent Stealth 1.5 Tarp Tent Review

Trekkertent pitched on Dartmoor, not entirely blending in. As I walked along it occurred to me that I should sing the praises of the Trekkertent Stealth 1.5 , a lightweight double wall tent hand made by a small outfit in Perth, Scotland. I brought the Trekkertent to replace another fine British tent, the Terra Nova Solar Photon . The Solar Photon was ludicrously light for a free standing tent, and incredibly easy to pitch. I was always conscious that the materials were both very expensive and very thin, not that I actually had any problems or damage, even after a sketchy moment when the outer transformed itself into an expensive kite one particularly breezy evening in the Pentland Hills. Primarily I wanted a simple, robust shelter that took advantage of the fact that I was already carrying poles.

The Abbots Way Walk. Possibly.

The Abbots Way winds from East to West across Dartmoor from the small village of Buckfast to the small town of Tavistock. It starts and ends with quiet country lanes, bookends for the longer part of the walk across open undulating, and somewhat soggy moorland.

The Lych (Wrong) Way Walk

As I walked along I considered the rather high proportion of dead to alive that had, over long centuries, completed this forlorn path across Dartmoor. For some it was their last journey. This path is the Lych Way, a corpse road along which bodies were carried from all across the ancient Dartmoor forest, ready to be buried on consecrated ground in Lydford Church yard. The Lych Way is a day long, twelve mile taste of the magic, and occasional misery, Dartmoor has to offer. In between gorgeous views it passes through ancient woods, scrubby moorland, army ranges, soggy bogs, prehistoric and modern relics, fords and stepping stones. A keen eye will notice boundary stones, hidden crosses, wild flowers and wildlife. It doesn’t need a keen ear to realise how quiet and tranquil some stretches are. All this is strung between two quintessential Devon villages replete with pubs, coffee and conveniences.

Speedster Spirit Stove and Pot Stand Review

Simmer ring, burner, lid, simples. This isn’t so much a review as an honourable mention. The simple, reliable things in life are often taken for granted, especially when they work well and do exactly what they are intended to do every time. I term these ‘door handle products’. Not necessarily exciting, but rather important and only likely to be noticed when they don't work or get snagged on a coat. The Speedster spirit stove is one such product. Brought four years ago for the princely sum of £5.40 it’s proven to be a reliable practical burner. Speedster Backpacking Products are a UK company who offer all sorts of useful gear for UK hiking, from tick removers to spirit refill bottles, their stock is clearly based on experience.

Lightweight camp coffee, how to get a decent brew on the go.

No coffee, no walkee as they say. How then do you get a good coffee in the middle of nowhere? Is it worth a five mile detour to get a lovingly crafted flat white or is there something you can carry to satiate cravings until you throw yourself upon the sympathy and dubious charm of the local barista? I’ve pondered these questions over long drudgerous miles, when all that keeps me going is imagining the most exquisite coffee known to humankind waiting for me at the end. What follows is a few solo coffee options for ultralight hiking and wild camping.

What on earth is re-wetting?

Isn't Dartmoor wet enough already? As I walked along I pondered the term I’d just heard, “they are re-wetting over there”. What on earth was that? A local version of hair of the dog? A second excuse to celebrate a new born’s arrival? I thought I was getting quite good at Dartmoor vernacular. Although it’s taken years I can just about deal with sentences like “I was at the Ringleshutes Mine Gert near the adit, in all that pixie wool, at first I thought it was clitter but it turned out to be a buddle”. Re-wetting was a new one on me.

The Dartmoor Two Tramways Hike: Section 1 - Ivybridge to Redlake

As I walked along the tramway stretched out for miles, I was walking for fun, pack lightened by decades of innovation, a stark contrast to the tough people who built and worked line, facing fickle Dartmoor conditions in heavy layers of cotton, wool and leather. This post is an overview of a point to point weekend route I tried between lock-downs. It was designed to be accessible by train, take in two of Dartmoor’s more substantial disused Tramways, a couple of nights wild camping and a brace of bracing wild swims.

As I Walked Along

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