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.

Searching around, and after a delightful misunderstanding led me to discover thermopedia (who are also interested in re-wetting, just not the same kind) I found some interesting notes.

In the context of Dartmoor, moorland and fen re-wetting appears to be a term for restoring natural water flow by blocking off human introduced drainage and erosion channels. Moorlands have been drained on a literally industrial scale for all sorts of reasons from farming to mining to water supply. Peat has been removed at a ferocious rate for fuel and Naptha and occasionally bombed by the military. Re-wetting aims to improve biodiversity and carbon absorption, and makes a difference to both in a relatively short time, primarily through new growth, initially it’s not restoring lost peat, its just better than drained moor. It appears that it will take decades to restore lost peatland, hardy surprising given the 10,000 or so years it has been accumulating, and only around 1% of Dartmoor's healthy peat land remains.

Re-wetting also helps reduce flooding by reducing run off, keeping water for longer on the moor and in flood plains. This is also good for water supplies, according to the South West Peatland Project 45% of South West Water’s daily water supply falls on the moors.

The methods of re-wetting are simple, even if getting materials to where they are needed is not. Essentially ‘leaky dams’ are created with natural materials like peat, heather and willow branches. Sturdier dams are constructed from stone or timber. If you do give a dam about dams the Headwaters Natural Flood Management project bulletin has details of experiments and evaluations and there are some good pictures of re-wetting on Holne Moor on Adrian Colston’s informative blog.

Oh, and if you're interested in the meaning of the sentence in the opening paragraph, which is of course entirely made up, it roughly translates to " I was at the big gully at Ringleshutes Mine, near the way in, where there's all that fluffy cotton grass, at first I thought it was random rocks but it turned out be the site of a pit for separating minerals."

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.

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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