This is a photo of Foggintor Quarry on Dartmoor that I took this morning. I took it shortly after sunrise and was hoping for glorious warm morning light to bathe the granite cliffs but it didn’t really materialise. I quite like the photo and think it gives the right mood to how the morning was. It really feels desolate in the silence of the quarry. The scale of the huge granite rocks strewn everywhere is quite surreal.
Today was one of those days that every landscape photographer has to have at some point where nothing seems to want to go right, with one thing going wrong after another. I set my alarm for 4:55am and finally woke at 5:30am realising that I had my work cut out for me if I was to get to Dartmoor before the sunrise at 7:22am. I decided to push ahead and make the 50 mile trip figuring that no shots are achieved unless you are actually out there. Unlike Sunday mornings the roads were quite busy this morning and I watched the sun rise illuminate the sky in colour just 5 minutes away from my destination.
A Hike to Kings Tor
After photographing the disused quarry I decided to walk over to Kings Tor and maybe to re-visit the Merrivale stones. Once I got to the low ground I realised how boggy the ground was, but continued carefully picking my steps which worked perfectly until the clump I chose to stand on sunk with me on it. My Karrimor shoes are weather proof, but not when the water is up to my shins! I was at the point of no return so finished my hike up Kings Tor. After taking a few photos I hiked north down the tor and then up to my car which was parked by the entrance to Yellowmead Farm. My third calamity was sinking up to my knees on the way in the peat bogs on the way, which made the journey back to the car difficult to say the least.
Thankfully I had spare trousers, shoes and socks back at the car and a flask of hot coffee so I was soon warming up! By now I had decided that today just wasn’t my day for amazing landscape photos and the light wasn’t great so I decided to call it a day and head home. This is a prime example of why everyone should be prepared for a whole manner of things to guarantee safety when out on the moor. Dartmoor and the other UK national parks are great places to visit but it really pays to take precautions.
