Wild camping campaigners on Dartmoor earlier this year. Photograph: Jim Wild

We thank Helena Horton for her update on this story we linked to just a few days ago:

Wild camping allowed on Dartmoor again after court appeal succeeds

Dartmoor National Park Authority had appealed against January high court ruling that outlawed practice

Wild camping is once again allowed on Dartmoor after the national park won a successful appeal against a ruling in a case brought by a wealthy landowner.

Camping had been assumed to be allowed under the Dartmoor Commons Act since 1985, until a judge ruled otherwise in January. It was the only place in England such an activity was allowed without requiring permission from a landowner.

The case hinged on whether wild camping counted as open-air recreation, leading to a long debate in the court of appeal. Lawyers acting for Alexander Darwall, the landowner, argued it was not, because when camping one was only sleeping rather than enjoying a particular activity.

Lawyers for the Dartmoor National Park Authority (DNPA) and Open Spaces Society argued that backpack camping was an ancient tradition and popular pastime on Dartmoor, and gazing at the stars before waking to the sound of the morning chorus was certainly open-air recreation.

On Monday, the court of appeal panel, consisting of Sir Geoffrey Vos, Lord Justice Underhill and Lord Justice Newey, ruled that wild camping counted as open-air recreation and should therefore be allowed on the commons.

Vos said: “In my judgment, on its true construction, section 10 (1) of the Dartmoor Commons Act 1985 confers on members of the public the right to rest or sleep on the Dartmoor commons, whether by day or night and whether in a tent or otherwise.”…

Read the whole article here.