By: Blonde Two

It isn’t every day that a couple of girls venture out onto a dark Dartmoor to reach what is perhaps one of the more atmospheric and, by all accounts, haunted locations of that legendary moor, but we Two Blondes were on a mission last Saturday night, a mission that caused us to eat our Plume of Feathers dinner early, leave the comfort of our bunkhouse room, and set off down a dark and lonely track with only sheep’s’ eyes for company.

We were out to put the Ledlenser MT10 Torch through its paces amongst the ruins at Foggintor Quarry. I am used to a headlamp for night navigation but it was interesting having a hand held torch as well and the MT10 did a great job of longer distance lighting, down the dark and slightly eery track.

It is almost a guaranteed night walking fact that the thing that is likely to be the most spooky is the one that will materialise the most suddenly at you out of the dark. Although we know Foggintor Quarry well, the ruins still managed a precipitate, looming appearance as we approached that made my heart skip a beat.

It is the blank, staring windows, I think that give ruins their sense of history and unfinished business. When I look at them I can’t help but think of the faces that once, and maybe still, looked out. As we took these initial photos, pleased by the close-up and more distant lighting effects that the MT10 was giving (maximum lumens 1000 and beam distance of up to 180 metres), I couldn’t help but imagine these faces, unseen but staring, disapprovingly at our activity.

We have visited the Foggintor ruins many times, they are, perhaps, one of the most photographed man-made locations on Dartmoor, but we have never before noticed that there is a blocked-up door in the wall between the two windows. We didn’t notice in the dark either, so when it revealed itself as we looked, safely back at the pub, through our photo collection, it gave both of us a bit of a start. A door that is no longer a door, there had to be a story there.

One thing we Blondes both love about Dartmoor (in the daylight as well as in the dark) is the way that man-made elements combine with nature to create unique and intriguing landscapes. At Foggintor, as at many places around the moor, nature is clearly winning the competition to survive and these trees, rooted into the ruined walls gave us further opportunity for images and food for thought.

We are definitely not photographers but the Ledlenser MT10 Torch (part of Ledlenser’s Outdoor Series) made the job of lighting up our spooky subjects far easier than our own head torches. It fits snugly into a pocket or can be fastened onto a belt for safety and packs a lot of lighting punch for its 156g weight (and £89 price tag). There is a lot to be said for carrying a spare torch instead of batteries even when you don’t intend to be out at night.

We Blondes survived our Blondes Not Scared night time adventure, but one question remains… who was this ghostly Dartmoor apparition? Had she visited from times past or was she a portent of encroaching doom?

From time to time we Blondes are sent free outdoor products to field test and promote on social media. We will always be honest about our findings and any products we don’t keep for ourselves find their way into our expedition stores. Great for us, great for you and great for our youngsters!