By: Blonde Two
There are many tales of ghosts and apparitions on Dartmoor, but I never thought that I would have one to tell of my own. There are a few places on the moor that unsettle the hairs on the back of your neck, but on the whole Dartmoor at night is a friendly place.
Which is why, when Mr B2 and I bivvied on Saturday night. I snuggled down into my multiple bags without any thought of spooks and ghouls. There is something utterly amazing about drifting in and out of sleep whilst watching the stars above you. Only a dullard could fail to feel content at the experience.
I estimate that it was about two in the morning when I woke up needing the loo. I sat up in my multiple bag system and rubbed my eyes. The moor had misted over and visibility was down to about twenty metres. The stars had gone.
I looked over to my right and saw, amidst the flat, grassy landscape, something upright. It was just a blur to start with. I didn’t have my glasses on, but gradually, with a bit more eye rubbing, a distinct shape started to emerge.
It was the shape of a Dartmoor walker. You would recognise the type if you saw him. A tall man, used to striding across the moor. He had a rucksack on his back and was wearing shorts and gaiters. Although I was puzzled as to why someone would be crossing a particularly wet bit of moor at night without a torch, I didn’t have any worries about his intentions. He was a protective character, I felt like I knew him.
I considered calling out or waking Mr B2 up, but neither of those seemed like the right thing to do. I sat for a while and watched the figure. He could have been moving across the moor, or the mist could have been moving across him. I felt like we were two kindred spirits, sharing the same space but keeping our distance from each other.
Now I want to believe what I experienced that night. I like the idea of a ‘Guardian of the Moor’. You might choose to believe it too.
OR
You might be interested to hear that, when I eventually turned my torch on, my Guardian of the Moor disappeared and my walking pole came into view. I had stuck it in the ground earlier and completely forgotten about it.
Just in case I think you should be deferential to your pole in future.
I once arose in the early hours of the morning to watch an eclipse of the moon. I knew where the moon would be and viewed fro my kitchen window. Nothing happened. Disillusioned I returned to bed. Next morning I had another look and realised I had been observing a street light up the road.
The best decision you ever made – or ever will make. Not waking Mr B2.
Playing the organ often takes me across our churchyard in the dark – and oh, those grave stones can take some funny shapes, but last week there really was a stranger there, and he was carrying a gun. For a brief moment I shook in my shoes. But our church is about 300 yards across a field from the road, and the farmland has rather a lot of rabbits – – –
That sounds very scary indeed. Not sure I could do a church yard!