On the climb along the ridgeline towards Buckland Beacon the weather shifted constantly, giving us a moody December skyline that felt entirely in keeping with the season. Rupert, of course, was far less concerned with the atmosphere and far more delighted by the puddles left after all the recent rain, pausing here to claim one as his own. From this spot the ridge rises gently towards the Beacon itself, where the famous Ten Commandments Stones stand carved into the granite - just on the other side. Buckland Beacon itself rises to 1,253 feet and has long served as one of Dartmoor’s frontier heights, used for beacon fires from the days of the Spanish Armada to the Silver Jubilee of 1935, and again for the Millennium, Queen Elizabeth II’s Jubilee and the 80th VE Celebration.
