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All the Tors: One woman's 300km hiking adventure across Dartmoor
Dartmoor. 119 tors over 10 days. 300km. Solo.“Never did I imagine that I would have trouble finding the tors. This was supposed to be an endurance challenge, not a navigational one.”
To mark Dartmoor Rescue’s 50th Anniversary and her 25th year on the planet, Emily Woodhouse sets out on a solo expedition across Dartmoor. Boldly independent, she should have all the experience she needs from Dartmoor Rescue, mountain leading and 15 years of living on the moors. Although she has never walked so far for so long or wild camped alone before. Never mind that she can barely lift her over-packed rucksack.
But when horrendous weather sets in, Emily realises that a pleasantly strenuous challenge has turned into a survival mission. Battling forwards against the elements, she crosses the backdrop of her childhood, haunted by feeling so connected to this landscape and yet still being an outsider.
As the tor count clocks up, Emily wrestles with the rules she’s set herself and the fine line between strong willed and stupid. Expect fog, bog and a personal journey towards belonging.
To mark Dartmoor Rescue’s 50th Anniversary and her 25th year on the planet, Emily Woodhouse sets out on a solo expedition across Dartmoor. Boldly independent, she should have all the experience she needs from Dartmoor Rescue, mountain leading and 15 years of living on the moors. Although she has never walked so far for so long or wild camped alone before. Never mind that she can barely lift her over-packed rucksack.
But when horrendous weather sets in, Emily realises that a pleasantly strenuous challenge has turned into a survival mission. Battling forwards against the elements, she crosses the backdrop of her childhood, haunted by feeling so connected to this landscape and yet still being an outsider.
As the tor count clocks up, Emily wrestles with the rules she’s set herself and the fine line between strong willed and stupid. Expect fog, bog and a personal journey towards belonging.
132 pages, Kindle Edition
Published August 28, 2020
6 people are currently reading
18 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
February 14, 2022
Enjoyable account of a wet and foggy challenge.
I love Dartmoor and although I'm not as experienced a walker as the author, I recognised a lot of the places mentioned and the familiar struggles (walls of tick infested head high Bracken have led to many a furious back track when they've covered the nice marked path I thought I was going to pick up). A fantastic challenge supporting the very important DSRT, people we hope we'll never need but are glad exist for when daft idiots like me who enjoy tromping around on the Moors end up coming off badly in a fight with one tussock too many, or when running from stampeding cows or ponies (have you even walked on Dartmoor if that hasn't happened to you?).
I could feel the wet misery of the author through the book, such a shame Dartmoor didn't smile upon you for that adventure but it makes it all the bigger an achievement. Thanks for sharing your story! (Which despite living on Dartmoor, very close to the start and finish point, I somehow seem to have entirely missed back when you did it!).
I love Dartmoor and although I'm not as experienced a walker as the author, I recognised a lot of the places mentioned and the familiar struggles (walls of tick infested head high Bracken have led to many a furious back track when they've covered the nice marked path I thought I was going to pick up). A fantastic challenge supporting the very important DSRT, people we hope we'll never need but are glad exist for when daft idiots like me who enjoy tromping around on the Moors end up coming off badly in a fight with one tussock too many, or when running from stampeding cows or ponies (have you even walked on Dartmoor if that hasn't happened to you?).
I could feel the wet misery of the author through the book, such a shame Dartmoor didn't smile upon you for that adventure but it makes it all the bigger an achievement. Thanks for sharing your story! (Which despite living on Dartmoor, very close to the start and finish point, I somehow seem to have entirely missed back when you did it!).
December 18, 2025
All The Tors brings together a super blend of walking and inner landscape, with a little description of place added for reader connection with the surroundings. Emily Woodhouse writes with clarity and honesty, weaving Dartmoor’s tors into a journey that is both reflective and physical.
For me, read from a midlife perspective, this book speaks to those moments when I can see confidence and doubt walking side by side. I felt a deep, almost uncanny connection with the author's experience of trying to cross the waterfall on the East Dart River. It was so close to my own experiences of Dartmoor that I had to stop and reread it.
This is not a book about describing every summit ticked off. It's more about the personal challenge of discovering a side of Dartmoor Emily didn't know and how the moor taught her things she maybe didn't know about herself. It's a short read but thoughtful and utterly human from start to finish. All The Tors will resonate with anyone who walks to make sense of the world, or themselves.
For me, read from a midlife perspective, this book speaks to those moments when I can see confidence and doubt walking side by side. I felt a deep, almost uncanny connection with the author's experience of trying to cross the waterfall on the East Dart River. It was so close to my own experiences of Dartmoor that I had to stop and reread it.
This is not a book about describing every summit ticked off. It's more about the personal challenge of discovering a side of Dartmoor Emily didn't know and how the moor taught her things she maybe didn't know about herself. It's a short read but thoughtful and utterly human from start to finish. All The Tors will resonate with anyone who walks to make sense of the world, or themselves.
November 25, 2020
A great read!
This was a fun, engaging read. Great to read of an adventure by a "real" person, i.e. not about a funded expedition for a sponsored professional adventurer to an exotic locale. Instead, Dartmoor! I've never been but now I'm curious. Again, an engaging, intimate book.
This was a fun, engaging read. Great to read of an adventure by a "real" person, i.e. not about a funded expedition for a sponsored professional adventurer to an exotic locale. Instead, Dartmoor! I've never been but now I'm curious. Again, an engaging, intimate book.
February 13, 2022
Entertaining and inspirational
What an achievement great afternoon read I know have 110 tours to do :))))
Worth reading and fun and I need to improve. My navigational skills
What an achievement great afternoon read I know have 110 tours to do :))))
Worth reading and fun and I need to improve. My navigational skills
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews