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All the Tors
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.
"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.
166 pages, Hardcover
Published August 22, 2020
6 people are currently reading
18 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
May 11, 2024
Hmmm, I wished I could have given this a better rating but sadly not so.
First of all, its a great challenge and I congratulate Emily on completing it and writing about it, it's certainly not easy on Dartmoor at times (as the book detailed a lot).
Also I agree that the list of Tors is a difficult one to define. I'm generally with her on a number somewhere between 100 and 300 and not this crazy idea of classifying 500 tiny stones on people's private land that's just absurd. Although I probably would have included the Haytor range (Hound Tor is one of the best, even if it falls into the lands of the 'Daytripper Mecca'.
I think I purchased this book in 2021, I finally finished it at I think my 4th attempt in 2024. Why? its so negative.
I've had some bad weather days on Dartmoor (perhaps nothing compared to the author) but what I want from a book like this is to be inspired and to go out walking on Dartmoor again and sadly this didn't.
I hope the review helps in some ways. To be constructive I'd say it would have been good to have had some maps, a list of tors completed each day (there was very little description of the majority of the Tors).
The book felt incredibly short and served almost as a Who's Who of the Dartmoor Rescue Team (I'm only trained to Bronze DofE level So maybe I'll need you people one day, So I'll shut up soon but I can pitch my tent in a storm)
This was a 10 day journey so I could think there could have been a lot more to write about in that time, was the book shorten in a edit? The section going towards Shipley Tor was the kind of thing that was interesting but even that consisted of bearings and cows, The Landscape of Dartmoor is beautiful - Yes even on foggy days.
On a kindle 20% of the book is before the challenge actually starts and what there is of it talks a lot about the Ten Tors challenge and the Dartmoor Plodders. Nice if that's your jam but I'm a middle aged, solo, grockle who picks his battles wisely these days.
A re edit would be good to include because I think it had the basis to be a very good read. There should be a lot more detail of Dartmoor and its Tors (they are rightly worthy) and a lot less on the negative, Sorry but very well done all the same to complete the Challenge.
First of all, its a great challenge and I congratulate Emily on completing it and writing about it, it's certainly not easy on Dartmoor at times (as the book detailed a lot).
Also I agree that the list of Tors is a difficult one to define. I'm generally with her on a number somewhere between 100 and 300 and not this crazy idea of classifying 500 tiny stones on people's private land that's just absurd. Although I probably would have included the Haytor range (Hound Tor is one of the best, even if it falls into the lands of the 'Daytripper Mecca'.
I think I purchased this book in 2021, I finally finished it at I think my 4th attempt in 2024. Why? its so negative.
I've had some bad weather days on Dartmoor (perhaps nothing compared to the author) but what I want from a book like this is to be inspired and to go out walking on Dartmoor again and sadly this didn't.
I hope the review helps in some ways. To be constructive I'd say it would have been good to have had some maps, a list of tors completed each day (there was very little description of the majority of the Tors).
The book felt incredibly short and served almost as a Who's Who of the Dartmoor Rescue Team (I'm only trained to Bronze DofE level So maybe I'll need you people one day, So I'll shut up soon but I can pitch my tent in a storm)
This was a 10 day journey so I could think there could have been a lot more to write about in that time, was the book shorten in a edit? The section going towards Shipley Tor was the kind of thing that was interesting but even that consisted of bearings and cows, The Landscape of Dartmoor is beautiful - Yes even on foggy days.
On a kindle 20% of the book is before the challenge actually starts and what there is of it talks a lot about the Ten Tors challenge and the Dartmoor Plodders. Nice if that's your jam but I'm a middle aged, solo, grockle who picks his battles wisely these days.
A re edit would be good to include because I think it had the basis to be a very good read. There should be a lot more detail of Dartmoor and its Tors (they are rightly worthy) and a lot less on the negative, Sorry but very well done all the same to complete the Challenge.
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 - 5 of 5 reviews