Great Photography Locations on Dartmoor - Shelstone Tor
The view from Shelstone Tor - November 2022
This blog entry originally started life as just a record of a single trip to Shelstone Tor, on a not very nice day in April 2025, where everything (from a photography perspective) went south very quickly and I only managed a single half decent image from the trip - I also got a good dose of inspiration and set about researching the following, sprinkling my thoughts with interesting facts and some of my usual wishy washy half-baked “radical” left opinions 😂
At a certain point the flow of this article will alter as I pass what was written back in April 2025 and add to the idea that this can become a sort of gallery of images I’ve shot in and around Shelstone Tor 💚📷
(what did you expect, you’re not paying for any of this!)
18th April 2025
Up at 4 am because the dog is out of sorts since his other human isn’t around.
The plan was to get up at 5am, so not much problem, and it’s a lovely morning, a little hazy and overcast, but dry and I’m hopeful of a half decent sunrise.
By the time I leave, however, it’s pissing down.
Not the “April Showers” type of it’ll be done in 20 minutes, more the “better put the waterproofs on” scenario.
Halfway across Prewley Moor I’m already drenched and have to stop to don both gloves and hat, the cold is starting to eat into my exposed forehead and fingers.
The rain isn’t horizontal, it is; however; making the most of every opportunity to become so.
I soldier on, whilst attempting to get an over excited border collie to stop eating sheep shit and at least pay me the tiniest bit of attention. (Update as of January 2026 … he hardly ever eats sheep shit now, but still (randomly now) decides to ignore me).
Rounding the corner where Vellake Pool is located, my underpants are already feeling like they might eventually cause some serious chafing without immediate attention.
Like so many decisions on Dartmoor, I had neglected to put on my waterproof trousers and I was now paying the price.
In my mind I had already surmised that the trip was going to be cut very short, but as Shelstone Tor was now in sight, the much reduced goal had to be achieved.
You rarely hear people talk about Shelstone Tor, and this has long been a source of immense flummoxary for me.
Of course, it is nestled in the shadow of the imposing Corn Ridge and it’s somewhat apocryphal legend of Branscombe Loaf and yes, it does lie almost opposite the jagged ramparts of the hefty and dramatic Black Tor, and the ever so, phantasmagorical Black-a-Tor Copse … nonetheless, even with these lofty neighbours, it remains a favourite of mine.
Indeed, Shelstone Tor is oftentimes given short shrift in many of the accepted tomes regarding Dartmoor, merely suggesting (with very little real evidence) that is likely this tor (like the one near Throwleigh still is) was known as Shilstone Tor at one moment in time, and this is a derivation of the Devonian “Shil” meaning a shelf and relates (in both instances of the name) to a Shelf Stone, or the top of a dolmen.
Seems quite fanciful to think our Shelstone once held a Cromlech of any sort, it’s more likely that the Victorians who first had the time and money to meander across the moor at leisure; as was their wont; preferred to romanticize a little too much, or at best a colloquialism or mishearing of a name has lead to the anachronism between title and truth.
In my recent reading, I’ve found much to suggest that many writers in the past, rather than actually visit locations (particularly on the less aesthetically pleasing North Moor) have merely embellished descriptions from previous writers … all very ChatGPT if you ask me 🤣
That being said, I will endeavour to see if I can locate an area which could possibly have once been the base for a “Shelf Stone” when I’m next there admiring the view. (Update: I have since looked and though I have yet to identify any definite spot, the idea isn’t as alien as I considered when I read the suggestion at first. More detective work needed).
The View from the top - March 2021
The vista alone is worth the effort … overlooking the magnificent West Okement Valley.
As a teenager, I remember our Ten Tors team deciding to take the direct route from High Willhays to Kitty Tor and quickly regretting this … it’s a very steep hill, on both sides.
Once on Shelstone Tor proper … in the bit I like to call “the arena” (as it is almost enclosed by walls of the granite) … the scorched grass associated with the now seemingly ubiquitous disposable barbeque only added to my annoyance at the inclement weather.
Attempting to use old film camera lenses in heavy rain with a camera which only possesses the most minimal association with any kind of “weather proofing” was only confounded by spotting the aforementioned disposable barbeque badly hidden in a small enclave close to its branded grass simulacrum.
Probably a good point to stop and besmirch the absolute bellends who camp here and have open fires. Yes, I know the DNPA only ban fires at certain times of the year, but the number of times I’ve visited and found scorched earth (not to mention the destruction of one of the hawthorn from the side of the tor … maybe a subject for further bitching at some juncture).
This has lead me to the conclusion that a great deal of people who camp here do so because it’s a lovely view, off the “beaten” track, yet is actually fairly easy and quick to reach.
Allowing the more unscrupulous to bandy around many images of their “wild camp” and how brave and resourceful they are … I digress …
Here endeth the original post.
January 2026
Disheartened with my initial attempts at talking about places I love to photograph on Dartmoor this blog post has now metamorphosised into the first in what I hope will become many guides to different parts of the moor.
Giving people a gallery of my photographs for that specific area.
I’m not at all sure what format these will ultimately take, I’m happy to just see what happens when I start spewing descriptions to go with my images.
Let’s make it up as we go along!
I’d actually started off this post as a half-arsed way for me to practise my writing skills. Although I’d spent the odd hour or two writing about either Photography or Dartmoor, I’ve rarely made an effort to complete any task once started.
Here’s an interesting fact for you. I have almost a dozen blog entries begun, yet still unfinished, stretching back a good three years.
Languishing in my “Drafts” folder, waiting for me to get around to completing them.
I’m now planning on writing each time I take my camera out, I might even finish a few 😂
If you’d like a guide to show you the best places to take photographs on Dartmoor … I happen to know a very knowledgeable fellow who can offer brilliant bespoke Guided Photography Walks 😜 Ask him about visiting Shelstone Tor!
I’m getting to an age where at some point I’ll have to retire on a pension which would require living in a shed, or upping sticks and moving to a country where you can still buy a house for a years salary.
My plan is to provide Photography Walks on Dartmoor and to that end, I’ve completed my training as a Hill & Moorland Leader.
Although I’m obviously very witty, intelligent, strong, and still rather fit for my age, I’ve rarely had a job where I’ve been rewarded for being hard working and now I’ll only have my sense of humour and stunning natural beauty to sustain me in old age 😂
If I’m going to have to survive with those few assets, I’d prefer to be doing something I love.
A video from my YouTube Channel that I made a few years ago
If you’d like to enjoy Dartmoor in the same way that I do, feel free to get in touch.
You don’t have to like my style of photography, nor even my rather flippant attitude to things, just let me know where you’d like to visit, and that you’d like me to keep my idiotic opinions to myself 🤣
I visited Shelstone Tor again this morning … 17th February 2026 and I took this …
Whatever the weather, the view from Shelstone Tor is always worth the walk 💚📷 - a great location for photography on Dartmoor