Camping during the shimmering heat of high summer on Exmoor one year, we decided to head for Dunkery Beacon, one of the highest points in the South of England. The walk through shimmering heather was pleasant, certainly not too taxing. Part-way we ate our lunch under a lone, twisted oak tree nested among the rock strewn landscape, looking out over the golden grasses burnt by the wind and sun. It all seemed like a fairly ordinary, albeit pleasant, heath land walk.
It was therefore a
huge surprise when we reached the top, climbed the rocks and understood just what a 360 degree view of Exmoor meant: I
SAW. To be able to turn, turn and turn again with no end to the vibrantly technicoloured panorama was just so exhilarating, providing that bizarre combination of feeling powerful with the world at your feet and of being gloriously insignificant with mile upon mile of vastness rolling away from you towards the horizon. The curvature of the earth was tangible. I remember thinking,
"Wow, the earth really is a sphere!" as though it had taken my climbing to that beacon on that day to really convince me that science had it right afterall.
Historically, beacons were fires lit at conspicuous locations and used either for navigation purposes or as early warning systems to communicate the approach of enemy troops. Many of them were used as part of a league of beacons, acting as optical telegraphy, as the light from one triggered the lighting of another: ancient but effective, using the speed of light to communicate over vast swathes of often impenetrable landscape. The Welsh Brecon Beacons were used to warn of approaching English raiders; in Elizabethan England the beacons were used to warn of the approaching Spanish Armada and in the Scottish borders systems of fires were established to warn of invading English groups. These beacons are certainly ancient and were at one time centrally important locations, steeped in the passionate and fervent defence of what was considered 'ours'. They are heroic and majestic. And I
felt all that, stood there with the earth at my feet, the shores of South Wales as impossibly clear as glossy magazine photographs.
If you want to indulge in a Rider's of Rohan fantasy and can't afford the trip to New Zealand, head for a beacon instead.Campsite Chatter's camping specialism
Campsites near 360 degree views focuses on a number of fantastic locations in the UK where you can see to the horizon on all fronts; some of these spots are beacons, others are mountain tops with challenging walking required to achieve them, some are historic buildings in otherwise level landscapes. All of them, though, will offer unique and often mind-blowing perspectives on the surrounding landscape and bring you as close as you're ever likely to get to a buzzard's eye view of the topography without actually leaving the ground. Into panoramic photography? Like to snap the odd landscape or two?
Eat your heart out!If you love your castles, your history and want to take some incredible photographs
Castell Carreg Cennan, Brecon Beacons is a great destination. Here you will find campsites near 360 degree views of the rolling countryside, woodland and hills surrounding this atmospheric ruin, clinging precipitously to a cliff face.
On the route of a number of great circular walks,
Mam Tor, Peak District at 517 metres, offers breath-taking views of the Peak District from its summit; stand and gawp, encircled as you will be by a late bronze age and early iron age hill fort. These campsites will give you great access to Mam Tor ascents as well as other fantastic walking in the Peak District.
Hill walking in the flatlands of south-eastern England?
Don't be daft. But walkers in the South East of England have, since Victorian times, used
Leith Hill, Surrey to gain perspective on the landscape, seeing as far on a clear day as St Paul's Cathedral. Fab for picnics and a perfect spot for photography; these campsites offer easy access to Leith Hill.
360 degree views are not all inland: stand in a historic spot, breathe the sea air and smile as you exult in the
360 degrees at St Agnes Beacon, Cornwall. With over 70 footpaths, bridleways and with direct access to the South West coastal path, the village of St Agnes is a hub for walkers of all abilities. These campsites nearby will give you access to the astonishing views provided by St Agnes Beacon out over the Atlantic and back inland over this beautiful region of Cornwall.
Now, I'm sure that it isn't always calm up at Dunkery Point, or at many of the nation's best viewing points, but that day on Exmoor was oddly still; there was no sound at all apart from the intimate song of a sky lark somewhere overhead. On the way back down, head clear and heart light, I made plans, I understood decisions I needed to make, I swatted away as flies the problems which had seemed insurmountable earlier in the day. All in all achieving that 360 degree view was a mind-clearing, cathartic experience and created a central highlight to our camping trip.
Back at the tent, steeped in the cosy intimacy of the tree-lined field of our campsite, which had undoubtedly been one of the patchwork-squares of green laid out at our feet just hours before, I still had the Dunkery 360 film reel playing in my mind... and still do, ten years on.
