Escapist’s toolkit: the MoD

Discover an amazing landscape that’s usually off-limits.

IF YOU PUT all the land owned by the Ministry of Defence together it would be bigger than all but one of our National Parks. Britain’s armed forces train on an estate – beautiful, tranquil and remote – larger than the Lake District or Snowdonia; smaller only than the vast Cairngorms wilderness. And while you might think there are some better qualities in a landlord than a willingness to blow up their properties with tanks and bombs, its custodianship of the land is surprisingly benign. The MoD has a presumption in favour of public access, respects rights of way and its trenchdigging and shelling has proven a boon for plant diversity. In fact within the fierce-looking rings of red ‘Danger’ triangles on your Explorer map, lies a largely pristine environment for walkers, library-quiet when the wargames abate – which they do to a much greater extent than the rest of the year during the schools’ long summer holiday. Dartmoor’s Training Area (13,000 hectares which includes High Willhays and Yes Tor) guarantees access every day during July and August; activity at Cape Wrath (6000 hectares in the far north west Highlands) subsides to a bare minimum; the magnificently melancholy ranges of Otterburn in Northumberland (24,000 hectares) are accessible both days of most weekends; the closed book that is the moorland east of Pennine supermodel High Cup Nick (9700 hectare Warcop Training Area) opens eight times in July and August (7, 8, 14, 15 July; 4, 5, 25, 26 Aug). The estate runs to 117 more locations; littleread volumes to pull down from the shelf – like the dunes of Braunton Burrows in Devon that were the site of D-Day’s dress rehearsal, the remote rolling heathlands of Ash Range in Surrey (August bank holiday weekend or after 4.30 every day, though always check for red flags flying) or the ghost village of Imber on Salisbury Plain, (18-23 August, 11am-4pm; www.imberchurch.org.uk).  Public access information leaflets: www.bit.ly/ defenceestate Latest firing times: www.gov.uk/government/ collections/firing-notice

“Britain’s armed forces train on an estate – beautiful, tranquil and remote – larger than the Snowdonia.” Lake District or

HOME ON THE RANGE The view from Outer Golden Pot on the route of Roman road Dere Street (grid reference NT804072) – in the heart of the Otterburn Danger Area.