Hundreds of people rallied on Haytor on Dartmoor to call on the government to pass a new Right to Roam Act on Bank Holiday Monday.

The 600-strong rally on May 26 came after the Supreme Court’s verdict last week upholding the right to wild camp on Dartmoor, quashing a long-running legal battle brought by Dartmoor landowners Alexander and Diana Darwall.

Families with young children joined veteran wild campers and hikers to celebrate the victory, joined by morris dancers, folk musicians, and the figure of Old Crockern – a legendary protective spirit of Dartmoor.

Organisers, the Right to Roam campaign and The Stars Are For Everyone, said the case demonstrated why public access to nature must be extended beyond Dartmoor.

Dartmoor remains the only place where it is legal to wild camp in England and Wales and there is a right to roam over less than ten per cent of England. Yet in Scotland there is public right of responsible access over the majority of land and water, including wild camping rights.

Lewis Winks from The Stars are for Everyone said: “While our existing rights have been defended, this case has exposed how limited our access to nature truly is. The fact that one landowner came so close to extinguishing a centuries-old tradition, enjoyed by millions, shows just how fragile our current access rights truly are. And why should Dartmoor be the only place in England and Wales where it’s legal to wild camp?

“We’re calling on the Government to enshrine greater access rights for everyone in law, to ensure they can never be eroded again.”

Guy Shrubsole from the Right to Roam campaign said: “We need a new Right to Roam Act to defend and extend our right to responsibly roam, swim, and wild camp across England – not just on Dartmoor but through forests, along rivers, over hills, and in wild spaces nationwide.”