Yes Tor (Okehampton)

Yes Tor stands on Dartmoor in Devon, the second-highest point on the moor at 619 metres. It is one of only three wholly English peaks south of the Peak District National Park that rise above 610 metres, alongside nearby High Willhays and Black Hill in Herefordshire. The name comes from Old English and means ‘eagle’s tor’. The summit lies within an active British Army firing range, so access is allowed only when firing is not taking place. Yes Tor is two metres lower than its neighbour High Willhays. Edmund Gosse, who lived nearby as a child, described the hill in his 1907 memoir as an unthreatening and unprepossessing landmark. The American science fiction writer Kim Stanley Robinson refers to Yes Tor obliquely in his novel 2312. The Yes album Tormato took its name from the tor, and a picture of it appears on the cover. The Aetherius Society recognises it as one of nineteen holy mountains. Visitors who arrive on permitted days find a broad, rounded summit with wide views across the moor. The rocky outcrop is modest but commands a clear prospect of the surrounding tors and valleys. The contrast between the open moorland and the enclosed firing range adds a sense of quiet remoteness. The path to the top is straightforward, though the weather can change quickly. The tor’s modest height and gentle slopes make it accessible to walkers of most abilities.