Dunkery Beacon

Dunkery Beacon is the highest point on Exmoor at 519 metres, a heather-clad whaleback with panoramic views across the moor to the Bristol Channel and the Welsh coast on a clear day. Exmoor has no drone byelaw, which is a real advantage over neighbouring Dartmoor, but the catch is ownership: the beacon and surrounding Holnicote Estate belong to the National Trust, which prohibits take-off and landing from its land. Practically, many pilots fly from the public road and its verges at Dunkery Gate or the small pull-ins along the ridge, which are highway land rather than Trust ground, then keep the aircraft over open moor. There is no Flight Restriction Zone here, so you are in open class G airspace. The summit is genuinely exposed and the wind at the cairn is often double what it is in the valley, so check gusts carefully and expect rapid changes as cloud rolls over. Red deer and ground-nesting birds live on the moor, so keep height and distance in spring and early summer. Come at dawn or for sunset when the low light rakes across the heather and the crowds thin out.