Haytor, Dartmoor

Haytor is Dartmoor's poster granite — twin buttresses rising from open moor with views to the coast — plus the ready-made subjects of the old quarry pools and the granite tramway threading the hillside. Aerials here have real depth: mist sitting in the Bovey valley at dawn with the tor breaking through is a genuinely special image. But be honest with yourself about the legal position before you drive up. Dartmoor National Park byelaws make it an offence to use drones on the commons, and Haytor Down is common land — so launching, landing and operating from the open moor is not permitted. The workable approach is TOAL from land that isn't common with the landowner's blessing (there are private fields and businesses around Haytor Vale, and some pilots arrange this), then fly over the moor at sensible height, since the byelaw governs activity on the land rather than the air above it. That's a nuance, not a loophole — be discreet, don't fly over people, ponies or climbers on the rocks, and expect rangers to take an interest. Well clear of the MOD ranges, which sit on the north and west moor. Winds over the tor are punchy and rotor forms downwind of the rocks.