Intrepid Torquay teen becomes youngest ever recorded to climb every tor on Dartmoor

A 13-year-old has hiked into the history books by becoming the youngest recorded person to climb every tor on Dartmoor.

It took Andrew Morgan from Babbacombe about six months to conquer the challenge, and although the ‘All the Tors Challenge’ sets out 119 tors, Andrew summited over 200 for good measure.

“The challenge depends on how you define tors,” said Louise Lawrence, Andrew’s mother.

“Emily Woodhouse’s challenge counts every tor marked on the OS map that’s named 'tor', but there are so many other tors that don’t fit that, so we did them as well.”

Coming from a family of passionate hikers, Andrew was well placed for the challenge and had already done numerous other adventures such as the Three Peaks Challenge.

Andrew explained “We thought of doing the challenge in The Thatch Inn, after we did a big walk across 14 tors in a day. We looked up the challenge and realised that it was an actual thing and if I did it soon, I would become the youngest to do it. It all came about over a steak.”

He added: “I love hiking, I love taking on challenges and I’ve always loved exploring. I’m not someone who just goes to Haytor and is done with it. If you’re going to go for a walk, why not go somewhere new?”

Andrew, along with his mum and dad set out on the challenge in earnest. During the winter months, they could only make it out on the weekends but as days got lighter, they were taking on three or four adventures a week.

“A lot of it was in the planning,” said Andrew.

“We tried to get as many as possible each time we went out but we had to avoid rivers and stuff like that. We constantly had about 10 maps on the go.”

Some tors were certainly easier than others. Andrew had to fight through rivers, giant ferns, boulder fields, bogs and adders to bag some tors.

“When we saw the adder my dad told us to stay calm but my mum screamed!” remembered Andrew.

“One of the hardest was Hockinston Tor, where I did the toughest two miles of my life, with so much gorse, rain, midges and ticks!

“On tor 100 we dressed up as dinosaurs, but that was Devils Tor where we almost got blown away. But for me, sometimes the harder the walk is to the tor, the better it is.”

Throughout the 200+ tors, there were also some big highlights.

“Bench Tor was also one of my highlights, it’s not too long of a walk and the tor looks like something out of Lord of the Rings.

“On Higher White Tor, we saw someone propose, which was really emotional.”

210 tors and one birthday later, Andrew and his parents completed the challenge on Yes Tor, again dressed as dinosaurs.

“I felt so proud of myself and my family, but I also felt a bit sad because I was enjoying the challenge so much, so it was a little deflating to end. But now I’ve found out there are loads more small tors that aren't actually on the list, so now I’m doing those for a bit more fun.”

Louise said: “Andrew’s been dragged along on all sorts of hikes with us since he was really small. Just fill him up with Monster Munch and chocolate and off he goes! We’re so proud of him, it takes a lot to see a challenge like this through.”

Although Andrew’s record hasn’t yet been verified, the youngest person to have completed the challenge on allthetorschallenge.com is 15, putting Andrew significantly ahead.

Andrew added: “We’re so privileged to live in the South West and we shouldn’t forget it. With Dartmoor on your doorstep, just find a challenge and do your best to achieve it!”