Dartmoor's spring makeover
by Virginia Spiers from on (#2KJ29)
Walkhampton, Dartmoor A shepherd on his quad bike remarks on the contrast with last week's rain, wind and mud
From the western edge of Dartmoor, heat haze obscures views towards familiar territory in the Tamar Valley. Up here, by Lowery Cross, in sight of glittering ripples on Burrator Reservoir, ponies graze among dazzling yellow gorse; drab turfy banks are starred with a few violets, and the sound of chiffchaff echoes from coniferous plantations.
Nearby, a bridge, rebuilt in 2015, is part of the footpath and cycleway on a section of the long-defunct Plymouth and Dartmoor railway; across the bridge and via the gently sloping trail, Princetown is seven miles away, twice the distance that a crow might fly.