Stories

For decades I have been coming to these two of Britain’s most loved and unspoilt National Parks. My revisits never seem a repeat. It’s all about the innocence, the unspoilt landscape and the sense of yesteryear. Out on Exmoor there’s a sensory overload: the hills roll, the valleys swoop down and the moss-backed trees and neatly-trimmed hedgerows all boast an ancient history of their own. Exmoor is truly a walking and horse-riding paradise especially along the trails beside the streams. Equally special is the Peak District, in the Derbyshire Dales, where the limestone peaks take on such dramatic and contrasting shapes to its distinctive network of dry stonewalls. The local customs are quaint and driven by superstition. Each feature has a name such as Lover’s Leap and Reynard’s Arch along with biblical references to Jacob’s Ladder, the Twelve Apostles and the Heights of Abraham. It reminds me of Exmoor’s Watersmeet though the valleys are craggier and the water calmer.