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Country diary: St Dominic, Tamar Valley
St Dominic, Tamar Valley: In my grandparents' youth this stretch of river was regularly dredged to maintain an open channel for traffic taking coal upriver, farm produce downriverThe greenness has been...
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Country diary: St Dominic, Tamar Valley: Spring, sun and celandines
St Dominic, Tamar Valley: Ewes with lambs lie content in their warm field, while bumble bees buzz around the blue flowers of rosemaryOn this dewy morning the overgrown valley of Radland millstream...
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Country diary: Lanteglos, Cornwall: A spring stroll along the coastal path...
Lanteglos, Cornwall: Streaks of silver gleam across the sea and, beneath vertiginous cliffs, waves and turquoise water lap the deserted beach of pale sand with its strand-lines of seaweedThe coconut...
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Country diary: St Dominic, Tamar Valley: Daffodil discards that will not be...
St Dominic, Tamar Valley: Unlike today's commercially grown flowers, these hardy varieties survived in the ground with no need for sterilising and replantingA stand of ornatus glimmers white among...
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Country diary: Landulph, Tamar Valley: The whiff of brine 'n' bluebells and...
Landulph, Tamar Valley: The few ways with no tarmac are arched by oak, elm suckers, ash and may buds with a fresh and luminous undergrowth of hart's-tongueThe smell of brine from the river wafts up...
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Country diary: St Minver, Cornwall: Thrift and bladder campion thrive on...
St Minver, Cornwall: Yet more expanses of thrift appear as a pink haze, slithering towards the sea and overrun with rabbitsMay heat, and the concerted rush by farmers to cut valuable early silage, was...
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Country diary: Delabole, Cornwall: Guided tour of a slate quarry reveals...
Delabole, Cornwall: This area's blue-grey slate was used for Winchester Castle in 1314; today, cut in huge blocks by diamond saws, it is still in demand for building and restoration workDown in the...
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Country diary: Kit Hill, Tamar valley: Flashes of sun etch the rain-washed...
Kit Hill, Tamar valley: Sheep have been shorn but lambs need to lie in the sun to speed weight gainRare spells of sun illuminate glimpses of the landscape, clearcut in the rain-washed atmosphere....
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Country diary: Noss Mayo, Devon: Banker's legacy provides a clear view of the...
Noss Mayo, Devon: This scenic drive – engineered in the 1880s for Edward Baring of the merchant banking family – emerges into the glare of sun on cliffs overlooking Wembury BayThree people and a dog...
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Country diary: Calstock, Tamar Valley: Fifty shades of green seen from the...
Calstock, Tamar Valley: A spiral staircase climbs between clammy walls, up to the light, where spleenworts thrive in the damp mortarRed admiral, peacock, comma and tortoiseshell butterflies, only...
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Country diary: North Hill, Cornwall: Light and shade on the colourful margins...
North Hill, Cornwall: Up on Hawkstor Downs the thistledown catches the light as it drifts across the emerald turf, partially submerged boulders and the scarlet berries of rowanThe sound of the Withy...
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Country diary: St Dominic, Tamar Valley: Plentiful harvest in the damp days...
St Dominic, Tamar Valley: Stream outlets have been partially blocked to raise water levels and increase biodiversityThe tide floods beneath Undercliff and past the old lime kilns at the confluence with...
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Country diary: Macmillan Way, Cotswolds: From shimmering sun to the first...
Macmillan Way, Cotswolds: Between overnight stays on a 10-day walk, we see few people but plenty of natureThe bus from Banbury drops my husband, Jack, and me at Chipping Warden, where greens, market...
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Country diary: Bere Alston, Tamar Valley: Cultivation and decay, from 'point...
Bere Alston, Tamar Valley: Once valued as a source of manure, shoals of this 'point stuff' were shovelled into boats, rowed to quays and unloaded for spreading on market gardensBeneath Tuckermarsh...
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Country diary: St Dominic, Tamar Valley: Bells, mulled wine and sparkling frost
St Dominic, Tamar Valley: Dartmoor summits and intervening ridges appear to float above a sea of mist along the riverChurch bells ring before the switch-on of the Christmas tree lights at St Dominic....
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Country diary: Brown Willy, Bodmin Moor: Sun, mist and rain sweep across...
Brown Willy, Bodmin Moor: The undulating expanse of splashy Davidstow Moor is deserted, swept by squalls and overlooked by a band of cattle looming on a nearby horizonRuts filled with water sparkle in...
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Country diary: St Dominic, Tamar Valley: The fragrance of witch hazel and...
St Dominic, Tamar Valley: Along the parish's narrow lanes, hedge banks are green with mosses, pennywort, unfrosted ferns and primrosesA red glow at sunrise presages more rain, as grey clouds lour above...
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Country diary: East Moor, Cornwall: A history of rock: standing stones,...
Country diary: East Moor, Cornwall: This ancient site is overlooked by the Ridge, where cairns and tumuli have long been despoiled and used as a source of building stoneDeep puddles ripple and swirl...
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Country diary: Wembury, Devon: Round the rugged rocks on the edge of Plymouth...
Wembury, Devon: I remember a family tale of predecessors who landed on the breakwater on a summer trip 15 miles downriver from Cotehele Quay, sometime in the 1920sOut from Bovisand, waves crash on to...
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Country diary: Gulworthy, Tamar valley: A centre of 19th-century copper-mining
Gulworthy, Tamar valley: Three men are out on a run along the track of the old mineral railwayAcross the medieval New Bridge from sunny Gunnislake, dark plantations on the Devon side show few signs of...
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