Sunday 23rd August 2020
For the first time since lockdown had been thrust upon us, I made the ninety-minute drive down to Exmoor. A National Park I’d have spent more time exploring this year; but for the intervention of the pandemic.
For the first time since lockdown had been thrust upon us, I made the ninety-minute drive down to Exmoor. A National Park I’d have spent more time exploring this year; but for the intervention of the pandemic.
I witnessed the dawn of November 2019 and vividly remember telling myself that I could write my review of the previous month’s walking within a matter of days… A fortnight has passed since! We’re halfway through another month that I’m keeping track off and it’s beyond time for me to catch up.
This would be my first walk on Exmoor proper since all the way back in February, when I helped someone explore the National Park for the very first time and led them to the highest point in all of Somerset.
That is excluding a walk I did more recently along the coast path because, although it does cross Exmoor, I consider it to be more of a ‘coastal’ scene that anywhere close to the heart of the moorland.
February was a month that began with a sudden cold snap, carpeting much of the UK (including the often-untouched south-west) with several inches of snow. A short month on any calendar. I’m still surprised it has come and gone so quickly.