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Well, it’s all very well to call yourself an author, but sometimes it means you have to get out and test your descriptions. Last night my friend Andy and I went off to the middle of the moors, and tested my theories of what the moor looks and sounds like. Well, mostly, I learned, it sounds of animals which don’t sound familiar, helicopters from Gidleigh, and lots of rifle shots on automatic, from the Merrivale Range south and west.
But it also gave me some insights into the views you can get at night. Especially when it’s moonless. It was very dark indeed. In fact, I fell into the same hollow three times.
Without a camp fire (you can’t have fires up there because the soil’s all peat, and you’d start a fire that would be very hard to put out) the best thing to do is get to bed early. We did. And after trying hard, it was good to slip into sleep.
Only to be woken at about three in the morning when it began to rain.
Still, the tent (a new one) worked extremely well, the cooker was adequate, and hopefully I’ll be out on the moors one night per month to make sure I really understand Dartmoor properly!