Spring can creep up on us; when it’s grey and chilly it’s easy to miss the early signs that a new season is on the way. In her lyrical evocation of a pond on Dartmoor, leading naturalist Miriam Darlington pays close and loving attention to the quiet changes that take place at the very start of spring – from the first shoots of flag iris to the “shivery delta” of frogspawn as it starts to wriggle with tadpoles.
There is an abiding sense of the enriching connection between humans and the wild landscape:
“The moor in spring can be an absorbent place. It takes you and your mood and enfolds you beneath its wing. Low sun brushed the grass tips, and in the pearly sky something subtle was happening. It was reflected in the water surface that was all a-glimmer, shining cloud on cloud as if sending it all back skywards…”
This beautiful pamphlet will delight readers at any time of year – a reminder that nature is always there, waiting to beguile us with its wonders.
Poems by Diana Hendry and Edward Thomas.