Ants in your pants!

We visited Yarner Wood on Dartmoor today. Even though I grew up on Dartmoor I have never visited the reserve before. My only memory of it is when it was almost destroyed by a huge fire twelve years ago, which was luckily stopped just before it reached the woodland. We lived miles away but we could still see the leaping flames right over the horizon. I was convinced we were going to be burnt in our beds so eventually had to be sent to my room with the curtains closed!!

Today everything was bursting with spring beauty.
However, you couldn’t look up at the canopy for too long without looking down to find your legs covered with ants! There are loads of nests throughout the woodland and that meant in places the paths were crawling with the insects, which made me paranoid for the whole day as I was sure I had ants up my trouser legs!

We then drove up onto the moor and climbed a very cold and windy Tor. On the top we found two letterboxes, which are an old fashioned version of geocaching. It’s basically like treasure hunting – you just follow clues to try and find boxes hidden all over the moor which contain a rubber stamp and a book which you sign. It’s good fun, and often leads you off the beaten track and into some of the most beautiful areas of Dartmoor.

 And then it was off to Widecombe-in-the-moor for a Devonshire cream tea!