• Haldon Forest
    Haldon Forest

    An evening outing to Haldon Forest, to make sound recordings of nightjars.

  • Orley Common
    Orley Common

    Greater Butterfly-orchid (Platanthera chlorantha) Orley Common is half a mile west of Ipplepen on the road to Torbryan: grid reference SX 828 667. It is a fragile site of great value for its wildlife, geology and historical interest. Because it has fairly undisturbed ancient grassland and ancient woodland, it is very species-rich, with County and…

  • Dragonfly
    Dragonfly

    Broad-bodied Chaser (Libellula depressa) beside garden pond.

  • Foxgloves
    Foxgloves

  • Teignmouth Pier
    Teignmouth Pier

  • Teignmouth Harbour
    Teignmouth Harbour

    More pictures from Teignmouth, 23 March 2010. Looking from New Quay across to the Fish Quay, with Shaldon Bridge and the sheds of Teignmouth Docks visible  in the background. New Quay from Back Beach. The quay was constructed in 1820 by George Templer to facilitate the shipping of Dartmoor granite from Haytor.  The building under…

  • Alder leaves
    Alder leaves

  • The salting sun
    The salting sun

    Anybody searching Teignmouth for the ghost of John Keats is following a well-trodden path. Charles Causley wrote a poem inspired by his visit in the 1950s: Keats at Teignmouth Spring, 1818 By the wild sea-wall I wandered Blinded by the salting sun, While the sulky Channel thundered Like an old Trafalgar gun. And I watched…

  • Robert Louis Stevenson
    Robert Louis Stevenson

    Robert Louis Stevenson (1850 – 1894). Portrait by Girolamo Nerli, 1892. *  *  *  *  * I’ve recently finished reading Claire Harman’s thoughtful and affectionate biography of Robert Louis Stevenson. He seems to have been an unusually likeable person as writers go, though perhaps best appreciated at a distance. As a child I found Treasure…

  • Blackthorn
    Blackthorn

    Blackthorn bushes growing beside the River Exe near Powderham.