Almost dawn on the East Dart

Last Monday evening I sat planning a walk on the moor to Sittaford Tor, with the intention of capturing photographs of the recently-discovered stone circle. Whenever I’ve visited this tor previously I’ve parked by Fernworthy reservoir and walked through the forest, across to Grey Wethers and up from there to the tor. But the long drive from Teignmouth to Chagford to Fernworthy didn’t really appeal to me last week, and it’s been a while since I walked along the East Dart River (which I love), so I decided to get up early, drive the shorter distance to Postbridge, but take a longer walk.

My stone circle photographs will follow in due course in another post, but in the mean time I thought I would upload a couple of images taken early in the walk just moments before dawn last Tuesday (around 4:55 am). These were both taken from a similar spot, under Broad Down, with remains of bronze age settlements on the opposite sides of the Dart.

Infant rivers on Dartmoor often reflect a cold, sapphire-coloured light from the early morning sky, and in this rather naked, raw landscape, with the low sunlight radiating around the hills, there are few better places to stand alone, looking on, thinking of how things begin.