Dartmoor Snow Story

The Lonely Tree by Jo Bradford

This is a picture I took earlier this year (in February) when we had unusually heavy snowfall for the South West of the UK.

I had a few spots in mind to visit with my camera on Dartmoor, so we set out for a day trip to Devon for a bit of snowy adventure on Dartmoor.

Just getting there turned into an epic drive in itself, the roads were atrocious across Bodmin Moor, but we made it eventually.

We abandoned the 4x4 in the middle of snowy nowhere and began the hike to the top.  This was slow going as I kept sinking into shoulder deep drifts that had filled the ravines and valleys of the moor, my cameras were weighing me down and I didn't bring snow shoes which would have been sensible.

The snow kept coming down and sometimes visibility was so bad I was sure I would never find anything to photograph.... but on previous visits I had made a mental note of a lone tree on a hillside that I wanted to catch in the snow.

I found the tree eventually - here I am looking mighty pleased to have found it in the snow storm.

After a while spent with the lonely tree admiring it with my camera, I was suitably cold and ready for some action.   We carried on upwards until we reached the top

...  And after all that effort and hard slog for my art.... this was the sweetener that made all that trudging along with heavy gear doubly worthwhile.......

Strapping on the snowboard and making fresh tracks all the way down :)

Here's to all of us who are already dreaming of more snow on Dartmoor this winter.

xoxo