Escape The Everyday, by spending some time in Dartmoor National Park during Autumn.
There’s no doubt that Dartmoor, and in fact the whole of my home county Devon, is breathtakingly beautiful at this time of year. I have two very young Retrievers, so I have to be out with them at least twice every day in order to have a peaceful life, and the autumn season is definitely the best time of year for this!
Whenever I think of autumn (my absolute favourite time of year) I have a tendency to hear John Keats in my mind’s ear ….
“Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness,
Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun;
Conspiring with him how to load and bless
With fruit the vines that round the thatch-eves run;
To bend with apples the moss’d cottage-trees,
And fill all fruit with ripeness to the core;
To swell the gourd, and plump the hazel shells
With a sweet kernel; to set budding more,
And still more, later flowers for the bees,
Until they think warm days will never cease,
For summer has o’er-brimm’d their clammy cells …”
For many of us, the beauty every year as the leaves begin to change colour and fall, the excitement of discovering the weird and wonderful world of fungi bursting back into life and the gorgeous crunch and rustle underfoot as we enjoy our woodland walks are all things that make us smile and feel a definite settling of the soul!
In come roaring log fires, spicy home-made soups, and hot chocolate with marshmallows on top after a bracing walk, cycle or horseback ride, all of which make for a perfect autumn day.
Here on Dartmoor, we have some of the best produce in the world and it is available from fabulous restaurants, tea rooms, cafes, farm-shops and pubs all over the moor.
Why not book a few days away, find somewhere cosy to stay, we have gorgeous hotels, many self-catering cottages, friendly B&Bs and Guesthouses, or if you prefer, plenty of glamping and camping options. Oh, and bring the dogs too, plenty of places they will be made very welcome and well catered for!