After an hour's steep upward toil, through a thickly wooded gorge and along some very precipitous granite rock formations, you reach a wooden footbridge. Here the landscape's totally changed. Just dense bracken, a rough winding path, all slanted steeply up to a wide open sky. Somewhere, up there you think, is an ancient stone circle known as the Nine Maidens.
But no Dartmoor walk should be done, or needs to be done, without stopping to take in the atmosphere. This footbridge is a natural stopping point. You rest on its weather beaten beam, look down into the tumbling stream, and think at how it nourishes the woodland below. The air is rich with the smell of verdant undergrowth, moist rock and deep green mosses. Then you see an interesting tree, a little further on, growing beside the water.
At the tree, you sit down for a rest. Looking up, you see it's several types of tree, growing together as one. In front of you begins the wood that runs down into the valley. Behind you the bare path up to the Nine Maidens. But here, in this spot beside the tree, and for this little piece of time, you've found some pure, watery bliss. Feeling the tree's soft bark against your back and the luscious cushioning moorland grass beneath your outstretched legs, you let the richly spatial flowing water lull you into a delicious, dreamlike doze.
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* We captured the sound feel of this place only a few days ago on Dartmoor, above Okehampton. This 35 minute segment of time shows how a stream is made up of constantly yet subtly shifting formations of richly textured sound, that can be really helpful as a focus for an overly busy or overly tired mind.
** Over August we're pausing the release of new material so we can travel and find more quiet places. Instead we'll be posting collections of clips we made for Essex Wildlife Trust, along with links to the full episodes so you can listen without having to search the back catalogue. Thanks so much for listening and for your on-going support, including donations which we combine with our own money to keep the podcast going. This week we reached a significant milestone of 200k downloads. Have a lovely August and we'll see you in September!
177 Summer meadow woodland edge
176 Early morning below Nothe Fort
175 Night train sleeper (sleep safe)
174 Where cool woodland meets the summer sea (an afternoon snooze)
173 Deep forest time (long & sleep safe)
172 Heatwave thunderstorm that washes and cools (panoramic, made for headphones)
171 Sunrise birds in sea washed air
170 Night murmuring in Tenby (sleep safe)
169 Ear witness report from the Hoo Peninsula May 2023
168 At the mouth of a sea cave (Lento’s best with headphones)
167 An hour under moorland trees (rainy and sleep safe)
166 Midnight waves at the foot of the sea fort (sleep safe)
165 Up in the hills of mid Wales
164 Garden rain as winter turns to spring (daydream and sleep safe)
163 Chesil Beach (sleep safe and in high-definition sound)
162 Waterfall gorge on Dartmoor (high definition spatial sound)
161 Fishing village harbour at night - part 2 (sleep safe)
160 Forest ravine
159 Pure Northumbrian air (don’t forget Lento’s best with headphones)
158 That edgeland feel along the Thames near Tilbury Docks (sleep safe)
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