Wistman's Portal

The ancient Wistman's Wood National Nature Reserve, in the West Dart valley, Dartmoor. The woods are designated as both a Site of Special Scientific Interest and National Nature Reserve. Stunted anthropomorphic pendunculate oaks festooned with epiphytic ferns, mosses, lichen, fungi that occupy the eastern side of the valley - the humidity of the air and peaty soils create an Atlantic Temperate rainforest ecosystem. The dense and precarious scree slopes, given the onomatopoeiac name 'clitter', between the trees prevent the epiphytic plants from being nibbled by the sheep that graze the surrounding hills.


It is a place that I find spellbinding on every visit.