A walk on the wildside

A walk on Dartmoor to Wistmans Wood an ancient Oak woodland that is both one of the oldest and highest in the country. Thought to date from Neolithic times the area of woodland is so covered with rocks and boulders that moorland ponies, cattle etc cannot access it for grazing therefore the trees have existed for hundreds of years. The trees are covered with moss and lichen - there are thought too be in excess of 1000 species there. Because of the climate the trees grow no higher than about 18 feet and in the main pic just look like a patch of scrub from a distance. The extras show some of the lichen. Wistmans Wood is covered in more detail by Muguet today