11 THE HIGH MOORS

Berwyn Moors, North Wales Iolo Williams, naturalist, TV presenter and writer

Early summer every year, I look forward to a few days of peace and solitude on the heather-clad Berwyn Moors in north Wales. I love to walk before dawn along the moorland edge to watch the vocal displays of male black grouse, before heading onwards towards an isolated river valley in the shadow of one of the Berwyn’s highest peaks. This is the haunt of the king of the moors, the elegant hen harrier. By midsummer, the ghostly grey male will be carrying food back for the well-grown chicks. Sitting quietly among the scattered bracken, the bubbling call of curlew ringing in my ears, a yellow sea of bog asphodel colouring the boggier sections and watching hunting harriers sums up my perfect summer’s day.