The woods are criss-crossed with badger trails. I followed one. Winding through the trees, it lifted me up the hill. I wasn’t expecting the sudden panorama at the top.

The Forestry Commission Sitka spruces had been felled on this side of the hill and a wide open space swept right down from my feet to a small tarn glinting in the valley bottom. The conifers must have been cleared for a few years and already gorse blazed here and there.