CREATIVE writing inspired by Dartmoor and penned by year 8 school students is featuring on Dartmoor National Park Authority?s website as part of its Moor Writing initiative.

Eight groups of youngsters from two Plymouth secondary schools ventured onto Dartmoor last winter, accompanied by West Devon writer Roselle Angwin, DNPA education officer Willem Montagne and a DNPA guide. The groups spent the mornings exploring the moors and the afternoons writing about their experiences at the High Moorland Visitor Centre.

Willem Montagne said: ?It is not always easy persuading young people to write prose and poetry, let alone a group of mixed 13-year-olds.

?However, the contributions were refreshingly original and lively.?

Roselle Angwin said: ?January, February and early March offered us days which showed Dartmoor in its extremes: cold, bright weather, all snow and ice, with a furious horizontal wind for some of those days; and freezing rain once or twice.

?But Dartmoor, as always, worked its magic. The walk we used was wonderful and the words came. What was really tremendous for me was watching the students relating to the process and feeling sufficiently engaged with Dartmoor to be both awed and inspired by it.?

The Moor Writing initiative was funded by the Countryside Agency and Dartmoor National Park Authority. The writing can be viewed on the DNPA website at http://www.dartmoor-npa.gov.uk/dnp/edramb/html">www.dartmoor-npa.gov.uk/dnp/edramb/html