YOU won't like this, West Devon, but it needs to be said.

Dartmoor leisure businesses may be welcoming the return of tourists with open arms, but the land itself is not.

From our privileged position on an unscathed farm in the centre of the moor, we have witnessed the wildlife thriving — deer, foxes, all the birds, and I suspect the plant life too (please, some talented and unbiased botanist, investigate this) have really blossomed in the tourists' absence. Even our stock have fared better in the peace.

Eventually, but I suspect too late, humanity will recognise that wilderness can only be wilderness without that most destructive species of all — humanity.

Sue Forbes

Sue Murphy

Beardown Farm

Two Bridges