Country diary: The wolf moon makes sky gazers of us all

Cringle Moor, North York Moors: No torches tonight. We have this terawatt dazzler to light our wayThe first full moon of the year has fallen like a dream in a clear spell. Its other name - wolf moon - evokes a folk memory of bone-deep hunger and boreal chill, which, if my social media bubble is anything to go by, still has the power to draw us outside, to our back gardens and city streets, to beaches and mountain tops. We are moon gazers still, and this night in particular is feeding an urge to make fire, immerse in water or get high, one way or another. My little family is doing so literally, with a walk on the northern edge of the North York Moors.It's not a place I enjoy much by day - too scoured in the name of management - but it has undeniable grandeur tonight. What we really mean when we speak of dark skies is land dark enough to not be a distraction, and south of here is a vast mass of that. Continue reading...