The Thorn Tree – Iconic Natural Feature of Dartmoor

What are the two most iconic natural features of Dartmoor?

Arguably they are stunted hawthorn trees and granite tors. Walking on the moor recently I captured this image. The wind blasted thorn tree seems to beckon to the rocks.

Many people know that trees grow most of their branches on the side that faces the South and so gets most sunlight (in the Northern hemisphere).

In really windy upland areas though this effect can be offset by the prevailing wind direction: usually the West on Dartmoor and Exmoor, which receive gales coming in from the Atlantic.