My birthday went very nicely. By one measure, my best ever.

I had organised a pub lunch with friends, and booked for our party at one of the best country pubs in the area. A pub that is great twice over: first in itself (great food, great beer, great surroundings), but also in that getting from here to there is a favourite walk provided I start out in good time. With the weather being bright and sunny and a very comfortable temperature, I took full advantage of the walk, and we were able to sit out in the pub’s pleasant garden to eat.

From my front door I’m on to open land in less than 15 minutes, gradually getting wilder from there. The route crosses two of Dartmoor’s tors – small rocky peaks that are a bit of a scramble but no real challenge – before dropping into a steep wooded valley and following the path of a stream down to the village and pub. Most of the route is open land, with sheep and ponies (and gorgeous cute foals), and the skylarks overhead, while the woodland/stream section was teeming with gorgeous insect life such as butterflies and dragonflies. Something under four hours neither hurrying nor dawdling, and I’m ready for a good lunch.

Having estimated my party’s size at 20 people for the purposes of the pub planning, coincidentally exactly 20 turned up. That number is helped by my advancing age, as fewer invitees have work commitments that keep them away. I was pleased to get so many (that’s the measure by which it was my best ever birthday), and also that the party’s age range now spans a full 60 years, from undergraduate students to early 80s. Reactions from those who didn’t already know the pub were gratifying, too.

I’m getting spoiled. Less than a week ago I enjoyed another great meal out in the garden of another lovely local pub that was a pleasant walk. But I’m a little concerned that all this fine summer weather is happening when our reservoirs are already much lower than they should be so early in the summer. The moorland already looks very dry, including normally-slightly-boggy bits on my route, and water in the leat was very low. Are we heading into serious drought?