Country diary: the glow-worm is a little beacon in the dark

Hallsands, Devon: As I start back up the path in the dark I spot something in the grass - a little green light, like a child's keyringDark now and the lighthouse is lit. Every nine seconds it sends a spill of white across the fidgeting black waters of Start Bay, almost to my feet. There's no moon yet: it's the only light. The whole coast pulses with it as it wheels around.I'm in Hallsands after a year away. I've been watching this eroding coast with the same eye that assesses a sick relative, looking closely for deterioration, hoping to see none. If changes are there, they are subtle. And Hallsands is still here, despite a winter of storms much like the one that took most of this village from the cliffs in 1917 - the natural shale bank that protected it having been dredged to death. Continue reading...