📖Book Review ~ The Spring Pond by Miriam Darlington (Candlestick Press)

Candlestick Press
March 2025

My thanks to the publisher for my copy of this pamphlet 

 

Spring can creep up on us; it’s easy to miss the early signs that a new season is on the way. In her lyrical evocation of a pond on Dartmoor, leading naturalist Miriam Darlington pays close and loving attention to the quiet changes that take place – from the first shoots of flag iris to the “shivery delta” of frogspawn as it starts to wriggle with tadpoles.

There is an abiding sense of the enriching connection between humans and the wild landscape:

“The moor in spring can be an absorbent place. It takes you and your mood and enfolds you beneath its wing. Low sun brushed the grass tips, and in the pearly sky something subtle was happening. It was reflected in the water surface that was all a-glimmer, shining cloud on cloud as if sending it all back skywards…”

This beautiful pamphlet will delight readers at any time of year – a reminder that nature is always there, waiting to beguile us with its wonders.

Poems by Diana Hendry and Edward Thomas

Cover illustration by Sarah Young.

📖My Review…

This lovely pamphlet by Miriam Darlington has been especially written to conjure the beauty of a spring pool which is so beautifully described I could feel the silken tap of water, the cool green of the mire, the plaintive cries of curlews and the tumble of lapwings.  I was reminded of a pool I played near as a child, a place I wasn’t supposed to visit, but together with friends we would go to catch tiny fish to put in an old jam jar and laugh with joy when we found a newt or a tiny green frog to run on our hands, all carefully placed back into the pond at the end of the visit. 

It’s a very restful piece of writing, bringing to life all the glory of the natural world, and an ideal way to escape the stresses of everyday life. At the start is a lovely poem by Edward Thomas who was sadly killed during WW1, I find his poetry very emotional and The Pond certainly gets the pamphlet off to a good start. The end poem What is the Pond Doing? by Diana Hendry made me smile as it reminded me of the questions that children invariably ask when you don’t always have the answers.

The Spring Pool is a timely reminder of the beauty of nature and is perfect ‘instead of card ‘ for anyone who appreciates the natural world or who simply enjoys reading about nature in all its glory.

About the Publisher 

Candlestick Press is a small, independent press publishing sumptuously produced poetry pamphlets that serve as a wonderful alternative to a greetings card, with matching envelopes and bookmarks left blank for your message. Their subjects include Mountains, Clouds, Walking, Birds, Wine and Happiness. Candlestick Press pamphlets are stocked by chain and independent bookshops, galleries and garden centres nationwide and available to order online.

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