Walking with words on park trail

Ted Hughes lived in North Tawton

Poetry lovers will soon be able to follow an imaginative new poetry trail created in Devon to celebrate the work of the late poet laureate Ted Hughes.

The trail at Stover Country Park near Newton Abbot features 16 poetry posts, each displaying a poem by Hughes on a theme related to the natural world.

Hughes lived in Devon for much of his life and many of his poems reflect the county's rich and diverse wildlife.

The trail will be officially opened on 4 May.

Devon County Council chairman councillor Des Shadrick will perform the official ceremony.

Cllr Shadrick said: "Ted Hughes stands as a colossal presence in the English literary landscape. Devon was home to him from 1961 until his death in 1998.

Seeing it come to fruition is intensely rewarding Carol Hughes

"I feel sure that visitors to Devon as well as local people will find reading Ted Hughes' poems at Stover a memorable and enriching experience."

The initiative, which is supported by the late poet's widow Carol Hughes, also features a children's poetry trail featuring Hughes' wildlife poems as well as drawings by well-known illustrator Raymond Briggs.

Mrs Hughes said: "I have worked closely with council officers in planning the project.

"Now, seeing it come to fruition is intensely rewarding.

"I am sure that he would have felt deeply honoured by this celebration of his work in such an imaginative, natural setting."

Hughes lived in the village of North Tawton in north Devon for much of his life, having moved there with his first wife, American poet Sylvia Plath, in 1961.

He married Carol, his second wife, in 1970, and was made poet laureate in 1984.

Hughes continued to live in Devon until he died of cancer at the age of 68, on 28 October 1998.