If you’re into wild swimming, you’re bound to have heard of Sophie Pierce. She’s a former BBC Devon reporter who co-authored four books on swimming’s healing powers after her son, Felix, died suddenly aged just 20 from SUDEP (Sudden Unexpected Death in Epilepsy).

Now, Sophie has written The Green Hill (£18.99, Unbound) which goes deeper into her loss, sharing the letters she wrote to Felix after his death composed during walks and swims taken close to his burial place by the River Dart. It delves into the horror and pointlessness of losing her son at such an early age but it’s also about the healing power of nature and its potential for restoring ‘ a complicated kind of joy after bereveament’.

I can’t promise it won’t have you in tears (it did me) but it’s a deeply affecting reminder of the importance of holding your loved ones close. Death is still taboo and with so few useful books the subject, her words are a consolation and a waymark for anyone who’s known terrible loss.

What also struck me was how ready Sophie is to reveal the locations of her favourite wild places, when so many would rather keep them to themselves. Instead, she thinks it’s selfish not to share the joy.

Here are just a few – along with some black and white illustrations of them by her artist husband Alex, and the reasons why she thinks they’re worth a trip. Read The Green Hill for lots more.

For folklore – Crazywell Pool

I absolutely love this pool, it’s eery and extraordinary, even though it’s manmade – the remains of china clay mining. I first came across from it a board game, called The Dartmoor Game, which I found in a charity shop. I thought ‘what a funny name, I must go!’ Park at Norsworthy Bridge then it’s about a 40-minute walk with an ordnance survey map to find it because it’s hidden away.

The pool is a lozenge shape, with its own little beach and very sheltered so a lovely spot to swim on windy days. Here’s associated with numerous legends, such as if you gaze into the pool on Midsummer Eve the reflection staring back will be the next person to die in the parish. Another is that the level goes up and down in sync with the tides at Plymouth Sound. It’s also reputed to be bottomless but I don’t think it’s that deep.

For historic interest – Down Tor Stone Row, Dartmoor

Here has huge significance for me as it was one of our last walks with Felix before he died. The stone row and circle is made up of 174 stones and dates back four thousand years to the Bronze Age, linking us back to our prehistoric ancestors.

No-one really knows why they were built, but they’re thought to be commemorative in some way and the circle itself a burial site. I came here with Alex after Felix died and lit a candle and placed it in the centre of the circle then we walked the length of the row and back. The first time I saw it, we’d walked about a mile from Norsworthy Bridge using an ordnance survey map to find it when suddenly it appeared, spectacularly, almost like a mirage.

It’s such a monumental place. When Felix died, I needed to find a way of finding these moments of beauty, and here provided an active way of mourning; an act of remembrance.

For a wild swim – Thurlestone Rock

This is an amazing rock arch forming a gateway to the sea which is easily accessible and just a short distance from the beach at South Milton Sands. It stands on the edge of the reef so you can walk out to it at low tide. Take your goggles for a swim at high tide and you’ll see fish and beautiful seaweed, and you can swim right through the arch.

We spent a lot of time here as a family, playing in the rock pools and swimming, and there’s also a great café, The Beachhouse, which serves seafood and fresh crab salads in summer.

To see the sunrise – Saddle Tor, Dartmoor

I always used to go Dartmoor’s firing range to see the sunrise but, having explored all the tors hereabouts, I’ve come to think this is the best spot. Because Saddle Tor faces east and west you can see the sun come up over the sea and the Teign Estuary. I’ve also found a little niche in the rocks to keep out of the wind. I try and get installed 10 minutes or so before the sunrise, for that liminal moment when it’s light but the sun is still to appear, no longer night but not yet day.

For the view – Pear Tree Point

It’s more like Greece than Devon here, because the sea is very clear due to being over shingle rather than sand. Although it’s remote, you can drive and park up at Start Point then head east in the direction of Great Mattiscombe Sand. Look east and you’ll see Start Point lighthouse and look west for Devon’s southernmost spot at Prawle Point. You might also spot a few seals, although they tend to stay on a little island further out. I have a mixed relationship with seals – I love them but if I see one, I stay very calm and get straight out of the water. They’re not aggressive but they can give you a nip, and they have very sharp teeth!

Special meaning – Sharpham Meadow, near Totnes

The eponymous ‘green hill’, this meadow was created in 2013 by the Sharpham Trust, the charity that looks after the 550-acre Sharpham Estate. For me, it’s so significant because not only is it where Felix is buried but it looks out over the River Dart which connects so many parts of my life: where I live in Ashburton, rivers where I swim and Dartmouth where I have spent so many happy times.

This hillside burial site is so unlike our rather Victorian way of death which ‘others’ it and blocks it out when what we really need to do is connect with difficult times. It felt more real, if absolute hell, putting our son into the earth in a felt shroud, rather than in an elaborate coffin. It was almost like putting him to bed. And for me to visit its natural beauty now is a far better place in which to convalesce.

Want to hear more from Sophie? Catch her talking about The Green Hill with husband Alex Murdin on Weds 8 Mar at Ashley Court, Tiverton. £15pp; Thurs 16 Mar, The Albatross, Totnes. Tickets £3; and In Conversation with Ben Bradshaw on Fri 28 April at Exeter Library.

My favourite places: Author Sophie Pierce

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