Thanks, Michael. On the moors especially, the emptiness can purvey a sense of bleakness too, especially so with the likes of the North York moors and Saddleworth (where Myra Hindley and Ian Brady buried three of their child victims), and they can be quite easy to get lost in, without a map and a compass. There is a sense of the wilderness too...
Asher, whenever i'm in places like this I often wonder about the ancient Britons and Celts, and how their lives might have played out in these landscapes. I think about the Romans too; in the north east of England you can see what were once old Roman roads; they are as straight as a die and run for miles in some cases, they're still used to this day of course.
I agree with all you say, and I believe that the earth still holds it's treasures, of which soil erosion and the weather will help yield, given time.