NORTH DOWNS & BEYOND

I think it most when I am stationary, maybe sitting in a car at traffic lights, or pausing while walking a footpath that runs alongside a light industrial unit.  “What on earth has this place done to deserve this?” Looking at the acres of concrete, prefabricated buildings, sodium lights and metal gantries, I’m compelled to look beyond this man-made horror and imagine what lies beneath. What was once here? A field? A wood? I can now imagine someone walking across this very spot, flat cap, roll-up stuck in the corner of his mouth, on the way home after a day’s work. There is the row of cottages of which one he calls home. A mile from town, but still well served by a couple of pubs and several homesteads that sell fresh produce. The earth roads this way see little traffic, they’re more like tracks and see just a few horses each day, and certainly no wandering stranger. Our ‘ghost’ was born in the very same house that he is now walking to, he was christened in the church that we can st...

A good friend of mine, after considering that my recent posts were of a 'reflective' nature, asked me if I was OK. This took me by surprise, so I asked my wife (who also finds the time to read my waffle) whether she thought that his observation was correct. She agreed with him, adding that my posts often betrayed a whiff of 'unfulfillment'. Blimey... I took a look back through the past few months worth of my posts and I have to agree with them. There is a lot of wistful thinking, looking back, shoe-gazing and self-analysis. Is this something to concern myself about? Is it healthy? Am I guilty of doing it right now? (No, yes and very much so are my answers to those questions by the way). This blog has never been about 'went there, saw that'. There is nothing wrong with those sort of blogs at all, especially when they are backed up by superb photography and boys-own adventures in the field. If I followed that format I would very soon have nothing to say! I'...