NORTH DOWNS & BEYOND

  "Above all, do not lose your desire to walk. Everyday, I walk myself into a state of well-being and walk away from every illness. I have walked myself into my best thoughts, and I know of no thought so burdensome that one cannot walk away from it."  Soren Kierkegaard I had found myself in an uncomfortable place. Maudlin and retrospective what with the impending first anniversary of my sister's passing; saddened at the recent loss of several of the birding community; still trying to shake off the effects of a virus that manifested itself back in mid-December; unable to inject some oomph into everyday life. No doubt that the recent largely grey and wet weather had not helped at all in my seeking out some sunny uplands. Yesterday I decided that, seeing as retail therapy does nothing for me, some walking therapy would do instead. At 06.30hrs I left the house with a vague route in mind, ignored the chilly and blustery westerly wind, put my best foot forward... and repeated t...

I fancied stretching my legs today, so decided upon a walk around the perimeter of the 'mini-uber patch'. I left home, on foot, at 06.10hrs and returned seven hours later. According to an app on my phone this comprised of 36,925 steps covering 24km (just under 15 miles). It might have done my cardiovascular system the world of good, but as far as the birding went it was very poor - little in song, much of the walk seemingly bird less, highlights hard to suggest. The footpaths were in bad condition, not just ankle-deep mud with washed away foundation, but sorely lacking in vegetation clearance. In the summer some of these are going to be impassable. It is quite sad to walk through beautiful countryside that is so bereft of wildlife. What were once arable and pastural farm fields are now largely horse paddocks, golf course or monoculture grass. The area between Banstead and Gatton that I passed once played host to Tree Sparrow colonies - 56 pairs in 10 colonies some 50-odd yea...

Walking is an integral part of my time spent searching for that next natural history high. To sit in hides is not my thing really - granted, they do have their uses and can provide close views of birds that would have flown away had I not had the wooden walls to screen me from view. Yet the sky is hidden and the sun does not warm you, nor the wind ruffle or the drizzle caress. No, to immerse oneself in the here and now you need to be out there, mobile and bathed in the elements. Walking is also a great balm on the mind. As much as you might be searching the path ahead of you, or the sky above for birds, the process of putting one foot in front of the other allows a certain rhythm to also enter the thought process. Troubles can be thought through, ideas hatched, a running commentary produced. At times the mind may empty in contemplation of a stunning view or a modest encounter with a flower. We let go when we walk. I was fortunate in my working life to live within four miles of my p...

Walton Downs - possibly an old sheep drove. We walk on hallowed ground. Crossing downland, farmland or woodland by foot we are largely following in the footsteps of those who have gone before us. Worn paths in the chalk, muddy strips along field edges, canopied byways through strips of copse that all tell of the gentle human history that has created them. In my part of northern Surrey, particularly along the North Downs ridge, we walk along in the ghostly footsteps of pilgrims, we shadow the movements of shepherds, farmhands and others just like us, those who wanted to commune with nature. We largely see what they saw, even in this crowded part of Britain. Some of the trees that look down on us looked down on them. Old collapsed flint walls and abandoned foundations tell of past rural lives, lives now gone, maybe of simpler times. Did they stand in these doorways looking out on Partridges, Barn Owls and Red-backed Shrikes? Did they sharpen their scythes while dreaming of a foaming...