Whitsbury

We were walking in the beautiful borderland between the New Forest and Cranborne Chase today, proper Sumner country, around Whitsbury exactly. A wonderful rolling landscape, a tapestry of fields and woodlands, connected by a network of shaded paths and droves. It's a real rural landscape. The canopy of the woodland running along Whitsbury Hill is filling out casting dappled shadows over a mass of flowers, the floor is a carpet of bluebells dotted with clusters of Yellow Archangel, Greater Stitchwort, Red Campion, to name but a few. There's so much energy in the land it's infectious, there's literally a spring in your step and a smile on your face, as we walked that scene from 'Spaced' where Tim and Bilbo are walking came to mind, and my smile broadened  further. I stood for a while in secluded woodland, wholly immersed in spring, the heady scent of woodland flowers fills the warm air and the sun kisses my face, it's pure bliss, man. I took three breaths, breathing in the woodland as I did. Stood there amongst the stands I felt really connected to everything, and it felt good. In fact, the whole walk felt good, I must come this way more often. For the most part, and apart from the local inhabitants, of course, this is a forgotten landscape, or more a landscape few know about. We regularly walk these paths for hours without seeing a soul. Hey, I'm not complaining, mind.