Bidcombe Hill

Again I unexpectedly found myself out and about with several hours to pass; this time in Southwest Wiltshire. What to do on an exceptionally hot and sunny day I thought, I know, I'll get closer to the sun by walking up onto one of the exposed chalk grassland hills of the region; common sense sometimes eludes me. I don't know this area, though the highest point close to where I was Bidcombe Hill; the obvious choice then. Cold Kitchen Hill, Whitecliff Down and Brims Down form a bowed ridge with Bidcombe Hill as it's highest point at 297m. Once up there the high downs afford stunning views in all directions across the rolling Wiltshire countryside; making a heavy 8 mile walk (and blimey was it hot, little to no breeze either), well worthwhile. I'm always grateful for the opportunity to walk somewhere totally new; the elation of experiencing a landscape and it's vistas for the first time, there's a unique magic to those walks.   

Pyramidal Orchid

Either standing alone or in diffuse clusters, Pyramidal orchids (Anacamptis pyramidalis) are a common sight throughout the rough chalk grassland at this time of year. A beauty to behold.

Martin Down

The Chase (Cranborne Chase) is a versatile landscape, a mosaic of woodland, grassland  and farmland, mostly arable, though some grazing. Today we were roaming Martin Down, an extensive tract of chalk grassland. This landscape has been favoured by our ancestors for thousands of years; they've hunted it, farmed it, occupied it and ritualized it, their works litter the land, layer over layer of rich history.  The photo is taken from a robbed out Bronze Age Round Barrow, whether robbed by 'archaeologists' in antiquity or by treasure hunters, I don't know off hand, although the scar left by their endeavours is clearly visible. Lovely day for walking, I was glad to have got out early, mind, as it was really warming up by late morning.  

Breamore landscape

I've always been a big fan of artist and archaeologist (amongst many other things) Heyward Sumner, whose artwork captures the essence of our English rural landscape so very beautifully. And, today I was literally walking in Sumner country, the open chalk landscape between Fordingbridge (Sumner lived in South Gorley near Fordingbridge from 1904 to 1940) and Salisbury, specifically the area around Breamore House. Sumner knew this region well, living in it, walking it and exploring it, recording the archaeological landscapes of both the New Forest and Cranborne Chase. Two of the landscapes I particularly love to walk and myself know quite well (big headed, I know). Walking the land behind Breamore is like walking through a carousel of Sumner illustrations. And what strikes me, is how little the regions landscape appears to have changed since Sumner's time.  Take this photo which looks down a well worn drove, Sumner would most certainly have known and walked, up to Clearbury Rings (Iron Age Hillfort) or as Sumner knew it Claybury Ring, a landmark he illustrated. I reckon he'd as easily recognize all his old haunts, just as easily I recognize the landscapes he drew and painted.

Elderflowers

Throughout the hedgerows and shrubby woodland clumps indicative of the chalk downland of southern Wiltshire, Elder's are coming into bloom, and it's wonderful. Is there anything more evocative of summers arrival than the pungent aroma and creamy white flower clusters of the Elderflower (Sambucus nigra). I think not.