Читать книгу Walks in the South Downs National Park онлайн

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At a junction of paths just below the crown of a hill but sheltered from the wind, we settled on the grass to eat our sandwiches with a panoramic view of something like 300° to gaze upon. A local woman exercising her dogs stopped to pass the time of day, to share enthusiasm (hers and ours) for the beauty of the scene, for the enriching goodness of the Downs, for the freedom and energy to be able to enjoy them. If anything, her appreciation increased ours and we parted with smiles of friendship.

Having crossed and recrossed the Downs we arrived back where we’d begun several hours earlier, and now gazed northward across the Weald – the Weald patterned with field and meadow, blotches of woodland, a few tiny villages, and more hills far off and blue with distance.

In a little over a month we’ll be in the Himalaya among sky-scratching peaks and tumbling glaciers. But it’ll be no more beautiful or rewarding than our days wandering on the South Downs. Just different. The ‘blunt, bow-headed, whalebacked Downs’ are no substitute for bigger hills. Complete in themselves, they’re enriching, fulfilling, uplifting, and anyone who enjoys a walk with a big broad view and the brush of an unchecked breeze will find all they need here.