Do Monkey Puzzle trees grow wild in the UK?
Now here’s an odd question. Are Monkey Puzzles an invasive species colonising the English countryside? Do they self seed or do they need someone to plant them to become established?
Category: The South Downs Way
Andy Goldsworthy Chalk Stones Trail
Andy Goldsworthy’s chalk stones trail
A walk from West Dean to Bepton Down
How cool are these giant chalk balls? Up to 2 metres across they’re scattered across the South Downs from Cocking Hill to West Dean.
Some very big Easter Eggs!
Andy Goldsworthy’s Chalk Stone Trail
How about this for an Easter Egg Hunt?
With the sun shining over the Easter weekend we headed off along Andy Goldsworthy’s Chalk Stone Trail from Cocking Down to West Dean in The South Downs National Park.
Memorial to a German Pilot near Didling
Memorial to a WWII German Pilot on The South Downs Way
I came across a small memorial next to The South Downs Way near Didling today – dedicated to a 25 year-old German Pilot called Hauptmann Joseph Oestermann who was shot down and killed over The South Downs on the 13th August 1940.
Sussex Wildlife Trust ‘Sussex Seasons’ Photography Competition
The village of Harting, West Sussex
I’m pleased to say that I’m a winner in the Sussex Seasons photography competition organised by the Sussex Wildlife Trust! The winning photos form part of the Trust’s 2012 calendar which you can download from their website.
Two of my photos were selected for the calendar. One of them is a picture that I took of the Sussex village of Harting from the top of the South Downs last February. It was one of those photo opportunities that come along once in a blue moon. We live at the bottom of the Downs, and I could tell from the light above the fog that was swirling about us that if I could get to the top of the Downs I would be above the mist and there might be a chance of a decent picture. And here it is. Everything fell into place, and of course a few moments later and the opportunity had gone.
Here are more pictures by Simon Verrall on Flickr.
Footpath closed…
Footpath closed
So annoying to get to the top of the Down only to find the gate on the footpath is padlocked shut! I’m getting too old to climb over gates…
Boxing Day on The South Downs
And still we have snow!
Stunning Boxing Day views from the top of Linch Down. Cold yet brilliant. And we’ve now had snow since the beginning of December. 2010 has been a cold winter for sure. That’s The South Downs Way in the background, not many people up here today.
Christmas Day on Bepton Down
Can you believe it! Snow on Christmas Day.
It’s a white out on the Downs! Not many people up here today, but a great way to walk off Christmas Lunch! To the right of the fence is The South Downs Way, but the view isn’t so great here at the top of Linch Down in the clouds. Happy Christmas y’all.
Bepton Ranger 