Up on the Downs

To continue with the six pictures taken this year that have given me the most satisfaction.

When attempting landscape pictures on the Downs I usually go for two-thirds sky to one-third earth (as with the picture of the signpost earlier this week) in an attempt to stress the openness and distances. So why this one should give me so much satisfaction was at first something of a puzzle. Then it dawned on me that it has many features of the South Downs in it, more than I realised at first glance. There is the old flint wall right in the foreground with hedges and copses further in the distance. And although the Downs run from east to west, there are valleys and ridges running north-south and this picture shows four ridges. The Chattri memorial is hardly a common feature of Downland views, but somehow it adds something to this picture. And if you enlarge the picture sufficiently, you will see sheep in the field above the Chattri and a seagull in the air!


I did say I might tell the story of Minty the Lamb but I have realised that I did that 18 months ago. For those who missed it (or have forgotten all about it) you can find it right here.