Little dog in the Downs

 It was a frosty morning in my little bit of East Sussex and I had the day off, the perfect excuse for our first walk of the year up in the South Downs. Luckily Little dog agreed with me, so with both of us dressed for the cold we drove to the car park on the long ridge above the village of Firle.

There was a cold breeze blowing in our faces from the sea as we set off along the lane towards Blackcap farm. The sun had made it's first appearance for several days and driven away the frost. In the distance I could see several small squalls out at Sea which were slowly heading in our direction, not a problem as Little dog was wearing the waterproof coat that we bought her before Christmas.

As we walked through the farmyard a border collie sitting in the back of a pickup truck announced our presence by barking loudly. Little dog put her nose up in the air and ignored all the fuss, I was glad that it was tied up. Our route took us into a long narrow valley full of mud, rocks and brambles which is appropriately called 'Poverty Bottom'. From here the path led us back up hill where we had panoramic views for miles around.

Looking back along our trail I could see the new waste incinerator in Newhaven. It's futuristic design constructed in stainless steel looks like a spacecraft has landed.  To the south was Seaford and Cuckmere Haven with the Seven Sisters beyond. One of the squalls had now reached us and it began to rain, luckily it was short lived as there was no cover up here. There are very few trees up on the downs and those that have managed to survive are shaped by the prevailing winds growing outwards more on their lea side than the windward.

Sheep have grazed the Downs since the Iron age but there is nothing for them to drink as there are no natural watercourses up here because the ground is made of flint and chalk which is fast draining. Therefore over many centuries the shepherds and farmers have solved this problem by constructing dew ponds. The ponds which look like round craters were dug and originally lined with a mixture of straw and clay which set hard and prevented rain water or dew from draining away. They were so well designed that water even remained in the ponds throughout the summer months. Most of them have fallen into disrepair today as water is pumped up from covered reservoirs.

We stopped for lunch on the northern edge of the ridge looking out across the flat plain below towards Windover Hill. Little dog is a greedy pooch with a voracious appetite for some one her size; she managed to stuff away half my pastie and most of my apple. At least she let me drink my thermos of Tea all by myself.

It was too cold to sit around for long so we got up and followed the ridge line back over Firle Beacon to the car park. There were spectacular views northwards all along the route across the East Sussex plain towards the Weald on the distant horizon. Closer at hand we passed some exmoor ponies grazing on the steep hillside above Charleston Farmhouse, now a museum dedicated to the 'Bloomsbury set' of artists and writers. Further along was Mount Caburn an iron age hill fort above the village of Glynde and the world famous opera house at Glyndebourne.

I really enjoyed our first walk on the Downs this year, the scenery was spectacular, the weather was great and the company was good; Little dog never grumbles when she is having a walk, apart from when I don't feed her my lunch quickly enough.