Sussex
Scrapbook ~ Wildlife walks throughout the year
Saturday 26th June 2021
Lewes - Malling Hill - Saxon Down - Mount Caburn - Oxteddle Bottom - Lewes ~ 6 miles
The weather lately is jumping between; hot, rain, and hot and rainy. Today was hot and humid and we sweated buckets doing this relatively small stroll. Every Saturday for three weeks has seen us wearing ourselves out in high temperatures and it would seem it's our own fault. Lockdown for us consisted of spending lots of time in the garden and allotment and just as much time spent eating cakes and sitting around doing nothing. As a consequence I have been told by the doc that my cholesterol in the past few years has gone from perfect to high, and I've got to do something about it. So sweating and panting up hills that a year ago I would have run up is now my punishment. On top of that I understand I have to give up all the foods I love (crave) and eat just healthy food. Luckily we are growing about 40 types of veg and fruit and over 15 types of herb so it shouldn't be such a terrible hardship.
Walking around Mount Caburn is certainly no hardship - the views are magnificent and today we timed it just right as there were downland flowers everywhere. This area has really been improved by lockdown as the meadowland was thick and spongy and teeming with life. Dropwort seemed to be in a bigger abundance than we've ever seen it and the air smelt of honey. Intoxicated by smells and sights and surrounded by clouds of bees and butterflies we floated through the sea of grasses and forgot about the heat. Buzzards were floating on high and swooping through the valleys, kestrels were hovering at eye level on the edge of the escarpment and a Hobby, surprised by a diving Buzzard, took off at speed across a field of rape. With so many predators about there must be a host of prey hiding amongst the huge swathes of flowers and grasses.
With so much rain and so much sun, the roads are clean and sticky and we made full use of that adhesion to put the BMW through it's paces on the twisty roads home.
An austere start up a snicket
Malling Hill
The disused pits below Malling Hill
A view across to Mount Caburn
Mount Caburn is in a very nice condition after having less footfall for a year
Looking across to Oxteddle Bottom from near the mount.
Dropwort is everywhere.
Looking over Oxteddle Bottom from the other side.
Gill even managed to pick up a Glow worm hitchhiker
Take the time to read
the
countryside code for yourself and please stick to it at all times.