Up/down days 2

Climbing the Sussex Downs in a high (but not dangerous) wind is not an obvious choice. But plans had been made – and the dramatic skies were rather exciting – even the sheep seemed a little edgy! They decided to bolt just after I took this picture!

IMG_6625This time we had a destination in mind. And it suddenly appeared, looking distinctly out of place at the edge of a Sussex field!

IMG_6626The Chattri, with Brighton (and the sea) in the background.

The Chattri is a memorial, erected in 1921 on the spot where 53 Hindu and Sikh soldiers  were cremated. They had died from the injuries they had sustained while fighting for the Empire in WW1. They had been cared for in makeshift military hospitals (some of them in the Royal Pavilion) in Brighton.

Once you get over the surprise of the rather grand and exotic design, you realise that this is actually the perfect spot for a memorial – isolated, peaceful (NO vehicle access!) and with fabulous views of the Downs, the city of Brighton and the sea. And that day we also had exhilarating winds and spectacular cloud formations to add to the atmosphere.

Up/down days 1

 

Literally. Up/down the Downs, near Ditchling in Sussex. Three times recently. The first outing was on a glorious English summer afternoon. The ‘hedge’ in the top small picture is interesting –  it is the outer flank of the right hand side of a giant V, planted to commemorate Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee in 1887 (some sources say the Diamond Jubilee, 1897). Over 3,000 trees were put in – larch, birch, scots pine, sycamore, beech…. Still spectacular, over 130 (or possibly 120!) years later. The picture below was taken (with some difficulty) towards the inside bottom of the V.  The most dramatic photos, of course, are to be taken from the road below – but, except as the crow flies, or the human tumbles, that was  miles away!

IMG_6536

Keep putting this off – WordPress has gone weird!

I’m sure they have their reasons, but every time I think about posting I seem to put the kettle on instead….

I will eventually find the motivation to suss it all out. For the moment I am just muttering about the new image blocks. I rather enjoyed playing around with the old options, but all I can find now is an (admittedly pretty classy) oval thingy.

Never mind, clearly time for tea anyway.