Walking In January.

Friday was a good day. The sun was shining, perfect for a good long walk. I left the house at about 12.30 and headed in the usual direction towards the countryside. I said hello to some sheep who were grazing happily in the January sunshine. I didn’t turn left for the White Horse this time but carried on up a steep pathway through the bare leafless trees to the top of the ridge, The path was quite slippery with lots of wet dead leaves covering the chalk underneath, so I had to be careful. It was worth the effort for the panoramic view of the fields below.

Then I headed along the edge of Salisbury Plain beside the army firing range. It was quite breezy up here, but I was grateful for that after the strenuous sweaty climb up the hill. I didn’t see another soul apart from one couple out walking their dog. I loved the solitude and being far from the madding crowd. As Arthur Schopenhauer once said, ‘A man can be himself only so long as he is alone; and if he does not love solitude, he will not love freedom; for it is only when he is alone that he is really free’. Anyway, I walked along the trackway for quite a distance. There are footpaths leading downwards towards the woods, but I walked on further until I thought that was far enough for one day and headed down the hill and into the woods. 

Along the way I came to an avenue of beech trees that must have been planted maybe nearly 100 years ago. Over the years courting couples and other people had carved their names or initials and the year into the bark of the trees. I wandered along reading them and taking photos. The oldest one I spotted was 1972 but I bet there are some a lot older than that. Some of the teenagers who carved their names with pen knives all those years ago would be old people now. I wondered if Ralph still loves Sylv, or if Vikki & Joe were still together. I always find things like that fascinating, like finding graffiti from the middle ages in old buildings like churches. 

I carried on along a muddy path that I hadn’t discovered before, but knew it was going in the right direction and it led me back to the pathway where I first ascended the hill. It was even slippier going down, but I didn’t come to grief. When I finally got home the clock said 3.30, so I had been out walking for three hours. Next time I’ll try and go even further.