Tag Archive | WH Hudson

Sunday stroll: south-west Wiltshire

Today we went for a walk out from our village. Signs of spring are everywhere now, despite the sub-zero temperatures we’ve been having overnight for the past few days. Our neighbour’s bank has its glorious display of Cyclamen coum

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The hazel catkins are out and the snowdrops are at their best right now

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In one of the gardens walking out of the village is an old shepherd’s hut, with one axle broken. It reminds me of A Shepherd’s Life by W H Hudson, which I must re-read again. It was published in 1910, and in it he describes the life of the shepherds on the south Wiltshire downs over a hundred years ago, when those still living had memories going back to the early 1800s. I especially love it as he mentions our village.

An old shepherd's hut, that has seen better days.

An old shepherd’s hut that has seen better days.

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We walked out of the village to the sort of chalk downland on which the shepherds about which Hudson wrote would have tended their flocks

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Beautiful fungus on an old hawthorn stump:

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A hawthorn clump in the grazing land, giving shelter to the sheep and a haven for the birds. In the foreground you can see molehills with the freshly-turned white chalk lumps in them.

A hawthorn clump in the grazing land, giving shelter to the sheep and a haven for the birds. In the foreground you can see molehills speckled with freshly-turned white chalk lumps.

Lovely old gate furniture.

Lovely old gate furniture.

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Periwinkle and dog's mercury.

Periwinkle and dog’s mercury among the beech leaves.