Reporting from the Downs Again- Day 1 | Lewes

Day 1 - Black Cap & Feisty Horse

I know, I am obsessed. But aren’t we all in our own cynical ways? And you may find it a tad crazy, a lot unnecessary and extremely impractical, but the heart wants what it wants and I am all for hearts. And that is why, my heart keeps going back to the green bridleways of Sussex again and again.

Pictures don't do justice!

 

Yes, I have written about Sussex before as well. I have written in my blogs, in my book and god knows how many times I have scribbled about it in my notebook. Yet, I can write about it again just like I can write about the Sun, the green leaves, the snow peaks everyday. The Sussex South Downs is pretty much the same and yet its gentle folds and velvety meadows makes my heart leap every time.

 

One of my fav!

The bright light from the window combined with the air-hostess’s indomitable keenness in serving breakfast and my bum’s constant complaint for having sat in the same position for far too long woke me up from my snooze way earlier than I wanted. From the window, I could see the English coastline approaching. A few minutes after that, the very familiar tiles of green and brown appeared as the flight seemed to hover over the coastal farmlands. Ooh! My heart skipped a beat. After six long years, I would be stepping into the big grassy meadows of the English countryside! With tons of butterflies in my stomach, I devoured the big breakfast plate laid out before me. As I plastered my nose on the window glass with a fixed gaze at the landscape below, I flew over a bunch of wind turbines which seemed to have their blades rotating at a leisurely pace. Nope, I did not pay for these seats, I just got lucky.

 

From the window seat

London Gatwick welcomed me with its usual long immigration queue. Earlier, it would annoy me but this time, it just made me smile. Nostalgia is a funny thing. So, quite surprisingly, I enjoyed standing in the queue and scanning the crowd. My friend, DD who was waiting outside for about forty minutes to pick me up might not be sharing the same patience though. As I walked out of the airport and into the car park, broad smiles welcomed me and the Sun shined bright. As I would keep hearing a lot people tell me afterwards, you brought the Sun with you! Gosh, that’s mighty sweet and my heart swells even now.

The black Peugeot sped across the A27 towards Lewes. But first, Burgess Hill. Yes, I might be the only person ever to be excited about the prospect of visiting Burgess hill, a sleepy town in West Sussex. But hey, I never claimed to be smart or keen. I like my sleepy town where I had spent the best four years of my life! So, we took a longer route to Lewes through Burgess Hill - a luxury ride! It was a delight passing by my old apartment, spotting the very familiar pub - ‘The Railway Inn’; even discovering that the horrible Indian Restaurant - ‘The Asian Rose’ was still in business was pure joy! The long winded route then made its way to Lewes - the arty, crafty town in East Sussex with its long high street, the big round clock, the stone walls of the castle, the bright flowers popping out of each house and finally, the 19th century house on the GMT line which was to be my home for the next few days! Welcome back to Sussex!

 

Just a pretty pond, fenced around it to protect the wildlife in the water.

The mid June Sun and the cool breeze made all tiredness vanish in a second. And after a quick coffee, I was ready to be out in the field! Just a few minutes walk up the road and we were right on the much awaited South Downs! We made our way through overgrown blackberry and nettles bushes (our bare arms lifted above the head to avoid any nettle-sting!) and walked up to the Lewes racecourse. The stretched out rapeseed field had lost its yellow now as it would have been in the month of April / May, nonetheless, lovely. I took some deep breaths in an attempt to cleanse my fuel drenched lungs with some fresh Downs air.

At top of the Black Cap

The meadows were filled with lots of yellow buttercups, daffodils - yellow and seeded ones, purple coloured button shaped Sussex rampions (also, known as the Pride of Sussex), daisies and also some pyramidal orchids which seemed to be the latest interest amongst the locals. We walked up to the Black Cap, examined the gorse thickets which were yet to burst open into yellow flowers, checked out the Lewes beacon and then made a loop back towards home.

dotted with flowers all over!

 

On the way back, I met a Shetland pony. It was a short and stout brown horse with white socks and very stylish white mane. It was friendly and came by the fence to say hello. Quite opposed to another big muscular horse in the next fence yard which actually ran and bit the back of his horse mate who was coming towards us to have a conversation! Was it jealous? I have no idea but I have never seen a horse literally bite another! Good entertainment!

Lewes beacon

It felt like a short walk, but it was almost 10KM and a couple of hours gone in a jiffy! The long flight followed by the walk and the change in timezone suddenly made me extremely sleepy...so much that I could not even hold a conversation. What followed thereafter was a sumptuous dinner of spaghetti bolognese and one of the best sleeps I have had in a very long time! As I drifted off to sleep, I heard the song - ‘Fields of Gold’ playing softly.