NUMINOUS LANDSCAPE

"And what nights there are on the hills. The ash-sprays break up the low full moon into a flower of many sparks. The Downs are heaved up into the lighted sky - surely they heave in their tranquility as with a slowly taken breath." 

All quotations are from The South Country, by Edward Thomas. A man after my own heart, Thomas would walk, endlessly. Setting out early, returning late. Covering many miles, not for the pride of distance, nor the novelty of leisure, but to be spread across a swathe of land for the love of it. In the preface of the Little Toller edition of this book, his wife notes;

"almost his greatest pleasure, and certainly his greatest need, was to walk and be alone in the country he has called 'The South Country'. For him the most satisfying days were when he wandered far afield alone, retreading forgotten footpaths and hidden lanes, stopping at remote and primitive inns where strangers were rare. This of all his pleasures was the deepest and the most comprehensive." 

Above - North towards Chanctonbury Ring, from Cissbury Ring

Below - South towards Worthing, from south east of Cissbury Ring

I visit my hometown of Worthing as often as I am able to, and have done since I moved away 6 years ago. The surrounding land being the fields of my heart, source of longing, and sense of what I am. It is difficult to do justice in words to how I feel about these hills of chalk and flint, which would be why I make images. Each tree, crumbled fence, blade of grass — whether it be golf course, field, or meadow, it matters not — seems to sing with a mysterious praise, sometimes giving voice to life, at other times an enchantment less benign but equally affirming. 

For me to walk here is not distinct from work, or purpose, it is living fully, or perhaps "living all the way through," as Nan Shepherd might phrase it. There is grief too amongst the joy, for so much of the space has gone, or the tranquility swamped by traffic noise, even at great distance. And the inns are no longer quite as "primitive" as I would prefer. But the spirit is there, even when submerged beneath cement and tarmac, and that I can sense wherever I roam. 

Above - Cissbury Ring seen from path to the south

Below - Looking south towards the Downs from Lodsworth

"The wind has fallen, but a mile of woods unloading the rain from their leaves make a sound of wind, while each separate drop can be heard from the nearest branches, a noise of rapt content, as if they were telling over again the kisses of the shower. The air itself is heavy as mead with the scent of yew and juniper and thyme."

Above - The Arun Valley

Below - Follow the chalk path, Wepham Down

Bottom - The haven that is Langham brewery, Lodsworth

"Far up on the Downs the air of day and night is flavoured by honeysuckle and new hay. It is good to walk, it is good to lie still; the rain is good and so is the sun; and whether the windy or the quiet air be the better let us leave to a December judgment to decide." 

Inspirations

Eric Fitch Daglish

The Little Toller edition of The South Country is filled with wonderful engravings by this master of the art. The way these works appear throughout the text is very much like the excitement of happening upon an animal whilst walking. A delight, and moment to savour. Never out of place, or merely filling space, they 'illustrate' something unique about the chalk counties. Perhaps it is the method of the engravings themselves, delicately carved into wood, that speaks of something old. Yet in the precision and tender care that has gone into their creation something fresh, alive, and new, is rendered.

The book can be purchased from the excellent Little Toller.

Thank you for reading