On Sunday I escaped from work to ramble for nine miles on the Sussex Downs, chatting with my fellow walkers about everything from Ragwort to Hogwarts.

‘The Downs’ are a bit of a misnomer, as my poor old leg muscles will testify……..although the wonderful views are probably worth the pain of the Ups!

I walk with a small, private and very friendly rambling club who have an astounding knowledge of the many beautiful pathways right across the south of England.  I found them on the internet about three years ago when I decided I wanted to walk more and didn’t really know how to start. The map location for the start of the walk was on the website and I turned up to a lane just by junction of two busy roads on a cold, February morning. I wondered where on earth we would walk to, being so close to the road. We set off across a field and for the next ten miles all we saw was woodland, beautiful countryside and tiny hamlets. They were such a friendly crowd and one lady told me that she was the conductor of the Brighton Welsh Male Voice Choir. Another man was an usher at Glyndebourne, so we immediately had an interest in musical things in common. I remember walking past a stream and looking at the snowdrops and feeling an overwhelming feeling of happiness – I was accidentally hooked on Rambling! My legs, which seized up on the drive home leaving me almost unable to walk to the house, felt rather differently.

With all the hustle and bustle of touring and concerts, I find that it really clears my head to get out into the countryside and enjoy a picnic on the top of a hill. This is a picture I took as we broke out the flasks following a couple of particularly steep climb….see what I mean about the view! So – this Sunday, we all met up at the National Trust car park at the Devil’s Dyke. Read the rest of this post»