As the nice weather persisted and Wednesday was fine and sunny, I thought it would be a good idea to take advantage of it by going out somewhere. I had various plans, but by the time Paul had finished all the things he thought he ought to do, it was rather late in the day and so too late to drive anywhere much - all the places I had in mind to visit would shut at 5, so there isn't much point in arriving after 4. So we drove back to Titsey, where we have walked before. This time, it was rather hot climbing up the steep slope of the downs, and we were both glad of the water we were carrying.
It now being summer, everything looked rather different from our walk up there after a rather cold and wet spring. Although it was almost the end of August, it is still high summer and the foliage is still fresh and green.
This particular area looked to me as if it had once been coppiced.
The views were just as superb, but there were rather fewer of them and they were harder to find - in winter, there were so many bare sticks. This is the same view down to Titsey Place that I took in May. (I was able to visit Titsey Place itself in June, there's a post about it then, with some photos. And there will be more photos soon.)
It's the same view as in May, just full of leaves this time!
The woods are really beautiful, and give the appearance of being untouched. Fallen trees are not moved, which helps to develop a more natural environment that is better for wildlife.
Notices encourage you to stay on the paths, and anyway the slopes are steep and the trees can be close together - it would be easy to get lost if you strayed from the path. I suppose it may be busier at weekends, but we have seen few other people when walking here - one other family this time.
Once we were back at the car, we drove to look at Titsey Church, the church of St. James. It used to be next to the house where the formal lawn and flower gardens are today. It was moved to its present site on the other side of the road by Sir John Gresham in 1776 when he made a small park beside his new house. It seems bizarre today to imagine somebody being allowed to move a church just because it was in his way, but at the time, the church and indeed the whole village belonged to the family. In 1861, it was rebuilt by Granville Leveson Gower to the design of J.L. Pearson, one of the Victorian Gothic Revival architects, so it is now a listed building.
It's a bit difficult to photograph, as you can see - it's on top of a knoll, with sunken roads on two sides. I'd like to see inside, but it's only open 10 till 4 on a few days a week, so it means coming back. I found a professional photographer's photo of the inside on a web site called PHOTO4ME and it looks quite dramatic, so I'd like to see inside.
It's offered on the web site as a print for sale, and I can well imagine somebody wanting to display it on a wall.
The following day, Thursday, I had intended to spend a leisurely day getting my house ready to receive guests on Friday night - my son and daughter-in-law and my grandson; however, I had barely started when I got a call to say they were arriving 24 hours early. I had to become jet-propelled in order to change beds and clean and shop, but we were all ready by 6.30 when they arrived. So my son was able to spend a relaxing day around the house on Friday before attending his special course on Saturday and Sunday.
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