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| Turn here for Beacon Hill |
What a surprise and what a treat - so much going on (or has gone on in this landscape).
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| View toward Watership Down |
Highlights for me were:
- The view over to Watership Down (of book and development protest fame) and north to the Ridgeway and Highclere Castle.
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| Highclere Castle from Beacon Hill |
- The vine filled calcareous woodland (pretty much the whole UK gamut of native creepers)
- The open grassland with so many unusual plants - most of which I recognise and some of which I can name. Also non-standard trees/shrubs - juniper, privet, buckthorn, wayfaring tree and whitebeam. Contrary to the Wikipedia entry there are yew and ash present in the scrub - but I don't feel confident to make an update.
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| Wild Juniper - lots of berries - but why is it claimed to be "not regenerating" (reasons here possibly) |
- The grave of George Herbert, 5th Earl of Carnarvon - of Tutankhamen fame, in a setting reminiscent of the ancient graves at Kingley Vale
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| Grave of George Herbert 5th Earl of Carnarvon |
It is all pretty much explained in http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beacon_Hill,_Burghclere,_Hampshire
A recommended stop - especially if it means that you miss the Oxford rush hour - 60 minutes on Beacon Hill or 60 minutes stationary in your car? No contest.
Next time I am going to stop at Seven Barrows field where Sir Geoffrey de Havilland made his first successful test flight on 10 September 1910.
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