Falmer

On the way to and from the kennels we pass the village of Falmer. Even though the sky wasn't blue yesterday, the church and pond made a fairly attractive picture. Pity about the cars.

Way back when

The Boss has just come across the picture of me aged three weeks and I just had to share it with you.

Humans are odd

I'm not sure quite what it is that the Boss likes about this small clump of trees, but humans can be funny at times.

Chestnut candles

They are clearer in this picture.

Under the spreading chestnut tree

We last saw this tree back in November when it was bare. Now it is full of candles.

Back in Stanmer

Presumably there is a good reason why this dead tree has not been felled.

Waterhall

Sweet Hill rises from the dry valley called Waterhall. This has been partly filled and levelled to provide playing fields.

Panorama

This panoramic view from Sweet Hill covers north-east to south-south-east. The village in the valley to the left is Pyecombe, then along the skyline we see High Park Woods, then Stanmer Woods, then Patcham and the Roman camp. At the far right it is impossible to distinguish between the sea and the sky, but both are there!

Chalk

The soil on the downland ridges is very thin and quickly worn away to show the underlying chalk.

Round to the south a bit

Looking back over Patcham with the Roman camp being the high point on the skyline. Somewhere in all those houses is ours.

Stanmer from Sweet Hill

Looking east from the top of Sweet Hill we can see Stanmer Woods on the skyline and the Brighton bypass below.

Sweet Hill

The Boss took me on a new walk yesterday afternoon - up Sweet Hill and across the Downs. Sweet Hill is great with lots of scrub for me to root around in. The mobile phone mast doesn't bother me although the Boss says it's ugly but necessary.

The new stadium

It's almost two months since we last caught up with progress on the new football stadium.

Cyclist ahoy!

There he is - or it might be a she - right up on the skyline in the gap between High Park Wood and Mill Wood.

Say cheese

Someone has a keen eye and a sense of humour.

Berberis

The lilacs in Withdean Park may not be fully in bloom yet, but this berberis - one of many varieties there - is looking good.

That's better

Stanmer church just manages to peep over the flowering cherry trees.

Ugly

The Boss says this doesn't look very pretty, but at least they sell my favourite food!

County Oak Medical Centre

On the other side of the road, immediately across from the pub, the new County Oak Medical Centre has been built on what was part of the grounds of Carden school. Building this centre did involve digging out a fair few tons of chalk as the site was a steep hill which needed leveling.

Not quite so pretty

The County Oak pub was probably built around 1950. Presumably in those days it was considered to be the last thing in vernacular architecture but it's not exactly the most attractive pub either outside or in. We almost pass it on the way to Stanmer woods.

A camera is quicker

This is what they were painting.

The artists

We came across a group of people sitting on stools. Seems they were painting pictures of the bluebells.

And then there's this

The only monkey puzzle tree in the whole of Stanmer park and woods.

Unusual?

'OK,' I asked the Boss, 'What's so unusual about a cowslip?'

From the Boss: Nothing unusual about a cowslip - there are thousands of them around, but this is the only one growing in Stanmer woods. Cowslips don't normally grow under trees like this one is.

Bypass

Another picture from the same spot, this time showing the Brighton bypass with Moulsecoomb beyond.

Taken at the same place as yesterday's picture but looking a little to the left (that's east), we have Coldean in the foreground, Moulsecoomb beyond, Bevendean in the shadow on the far hill and, on the horizon, the Whitehawk television transmitter to the left and the racecourse grandstand just right of centre.

The Roman camp

Looking more or less south from the edge of Stanmer woods, over Coldean, the Roman camp is the highest point with Hollingbury golf course to the right (look for the mown strip) and the field known as 39 acres just in front of the woods, looking a bit like a triangle in this picture.

Patcham

These flint cottages are on Church Hill, Patcham, which runs up from the horse trough we saw the other day to - you've guessed - the church.

From the Boss: I've only just noticed that there is something apparently odd about the cottage in the centre of the picture.

Bluebell time

I can't think why the Boss gets upset when I start rooting around through these flowers.

From the Boss: Apparently Spanish bluebells are spreading across England and ousting our own variety. Those in Stanmer (pictured) are the English variety while in Withdean Park we have Spanish bluebells. These are generally bulkier plants and the "bells" are to be found on all sides of the stalk. English bluebells produce their "bells" on one side only.

Three in one

From the Boss: I don't recall ever seeing this before - the apple, pear and plum trees in our garden all in blossom at the same time. The white in the front is pear, the pink is the apple, and peeking through the apple is the white of the plum.