A Forest

LETJOG PEAK No 21: Black Down, West Sussex (280 metres)

Walk Date: Tuesday 16 May 2023

Today’s LETJOG Peaks walk took me southward from the Surrey towns of Hindhead and Haslemere and over the border into West Sussex, thence entering England’s most newly-designated national park. Although not part of the chalk ridge that makes up the downs themselves, Black Down, at 280 metres of elevation, marks the high point of the South Downs National Park, and this beautiful area now enjoys the protections that adhere to such status. Instead, geologically, Black Down and the western Weald area of which it is a part, comprise the Greensand Ridge overlying the Weald Clays of the valleys: this geology supports the dense forests that provide the backdrop for most of my walk today, and that contrast so markedly with the open landscapes of the South Downs’ chalk uplands that I experienced a few weeks ago around Ditchling Beacon in East Sussex.

I had the advantage this morning of starting my walk high up, at around 250 metres of elevation, and by skipping breakfast (at least until I reached Haslemere) I was on the trail early, enjoying the cool air and the views over the Devil’s Punchbowl and from nearby Gibbet Hill in relative solitude. From the top my path then reunited with the Greensand Way, the path that I had touched upon (many miles away) near Dorking yesterday, before picking up the Serpent Trail from Haslemere all the way up to Black Down. Taking in just a few fields and pastures, the vast majority of this walk outside of the towns was within woodland, ranging through deciduous forests of oak, beech, birch and ash through stands of Scot’s pine and of conifers. In parts the trees mingled into areas of mixed woodland, carpeted with a blend of pine needles and last autumn’s golden leaves. This invigorating ramble through the woods was defined throughout by springtime freshness and dappled sunshine, and I have plenty of photos of the wonderful scenery to share:

So ends two glorious days of spring walking in the Surrey Hills and in the South Downs National Park; 29 miles and over a thousand metres of cumulative ascent over these two fine walks. My two peaks, Leith Hill and Black Down, with a respective prominence of 246 and 191 metres over their surroundings both qualify as a ‘Marilyn’, and accordingly they offer outstanding views, particularly southwards over The Weald. As for their environs, perhaps it is the human scale of the topography, and of their woodlands, providing new vistas and surprises at every turn, that give this region such unique beauty. Certainly this is a part of the country that I intend to visit again shortly – once my LETJOG Peaks walks are completed of course.

For my musical inspiration today I have looked to the West Sussex post-punk goth rock group, The Cure. After releasing their debut album in 1979 this Crawley-based outfit, fronted by lead singer, guitarist and primary songwriter Robert Smith, first hit the UK charts the following year with the song ‘A Forest’ from their second album ‘Seventeen Seconds’. Smith, who co-wrote the song, hails it as ‘really atmospheric’ and ‘the archetypal Cure sound’, all of which makes the title an appropriate heading for today’s Blog.