Box Hill

So on Sunday, the only reasonably bright day of the late May bank holiday, we went to Box Hill.  We had been thinking of it anyway, and then it was mentioned in Outnumbered - synchronicity, we had to go. 

As people have been discovering for centuries, there were marvellous views from the top - admittedly overlooking Dorking...

I tried to construct a panorama with some freebie software - it didn't come out too badly, although it is hard to see from this image...

Box Hill is named after the Box trees that grow on it, altough I have to admit we didn't knowingly spot any.  The Hill is part of the North Downs, cut away on the South side by the river Mole - the steep fall makes the views so good.

The wood on the top of the Hill does contain many different trees.  We saw oak, beeches, silver birches, and many others...

  

We also saw many of the well-known sites.  This is the grave of Major Peter Labellière.  Wikipedia says: He was buried (on July 11, 1800) head downwards, and according to some sources he reasoned for this by saying "the world is topsy turvy, and I'll be the right way in the end"; other sources indicate that he merely wished to emulate the example of St. Peter, who was apocryphally (in the Acts of Peter) crucified upside-down.

This is the old fort, again according to Wikipedia: This was built in the late 1890s as one of a number of forts (known as the London Defence Positions) built to protect London from invasion from continental Europe.  Also, according to the same article, bats nest there.

After the fort we stopped briefly at the new visitor centre to eat our sandwiches.  Very nice, typical NT establishment. 

The family grew slightly irritated when I insisted on reading chapter 43 of Emma - for the obvious reasons - but honestly, only a very little of it out loud.  So some of us juggled instead.

The roads were full of cyclists - I guess the Hill is an interesting sort of challenge, and not too car-bound. 

Every so often we would turn a corner and be surprised once again by the view...

The woods were darker and cooler - and fullof birdsong.  Here is one of the perpetrators...

We cam across this fantastic old Yew tree (one of many).

I like the skinny tallness of this tree, with so few branches at such dizzying heights...

And this one for its drama...

The trees were also aswarm with these caterpillars, hanging from silk and landing in hair, clothes, etc.