Hampshire
REMEMBER BOUNDING ABOUT on these chalky slopes in 1966, peering down rabbit holes and hoping to spot a stoat,. One sunny afternoon in 1976, I caught a mazarine blue in my butterfly net (though I can’t prove the record because I released it and didn’t have a camera). In 1986, I sprinted up the slippery paths chasing kestrels for a film I was making for the BBC, and in 1996 I climbed to the beech hanger on the summit on a stormy winter’s day to try and ameliorate a bout of serious depression. In 2006, I dragged my stepdaughter Megan up to play in the turf maze, and in 2016 I trudged to the summit with my beautiful poodle Scratchy, shortly before he died. Last year, I panted to the top again to honour my father, who had introduced me to this magical place all those years ago.
