Part of the rolling chalk downland that surrounds Kingley Vale

We opted to hike the trail counter-clockwise. The trail starts and ends running around the boundary of Kingly Vale. The first leg has open views across the fields to the southeast, it then turns left, heads northwest and starts to climb. That’s where I grabbed this picture.

The fence-line to the left is part of Kingly Vale’s boundary and marks where the trail runs northeast until it turns north into the woodland across the top of the vale. You might expect that this is the view you will see from the trail. Unfortunately, it’s not. There is a steep and bramble covered bank topped by a barbed-wire fence between the trail and this view. The foreground is in shadow for a reason. This section of the trail runs through a heavily wooded area and those trees are casting the shadow.

I caught a glimpse of the field from the trail and climbed the bank and fought my way a few feet through the brambles to get to the fence and a clear view. The play of light on the field and woods as the clouds drifted over was more than worth the effort. The resulting picture is, as Ginger would say, a very “Gary” photograph.

I have a confession to make. There was a feed bag or trash bag mounted on a couple of poles on the skyline in the middle of the frame. It was a huge visual distraction. At the time, I pondered how best to get a good picture with it there. In the end, I decided to edit it out afterward. Which is exactly what I did.

Copyright © 2019 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.