A bright sunny Sunday, a scooter ride over Old Winchester Hill and beyond into new territory to me. Here's the map:
After passing the mysterious, deserted, HMS Mercury, barbed wire and cold war, I parked the Vespa at Hyden cross and set off east along the South Downs Way. A shaded path along the edge of Hyden Wood before turning north, downhill towards East Meon. True Faith by New Order in my head: I feel so extraordinary, something's got a hold on me, I get this feeling I'm in motion, a sudden sense of liberty.
The path leads down through sheep pastures to the source of the River Meon, springs forming shaded ponds. Just before that, a little dog ran out of its garden all self-important and barky, giving me a nip on the ankle, then ran off. "Little bastard!" I shouted loud in anger.
Then across the lane and up Small Down, learning a lesson from a few years back to take the easy way up - it rises 100m in about that - Small, yes, but steep. Beautiful views to East Meon.
Up on Salt Hill, paragliders floating in the blue, model gliders, hangliders lined up on the ground.
Then back past the gloom of Mercury, no doubt waiting to be redeveloped, to the Sustainability Centre, holding The Hampshire Green Fair. Traditional crafts, games for kids, woodworkers, yurts and tepees, a band playing in a hot tent. I bought a wooden heart for Caroline and some Romany clothes pegs. Later I learnt that the nearby Leydene Park is the last stately home built in England, in the 1920s.
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