With the carpet cleaners about to arrive all we could fit in this morning was a quick walk around the field at Hunters race which is a favourite for many dog owners in the area.
It sits next to the Centurion Way which follows the path of the old railway line to Midhurst. It’s a fairly large field with a depression in the shape of an amphitheatre with concentric rings running around it. Dog walkers chat as they stroll round this, rather like prisoners do as they go round an exercise yard.
There are differing explanations of who it came to be like this, some along the lines of a Roman Amphitheatre which is not impossible but are improbable. The field next to it is lower than the surrounding area as gravel was extracted; it’s no grazed by sheep. Something similar is more likely although it’s curious that they left so many bumps behind.
There was very little bird song to be heard this morning, even though it was bright and sunny. A lone robin stood out in the silence, a couple of Great Tits were seen but not heard, even the crows were relatively quiet.