The Silent Pool

I have been visiting this pool since I was a child, then a teenager and even as a twenty something. But all of that was more than thirty years ago. Today I returned here and had arranged to meet with fellow Blip people, Sheenagh Maclaren and Richard Donkin. I was in this area anyway, close by the North Downs of Surrey, to visit a great family friend who has been in a nursing home for some months. It was delightful to see her after lunch and to take her out into the sunshine and the gardens of the home which she so loves doing.

I then drove the few miles to Shere and to my rendezvous point. I had met Richard last year when I had previously visited M. in the home, and we had kept in touch, but I was delighted that Gill accompanied him with one of their dogs, Pippa. Sheenagh and I had briefly corresponded via Blip, and we had loose family connections so it was a real pleasure to meet her in her own patch so to speak.

I had suggested the Silent Pool as it is so vivid in my memory. Sadly the real thing no longer seemed to be so impressive. Much had physically been changed as Sheenagh pointed out to us, and the site is now 'managed' in a rather deleterious way. It is a unique spot still, but the magic had gone for me. We circled the upper pool and did marvel at the springs popping out from the base of the chalk, above the gault clay beds, which mark the spring line of the North Downs for many miles. We chatted as we circulated and I perhaps didn't have time to emotionally reflect and be still there as I was used to doing in the past.

I took a few pictures and like this one as it does reveal what is left of the overhanging trees, the reflections of the sky and the colours that appear in the area above and below the water's surface. Sadly the invasive weeds inhibit the view of the blue clay lining the flooded valley and the depth of the crystal clear waters that would otherwise be revealed.

We decided to move on to St Martha's church on the crest of a nearby hilltop which can only be approached on foot up a path along a ridge of greensand, crested with pine trees, their needles and odd deposits of ironstone. Sheenagh's two spaniels and Pippa began to run and play and enjoy themselves and we ascended to the church graveyard, where we could stand and chat about who we were, how we came to blip, whilst admiring the fabulous southerly views over the Surrey hills and vales towards the South downs in the distance.

I would have blipped a picture of the other blippers but today I wanted to 'reflect' on the Silent Pool. Hopefully there will be another time for pictures of us all, as we all enjoyed our time together and appreciated the value of making new contacts and hopefully new friends, in the world beyond just the digital. Thank you particularly to Sheenagh, who took us to her home and fed us delicious cake and good tea which revived me for the two hour journey home to Gloucestershire.