Dead Trees

Dead trees at Hangman's Hill on Pirbright Common in Surrey. The whole of this area is marked Danger Area in red on my map and, for sure, it's out of bounds when the red flags are flying. But there were no flags this evening so I took Pippa for a walk there. It seems extraordinary that you can find such a desolate area so close to a busy conurbation. All gorse, heather and sporadic pine trees. I bet it hasn't changed much in a few hundred years. Still, I'll spare you the sepia today.

Back at the car I looked at the OS map and the deeply rutted earth road in front of me was marked as a Byway, part of the old Guildford Road, so I set off down it to see how it joined up with the road on the other side - my usual access to the military land. The potholes were unbelievable - deep and full of muddy water. After a few hundred yards I could see a cluster of helmeted heads on the road and, yes, one of them was pointing his gun straight at me. A few of the soldiers were carrying another in a sling. I assume it was an exercise in removing a wounded soldier.

If this was a road in Afghanistan I suppose it's quite possible a vehicle might approach and I guess the standard response is to deter drivers at gunpoint. So I followed on at their pace, the rear man turning now and again to point his gun at me. Eventually they moved off to the right and I was able to continue. I'm glad I checked my map first to be sure I was on a public byway. The military have done everything they can to churn up the road and make it impassable for road cars. But the Jeep was up to it. I love my Jeep.