Mahesh Hayward (Member no: 3539)

Valley of Stones

…you can feel the ancient landscape whispering to you

Boxing day 2024, there’s a heavy mist hanging in the air, giving everything a light touch of moisture to enhance its natural beauty. Here is Dorset close to Littlebredy is this amazing place surrounded by long horned cattle and tame but timid horses.

This National Nature Reserve is named after the distinctive boulders that tumble down this dry valley in the downs. These sarsen stones, of tightly cemented gravels and sands, derive from the former capping above the chalk that became fragmented during freeze/thaw conditions after the last Ice Age, 10,000 years ago.

The Reserve is also notable for its fine chalk grassland and the associated insects and flowers. Scarce lichens and mosses grow on the sarsens. The downland and heathy grassland is maintained by cattle and sheep grazing.

It’s a magical place set amongst the hills, you can feel the ancient landscape whispering to you…… As my wife and our little dog sat amongst the Moss and stones we marvelled at how fleeting our moment was in the green and quiet countryside, and felt the gratitude for living in such a peaceful place.