Spiders

En route to Southampton to meet the family for a party, Moonface Tom and I took a diversion to take a walk along the edge of the Marlborough Downs, overlooking the Vale of Pewsey. The day was crisp, clear and cold, with a low bright sun. The grass was covered with millions of strands of gossamer which glistened when it caught the sun and swung in the wind.

The dewponds which are the only source of water high on the chalky downs, were half-full. Most of them have silted up and become overgrown with weeds, after decades of neglect. They look similar to the occasional bomb-craters which also pit the short grass, souvenirs of the last war and the plethora of old air-fields in the area.