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Last Sunday, I went with my Son, his family and my eldest granddaugher's boyfried to Buchan Country Park. This was probably my third visit here, but never before have I taken in the beauty of this place. I've always been yacking to my Daughter-In-Law whilst walking around the lake, and never really noticed the magick of the area. Buchan Park is between Crawley and Horsham, in West Sussex; a part of St. Leonard's Forest, which stretches from Kent to Hampshire through the land between the North and South Downs, known as the Weald. Saxons inhabited the Weald and drovers walked the forest with their pigs; there were iron foundries, charcoal burning camps, and the Sussex Castles were linked. A part of Sussex's ancient history lives on here and whenever I enter a part of this beautiful forest, I can feel the energies. So... last Sunday, we decided this was the place we wanted to go, and walk. The lake, as I call it, is a large hammer pond, amidst numerous species of trees, including predominantly oak, pine and silver birch. There are clumps of heather growing amongst the trees, and wildlife is abundant. We crossed the boundary into the Park, by walking around a wide, intertwined leaf, carved gate, walked aound the Wild Garden, which contains a number of yellow dragonflies, a small wildlife pond, an archway and domed shaded area made from willows and a long log with a Green Man carved into it. Then, we exited this part of the forest and continued up the hill and over the bridge spanning the main, Horsham to Crawley Road, into the thick of the forest. The next thing we encountered was the large lake or hammer pond. This had a boat shed at the north-west corner, with two brick castle turrets, one either side of it. A squirrel sat on the top of one of the turrets, boldly nibbling on an acorn. lol. As I approached to take his picture, he scurried up onto the roof, then up a tree, out of sight. Then, my Daughter-In-Law and Granddaughters pulled out some bread to feed the ducks on the lake. Don't ask me where they all came from... they appeared from every direction... lots of them. I stood a while watching, and taking pictures, then wandered on to a bridge, which spanned an overflow for the lake. The overflow had two turrets at the top entrance, then was built down into the valley, in big steps with turrets at intervals. Wow... naturally there wasn't much water in the overspill area but the steps disappeared into the trees and down into a small stream in the valley. We walked the rest of the lake edge, through trees, a log carved into fish in the waves and a standing tree carved into the Horned One, Herne... or that's who I think it was. On occasions, there were heather patches in full bloom, and we were lucky enough to see lots of squirrels and rabbits, as well as birds and dragonflies. I won't elaborate too much because the post will become far too long to read. Suffice to say, we had a very peaceful and pleasant afternoon walking in the forest, which had once been used as a charcoal burning camp and iron foundry. Another enjoyable Sunday, at one with nature and our ancestors' habitation. Had I walked this land before? I'm not sure, but I certainly felt at home here!:)