Winter wanderings

Winter is here as far as my little corner of the world (England...) can easily attest - nature is closing down, trees are now nearly bare (remember me moaning about leaves everywhere?) and it is cold on a regular basis. Over the next two or three months - nature does not keep to a strict notion of season - we will witness more cold, maybe snow, bare trees and nature going back into its shell, before it emerges reticently as Spring appears on the scene.

For now it's all winter, though, with short days and dark evenings, rain and muddy ground. All this was brought home to me a couple of days before Christmas when I went walking with a couple of friends in Petworth Park, through gorgeous undulating countryside which makes you marvel at the beauty of nature until you learn that the Park was landscaped by Lancelot 'Capability' Brown. Capability Brown was the master of recreating nature, improving it, creating perfection for the delectation of his patrons and the admiration of their guests; he was brilliant at his work.

We parked my friends' car in the remote car park and walked across this, by now entirely natural, landscape heading for Petworth House and the small, beautiful town of Petworth, aiming to stretch our legs and burn off some of the accumulated calories of the previous day and a bit - I'd been staying with my friends, it is the festive season and they are generous hosts! Quite a long, but pleasant, walk only made slightly awkward by the soft, muddy ground which slowed us down and reminded me why I hate cross country running in winter. The scenery was majestic, with long vistas, beautiful trees and herds of deer gamboling about and, in late December, very wintery. Hills, glades, lakes, all perfectly placed and the house (Petworth House) appearing surprisingly close once we skirted around yet another tree-topped hill.

Petworth House is large, grand, impressive but not to my taste - I found it monolithic and lacking in elegance. On a dull winter's day it looked heavy and unloved, though not uncomfortable in its park. Perhaps it's just me or perhaps that is the price we pay for preserving these houses as a cross between a private house and a museum, relics from another era. I love English country houses with a passion but could not warm to Petworth House, despite its grandeur and the sheer beauty of the setting at the edge of Petworth, and of its Park. Still, I'm glad it has been saved when so many other country houses, some more beautiful than others, disappeared in the 20th century, evolutionary victims of a changing world.

We wandered happily around Petworth, which is a beautiful genteel town full of lovely old buildings, antique shops and boutiques. After a light lunch - a toasted sandwich and coffee for me, if you don't mind - we headed back to the car through the gorgeous if muddy Petworth Park, burning more calories along the way and working up an appetite for our evening meal, booked in a pub local to C and B's home.

But that's another story.