My Favourite Place on Earth

Is the Chiltern Hills.

I had cause to drive the hour back to our old neighbourhood yesterday and was reminded, with a pang of home-sickness, how much I love this area.

The Chilterns stretch from Buckinghamshire through Hertfordshire to the border of Bedfordshire (I think). They are the nearest designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty to the city of London and they are a unique habitat for wildlife.

Some of its delights are:
Ancient beeches towering above my car,
beautiful wildflowers, sympathetic building,
secret orchards,
hidden villages,
gorgeous views,
spring-fed chalk streams, so pure that they support wild watercress beds,
perfect little paths enticing you around each corner.Because of its beauty, its proximity to London and the fact that it is right on the end of the tube map (London Underground Railway System) it was not going to be possible for us to ever buy a house there again. It was such a wrench to leave such beauty.

Oxfordshire is pleasant, but I miss the rolling hills, woods and streams of the Chilterns. Oxfordshire is like a sheep-studded billiard table. Nice, if you like that sort of thing! But I yearn for hills.

I am very lucky though, to be able to drive just an hour and come back to the places I love most.
Not everyone can say that!