The Landscapes of West Sussex

Fülszöveg

Sussex has everything, a beautiful
coastline (where it has not been
completely spoilt by man), rolling hills which we poetically refer to as The Downs, good . roads (at least in modern times), rivers, canals, railways, castles, windmills, big towns and little villages. But then all this could refer to a great many English counties. Perhaps it is the proximity to London, whilst retaining its rural atmosphere and even some of its old speech. Or is it the history going back to the Saxons who once inhabited this part of the British Isles?
If you are still unconvinced I can only point to some of the great literary figures who have chosen to live in my own West Sussex. First and foremost the great Hilaire Belloc; poet, visionary, journalist, politician, religious figure and just plain eccentric. Barclay Wills, who immortalised in just a very few books the South Downs and the men who dwelt and worked on them. Tickner Edwards, once a soldier and then a country cleric, who wrote more... Tovább

Fülszöveg

Sussex has everything, a beautiful
coastline (where it has not been
completely spoilt by man), rolling hills which we poetically refer to as The Downs, good . roads (at least in modern times), rivers, canals, railways, castles, windmills, big towns and little villages. But then all this could refer to a great many English counties. Perhaps it is the proximity to London, whilst retaining its rural atmosphere and even some of its old speech. Or is it the history going back to the Saxons who once inhabited this part of the British Isles?
If you are still unconvinced I can only point to some of the great literary figures who have chosen to live in my own West Sussex. First and foremost the great Hilaire Belloc; poet, visionary, journalist, politician, religious figure and just plain eccentric. Barclay Wills, who immortalised in just a very few books the South Downs and the men who dwelt and worked on them. Tickner Edwards, once a soldier and then a country cleric, who wrote more books on Sussex than most people can find nowadays. Not forgetting writers who spent some of their lives in the county. Richard lefferies and W. H. Hudson, both of whom ended their days in West Sussex, and William Blake who came to Sussex to find mental refreshment and called the village where he settled "The sweetest spot on earth".
Sussex is a fairly large English county, and it seems only appropriate that it should be divided into West and East. Not just for administrative purposes, but because the two parts are different geographically and culturally. The West is peaceful and reflective, the East much more wild and dramatic, and even the people are different in their ways and in their speech.
But West Sussex will speak for itself in this book, mainly by the fine photography which is the reason behind the project. My words are merely an adjunct which I hope will enhance and not detract from the marvellous pictures. Vissza