Chalk pit

We needed to post a few things today, so went to the Post Office in the village which is at the bottom of the very steep hill that we are on the top of. We took the opportunity to do a different walk!

The only “industry” that our village ever had was a chalk quarry and cement works. Chalk was dug from 1908 onwards and the cement works were finally closed in 1999. Its life had been extended by a sudden need for more cement for the Channel Tunnel and the boring machine was tested here before it drilled the hole for the Tunnel.

After a lot of planning battles, the old cement works and its distinctive tall chimney were demolished and replaced by a housing estate. But the old chalk pits were allowed to fill with rain water and have recently been turned into a huge park and nature reserve - a wonderful resource for the villagers in these constrained times. The water is an amazing green, turquoise or blue colour depending on the light and depth, due to the suspended chalk particles.

You’ll have to take my word for it, but my house is in the small dip in the top of the hillside, about a sixth of the way in from the left hand side, where there is a little white cloud.