My Favourite Place: By Ann-Marie Powell
When I was in London, I lived on a houseboat near Battersea Bridge. It was a way of stepping off the world into a calmer pace of life; a space on the river that was removed from the hecticness of the city. Then we moved to Hampshire, about 16 or 17 years ago, and suddenly the landscape was all around, open and raw.
Here on the edge of the South Downs Way, there are huge, great hillsides with small pockets of woodland. I went to school in Derbyshire, and it kind of feels like that part of the world, but better. Our village is next to the Ashford Hangers, beautiful woodlands of beech, ash and yew, nestled on steep chalk hillsides, with areas of chalk grassland. I find woodland a comfortable place for me and, when we moved here, I immediately felt at home. I started to explore the area, and shortly afterwards a friend suggested I take up running. I like going running because it’s like going for a walk, but fast!
When you’re running you can’t think about anything but your pace, your breath and the nature around you. I go about once a week; just put on my shoes and get out there. I love that feeling of being close to my surroundings; the trees, the stream, the waterfall, grazing animals in the fields and the old, old cottages that seem like they’ve been there forever. It’s the sort of place I always hoped that I'd end up living in. I like the security of the landscape around me as I run. It makes me feel steady, knowing my place as a small cog in a big wheel. I feel as anchored in the same way as are the roots of the trees around me.
The seasons are at my feet and it smells so fresh and open, it’s thrilling! Early in the morning it feels completely secluded and mine. In winter the sunlight shafts through the bare branches and the light hits the water in a different way. In summer it’s like a cathedral of trees; long, green tunnels beneath the canopy. After rain, I come back really filthy but I love it as it makes me feel connected with the landscape.