Treasured memories

Your South Downs Way story, brought to mind a treasured keepsake from my grandfather who died in the mid-sixties. Like many, he’d retired to Eastbourne. We loved our holidays there, enjoying breathtaking walks among the chalk cliffs. He sent me this postcard in 1961 to cheer me up during a childhood illness: ‘Think of Eastbourne and it will make you happy.’ He also referred to the loss of my milk tooth, ‘Talking of Birling Gap, how’s yours?’. As with many readers, walking kept me sane during lockdown. But I’m not alone in having to tailor my expectations since succumbing to the virus a few months ago. I’m grateful, at least, for enough stamina to walk a few miles on the flat where previously I’d hiked happily along Offa’s Dyke. I must be patient. I can meanwhile hike through the magazine pages, researching new and re-living old routes.

Carolyn Kennard, by email