I woke up early in order to be able to climb Martinsell, one of the neolithic promontories on the southern edge of the Marlborough Downs.   I was taught to revere these hills by my mother who remembered them from her youth when her brother was at school and she must have accompanied him on botanical expeditions as she was able to locate the orchids on Milk Hill forty years afterwards.

This is Giant’s Grave:-

The view eastwards towards Burghclere:-

There was a field of sunflowers on the top of the downs:-

And the sun came out over the natural amphitheatre above Rainscombe:-