Petworth

A little piece of heaven in amongst the South Downs, Petworth is pretty village, that seems completely timeless, and looks very much like I remember back in 2000. This is an aerial view I found on Facebook, and I just had to pop it in my blog post. It seems bigger from the air somehow ?

I have always loved the feel of the village and how it has cobbled streets, and somewhat slanty buildings, that seem almost alive to me. The colours of faded red brick and white wooden window frames, that add character to the streets, and where I spent many a time simply exploring them. Seeing them now in photos brings so many happy memories to me.

I always found myself wandering about the churchyard looking at headstones, and simply finding a peaceful place to gather my thoughts. At first it was hard to comprehend that I was really and truly here in Petworth, that I was living my dream. I found wandering about the village, I made myself very familiar with the landscape and getting used to being on my own.

This familiar red post box was truly a lifesaver to me, it was where I would post all my letters and postcards, to my family and friends back in Australia. I remember picking the young boy I nannied up to post the letters in the red box for me. He really liked that job and whenever there was letters to post it was his job alone to pop them in the box. Letters and phone calls were my only contact with my family, because this was long before internet and mobile phones, which I feel keep you so much in contact with one another.

I never ever would tire of this magnificent view of the South Downs, practically at my doorstep everytime I left my house. I felt at times I was soaring way above the clouds, especially when mist and fog would roll in and blot out everything else. On a bright sunny day, the blue sky looked bluer against the backdrop of the downs. I loved simply with or without the children I nannied, to roam about the countryside on foot. The fresh country air was something else, so pure and intoxicating that I didn’t want to leave. I guess I am a country girl at heart.

*Rolling hills surround Petworth village*

There was nothing better, than to be wandering about the village when the sun went down. Especially in summer time when there was a sort of twilight that had the sun not go down to after 9pm. It really fascinated me, because it was different from back in Perth, Western Australia, where even in summer time the sun went down about 7ish. It was also lovely to smell the wood fire stoves in the village, made it feel very homely indeed.

We were so lucky in Petworth to live right near the historical Petworth house, it was a massive house, with even bigger grounds including a deer park. It was another place I went to and roamed about it from one end to the other. The grounds were so beautifully designed and kept up by a team of gardeners I am sure. The seasons changing could really be seen from this park indeed.

I was so very lucky when I lived in Petworth, that I got to see snow for the very first time at 25years old. I was such a child for the whole entire time, running and playing in the snow from sun up, to sun down. My employers thought it very funny indeed to see me playing in the snow, but I couldn’t help it, it was like holding diamonds in the pale of your hands. The snow isn’t white at all, but translucent and sparkles in the light. It had me totally transfixed and I made a snowman and snow angels as well.

I never ever would tire of this magnificent view, and travelling these country lanes, seeing the blue sky and fields so many shades of green, depending on the time of year. Nothing could ever really compare to living in Petworth, and I so very much miss my home and life in this beautiful English village in the South Downs.