Country diary: Chalk hills glowing in the light of the moon

Inkpen, North Wessex Downs: At this time of year the landscape is dreamlike and monochrome, with Earth and moon beaming back at each otherThe water has been off again in the village. In these dry chalk hills, the pipes crack, letting the water leak away to nothing. The kitchen tap judders and spits with such reluctant violence, I am soaked. I fill half a glass to drink. It swirls cloudy and opaque with calcium.At dusk, I walk up the track to the down. In June, the night glow that comes off the high chalk is at its most pronounced and dreamlike. The old lane from here to Prosperous Farm looks laid with concrete, but in fact it's long-worn, hoof-hammered, wheel-hardened chalk, harder than tarmac and slick with a faint watercolour sheen of algae. The soil is so very thin here, the white bones of the earth gleam through its green skin. Continue reading...