Hill Thoughts

There's a scene in 'Detectorists' (Andy & Lance are metal detecting enthusiasts seeking treasure) where one of the main characters, Lance, hears horses as an echo from the past and it gives him a hunch that he should get to digging. It's a really well written show with an unlikely premise and I recommend you watch - it's got a nice cosy vibe to it and warm humour, great for Sunday evenings to calm down before the work onslaught on Monday. 

That scene is probably one of the more evocative across the whole of the shows three series, that sense you sometimes get when you're somewhere steeped in history and you get a flash of recognition for something you didn't experience but can momentarily envisage. It made me want to get out in the world a bit and try to experience that feeling more often so I've decided that I'll use it as an excuse to explore my local area, take my camera out a bit and get some steps in.

Enclosed by Tatchbury Lane, Loperwood and the A326, Tatchbury Mount was first the site of an Iron age hill fort, later a couple of manor houses and most recently an NHS hospital (though much of the hospital has been demolished, there's still a site called Tatchbury Mount)

I took a walk up there this morning to see if I could capture any of that feeling.

If you want to follow in my footsteps, you'll need to park at Morrisons in Totton and walk out of the back of the car park, across the road and into a housing estate. Keep walking until you reach a sign for a footpath and you'll soon find yourself in a tunnel underneath the Totton bypass. You'll find a selection of graffiti of varying levels of quality but there's a few gems amongst the 'nonce' and 'your mum' staples.

Soon after, I reached a gate, opening onto a freshly ploughed field and continued onwards (and upwards, actually). There's a few footpath signposts pointing in the direction of Tatchbury Hospital so I followed those and eventually reached the top - this is the site of the hill fort.

This photo is of a rather spectacular view from the top of the hill, overlooking the field and in the far distance the busy Southampton docks. 

Behind me, out of shot is a pile of bricks, a few piles of plastic wrapped hay bales and the remains of a fire/BBQ, no doubt left by local miscreants. 

I sat down for a while taking it in, trying to imagine what this could've been like back thousands of years. Google tells me that this was a multivallate hill fort - it would've been protected by at least a couple of concentric ringed ramparts or ditches; any sense of that kind of layout is long gone (as far as I can tell) except for the path that clearly circles the base of the hill. There's no doubt that it would've made an excellent vantage point but I don't think there's enough context to really get there - there was a fort here, but without a working knowledge of Iron Age Hill Forts, I wasn't able to detect any features other than the fact that I was slightly out of breath having walked up there in the first place. 

So no echoes of clanking Iron Age weapons or the thud of ancient hooves on dirt but still a worthwhile trip. Nearby Netley Marsh apparently has some storied history about it. To me it's always been a road, a pub and a church. I'll have to take a look but I'll save that for next time.