Another Sunday hike...

London has been blessed with an extended summer.  While the mornings and evenings are cooler, the days are warm and dry.  I know those gray, rainy days will be here soon.  We like to spend our weekends exploring London and also the English countryside.  This weekend we went to Hindhead Commons - near Haselmere in Southeast England.

Hindhead Commons is on the old road from the seaport of Portsmouth to London.  This has been a well traveled area for centuries.

Late in the 1700's this area was a prime target for highwaymen.  Sailors making their way from Portsmouth to London with wages in their pockets were tempting.  The story goes that one such sailor was making his way to London after returning from a long sea voyage.  He came across 3 men who seemed down on their luck.  They were hungry and thirsty.

He took them to a pub - not unlike the one that sits near the Common.  He paid for their food and drink and then went on his way.  His dinner companions were greedy and saw the money in his pockets.  They followed him for a way down the road and set upon him.  They killed him and stole his belongings.

This marks the spot where the sailor was killed.

The three men were soon caught and tried.  The judge (also known to have been a highwayman!) sentenced them to hang.

Gibbet means gallows - this is where the men would hang - about 100 feet from where the sailor was killed.  Their bodies hung there for 3 years!!

The area was thought to be haunted by the dead men.  A local businessman wanted to dispel those notions and built a Celtic cross where the gibbet once stood.  Personally - the cross beats the gallows hands down!

This is the view from the cross - looking north towards London and Windsor.  I never tire of the beautiful green English countryside.

MacKenzie thinks a good roll in the heather beats the view!!!

This is where a major highway once roared through here.  The road was moved to a tunnel under the area and the land reverted back to public land.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, author of Sherlock Holmes, used to walk this common.  It is said he used Hindhead as the inspiration for his book 'The Hound of the Baskervilles'.

Another beautiful day spent in the English countryside.