Our second walk together was the White Horse View Trail through Friston Forest. The Forest was planted in the 1930s and 1940s by the Forestry Commission and is mostly made up of Beech trees which do well in chalky soil. When we visited in early December, many of the trees were still covered in golden leaves. This trail takes walkers to the edge of the forest and past a view of Littlington White Horse, a chalk horse carved into an opposite hillside in the 1920s.
In fairytales, the forest is often a place of mystery and transformation, a place without firm and familiar boundaries. Before our walk, I shared a page on the archetype of the forest from the Taschen Book of Symbols. You can access this scan here (Ronnberg et al., 2010, p.118).
Click here to visit Forestry England’s Friston Forest page with links to trail routes including the White Horse View Trail.
Ronnberg, A. et al., (2010) The Book of Symbols: Reflections on Archetypal Images, Taschen