

THE WINDING LANE 119 



quently sheds, ricks, farm buildings, houses, that 

 we were unconscious of in summer when dense 

 green clothing hid so much, are now laid bare. It 

 would seem that varied colouring and incident try- 

 to compensate for the absence of the glowing 

 autumn foliage that has been swept away. 



The house stands upon the highest portion of an 

 evenly arched hill, and close behind it is a narrow 

 country road which descends somewhat abruptly 

 on both sides to sheltered dells. Once upon a time 

 it was the main way from Lewes to the old country 

 inn at Glynde, but long ago a wide high road, 

 suitable for motors and other traffic, was made 

 some distance off, and now this little winding lane 

 is the undisturbed, peaceful retreat of nightingales 

 and other birds, who know that the quiet country 

 people who walk along it will leave them unmo- 

 lested. The way has been worn down by pack- 

 horses and travellers who used it for many centuries, 

 so that high protecting banks rise upon either side 

 and only the sun can force an entrance or perhaps 

 too at times the south-west wind. These are the 

 places to look for the first fresh green leaves as 

 they burst open their little protecting brown shields 

 that have guarded them until now from wintry 

 blasts. It may be only a step or two at the bottom 

 of the hill in the moist ground, where a long, low- 

 roofed, thatched cottage stands near the bend of 

 the road and gives additional shelter, or perhaps 

 it is in that warm corner where the earliest may- 

 bush blossoms. These are places where the first 

 tiny honeysuckle leaves are found. 



There was a time, before the greenhouses and 



