This evening after some spontaneous clearing out I decided to go on an equally spontaneous road trek to Combe. It’s located near to the village of Inkpen in Berkshire and is supposedly around a forty minute trip from where I live.
However I managed to get there in re cord time due to the roads and the winding lanes being pretty much empty and fortunately happened upon the exact spot I wanted to be in right before the sun disappeared.
Combe is famous for its Gibbet – a gallows-type structure from which the dead bodies of executed criminals were hung on public display to deter other existing or potential criminals. In earlier times, up to the late 17th century, live gibbeting also took place, in which the criminal was placed alive in a metal cage and left to die of thirst.
In the Bronze Ages people used communal ‘long barrows’ to bury their dead and one still exists directly beneath the Gibbet at Combe. Both male and female bodies of the dead may have been left in the open to be reduced to skeletons before being collected and buried. In many cases the corpses were carefully assembled with the head to the south, men facing east, women facing west.
Today, it stands as a hill overlooking Berkshire Valleys and the village of Inkpen below. To the left lies Hungerford and its possible in good light, to see that far. However this evening with the sun quickly disappearing and the wind chill that must have been at least below 0 degrees it wasn’t a time to stand around in!
The hill in Combe is also home to what is known as The Merville Battery – It was the model testing ground for the original Merville Battery which was actually a German gun site. The Battle of the Merville Battery (Bit of a mouthful I know!) took place in 1944 as part of the Normandy Landings. Before hand, the 9th Parachute Battalion was taken to Berkshire – to the site I’ve photographed here – where seven engineers had reconstructed the battery site in order for them to practice the layouts and land. Today on Combe, the memorial plaque marks those who fought and those who practiced in the hills to save their country.
Today it was a quiet place – quiet in terms of there was a lack of man made sound. The wind was strong and noisy and there was the odd call of a Buzzard to be heard but generally it was a place for reflection – and the chance to photograph!
It additionally provided the chance to shoot the moon without the interference of light pollution. Although I do wish I’d taken my tripod and made a proper shot of it. All in all, the hour or so spent getting there, shooting and coming home was worth it for the results. Spontaneous treks are fantastic!