Walkers
A photographic exploration of Landport Bottom Nature Reserve, a small but valuable part of the South Downs and the people who use it.
Nick
"Why do I walk up on the Downs? Ah the Downs is just lovely, innit? It's beautiful. It doesn't get much better than this. It's peaceful. It's nice."
Natalia
"I find it incredibly relaxing. I find a physical change happens within 20 minutes of just walking in a natural environment. And I just love seeing the seasons change."
Martin
"I guess I walk for exercise. I walk to give my dogs exercise. Whenever I finish a walk I feel a lot better than when I started. It gives me time to think. It gives me time to enjoy nature, to enjoy the beauty I have right here on my doorstep."
Rob and Cathryn
"We walk the dog at lunchtime every day. We both work full time, working from home, so it gets us away from the computer screen, we love the fresh air and this view."
- Cathryn
"It clears the cobwebs. And it's the time we have a little chat together as well, and just sort of chill out a little bit in the beautiful scenery. We're very lucky we've got this."
- Rob
Sonny and Dan
"It's such a beautiful landscape. It changes all the time. Every walk we do is a new adventure. We have some nice conversations. And it's an opportunity to get out of your normal zone, your comfort zone of house, and living and school and work and just to walk and talk about stuff that you wouldn't normally talk about or think about. It's quite a meditative experience, I think. There's nothing like just going off and getting lost on the Downs, following little paths and seeing where they lead. It never ceases to amaze me."
- Dan
"It's a nice place to walk. It's quite relaxing."
- Sonny
Kori and Ansel
"I live around here and this is my partner and I'm showing them around. I'm kind of getting to show them the Downs. For me, this is, I guess, quite sentimental because I've grown up here so it's quite nice to get to show someone for the first time."
- Ansel
"I think walks are very beautiful, especially if you walk in nature. You can just explore living outside of the city and it's busy-ness. It is very quiet. It's very healthy as well."
- Kori
Therri
"It's extraordinary up here. I like that up here you can see everywhere. You can see to the sea, you can see to the high downs, over to the Weald. The wildlife. There are so many different people up here to meet and talk to. Health benefits. Definitely. Mental health. Definitely. I like that walking helps me breathe better especially after Covid. For me it's been a real struggle coming back from Covid. And I can come up here. It challenges me. The gradients challenge me. But I can really feel my breath when I'm up here."
