This summer, Mark and I decided to take a breather from work, by staying in, chilling and exploring our island. But as it turned out, the met office's forecast was grim, with predicted showers throughout the week. However, on the one morning, when the sun slowly emerged through the clouds, we bolted out as fast as we could, to the western part of the island. This was clearly an unseen part of the island- particularly for Mark.

As I drove along Military Road (along the motorcyclists post orgasmic fag-stop), we frenetically raced ahead of the looming dark clouds that threatened to move towards our destination. Tennyson Downs. Fortunately, with the clouds heading south, we made it to the base of the downs, parked up and walked.

The vast expanse of green on Tennyson Down, culminated in the sheer chalk cliff along the south called Highdown Cliffs. As stories go, Lord Alfred Tennyson, during his residence at Farringford House, often walked along the Downs for his " constitutional". With the cliff drop of around 482 feet and the wind speed of around 25 mph, I staggered around like a drunken thing, trying not to fall down the already crumbling cliff face. Getting up the Down certainly flexed my rather contracted lungs and got my heart pumping at a rather alarming rate. Still, I learnt something - more exercise needed for this old body to work efficiently.

Mark was in his element, having wanted to walk along here ever since we moved to the island. He found the time and was steady enough to take over 80 photographs just along the down.

As for me, just staying on the ground and warm was at the forefront of my mind, although I did manage to sneak in a few photos now and again.