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A Listening Heart

Through the seasons in the British countryside and gardens, with country writers and poets.

Welcome to this Blog

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Welcome to this blog. Thank you for visiting. If you’re new please make yourself at home and look around. The cover photo is of  the South Downs seen from a Sussex wood in early autumn.

— Richard

 

 

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Recent Posts

  • Autumn’s Mellow Wisdom
  • Winchester – England’s Ancient Capital
  • England’s Historic Stately Homes
  • All the way to Alfriston
  • England’s Peaceful Chalk Streams

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Alfred Wainwright. Angels Annual Flowers April Arun valley Aslan Autumn Birds Birdsong C.S.Lewis Celtic Christianity Celtic Christians Chelsea Flower Show Christ Christian Faith Christianity Christmas Contentment Cottage Gardens Creation Cuckoo Daffodils Dawn Chorus. Death Dorothy Wordsworth Dreams Easter Edward Thomas England English Countryside Evening Faith Fell Walking Flowers G.M.Hopkins Garden design Gardens George Herbert Gerard Manley Hopkins Gertrude Jekyll Gilbert White Global Warming Good Friday Harvest Healing Heaven History Hope Immortality Iona Ireland Jesus John Clare John Constable John Keats Joy Landscape Lindisfarne Listening March Michaelmas Mountains Music Nature Nature poetry Nightingales November October Old England Oxford Paradise Peace Poetry Prayer. Resurrection Richard Jefferies Rivers Robert Macfarlane S.T.Coleridge Scotland September Solitude Song Thrush Sorrow South Downs Spring Stillness Summer Sussex The Lake District The New Forest The Sea Wales Wildflower Meadows Wildlife William Wordsworth Wind in the Willows Winter Woods Wordsworth

Photographs and Quotes

The photos I have used on this site are mainly my own or those of Carol Mullineux and Matthew Sutton to whom I am grateful. For the other photos and quotes, I have tried, wherever possible, to give the relevant credits and references. Please do not copy the photos or text on this site without permission from me. Thank you. -- Richard Sutton

Author: Richard Sutton

I'm a lover of the English countryside through the seasons,wildlife, gardens and nature poetry. Married with 4 grandchildren we are retired and now live in a West Sussex village..................

England’s Peaceful Chalk Streams

The Itchen river

Of the rare chalk rivers in the world 86% are in England. They are a national treasure. The Test and the Itchen in Hampshire are two of the best. They are the crown- jewels of our South of England countryside.

Continue reading “England’s Peaceful Chalk Streams” →
By Richard Suttonin Blog Posts, The English CountrysideMay 7, 2026690 Words4 Comments

Our Silent Springs

An increasingly rare sight these days is my favourite early songbird, the Song Thrush. I miss the thrushes’ clear phrases awaking the dawn of early spring and echoing over the village in early evening. Is this a going to be a silent Spring?

Continue reading “Our Silent Springs” →
By Richard Suttonin Blog Posts, Most Popular Posts, Season's Notes, The English CountrysideApril 16, 2026May 16, 2026688 Words2 Comments

Surprised by Easter Joy (Repost)

Chelsea Physic Garden. Photo by Christine Matthews – Geograph.

Easter’s joy is a Spring for the soul. A garden at Easter is a place of healing. Our winter-weary spirits are revived as we watch Spring clothe the Earth with new life.

Continue reading “Surprised by Easter Joy (Repost)” →
By Richard Suttonin Encounters with Grace, In the GardenMarch 27, 2026763 WordsLeave a comment

Surprised by Easter Joy

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By Richard Suttonin Encounters with Grace, In the GardenMarch 26, 2026March 27, 2026753 Words

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