Biking Birder I February 7th 2010 Strength and Honour !!! GLADIATOR and Fanham Heath RSPB Reserve

 

7^th February 2010                                                 

Gladiator, Now We Are Free Film Theme        

Hans Zimmer and Lisa Gerrard

    After an extremely comfortable night’s sleep, I woke up and thought that my OPTICRON binoculars had been stolen and reported this to the police. Some twit had left them in the lounge area the previous evening, me, and a chef had found them and stored them safely!

I cycled downhill to Farnham RSPB Reserve and then found the location of where the battle scene that opens the film Gladiator had been filmed, Bourne Woods. If you go to the RSPB reserve by the Rural Centre, follow the central path north. It goes over a hill and down the other side into an amphitheatre-like area. 

There it was, exactly as it is in the film. One almost expected the fireballs to be flying and the Zulu-chanting Germanic army to appear en masse in front of the trees. Indeed some of the trees still had some damage to them from the film. I went atop the hill where Russell Crowe, Maximus Decimus Meridius, had stood and shouted out the famous phrase, “Strength and Honour!” I then charged down the hill to take on the imaginary rabble opposite. 

Thinking I was by myself, I continued up the next slope to continue the fight. It was then that I noticed a family to my left watching my fun antics, a family of Mum and Dad with two young children and a toddler in a pushchair. Laughing, I went over to them and suddenly the Roman army numbered four! Great fun was had by all and a £10 donation went into Ricky, the RSPB Robin. The Man with a Robin on his Bike!

One disappointing note was the amount of thin black cable left amongst the heather growth; a sign of leftovers from the most recently made film there, Robin Hood. Mind you, when you realise that a huge mock castle had been built there for the filming, I suppose such small quantities of cable is understandable.

Going back to the RSPB reserve, I could not find any of the Woodlarks I had hoped for, despite the huge areas of tree clearance making the habitat look so good for the species. The intention of the RSPB recreating heathland was apparent and important. The rest of the day was spent getting to Chichester, up and down many hills. I did have fun cycling down one of them when I thought I had been flashed by a speed camera! A dream of mine is being done for speeding whilst on my bike. I can just imagine the publicity such a thing would bring. The Biking Birder, faster than a speeding Peregrine!

I do remember that a signpost stating four miles to go was much appreciated and on reaching Chichester, I remember another large Starling murmuration was circling with stunning precision over the train station; the coordinated birds gathering in the gloom, scared by the attentions of a local Sparrowhawk.

 

33.33 miles                                                 

1930 feet elevation up   2726 feet down