Surrey will always hold a place in my heart. I spent a majority of my childhood in and around the county and I will forever be grateful that I grew up surrounded by nature, a luxury I wish every kid could experience. No bikes were involved in my childhood, so no cycling up hills, but thankfully many other sports filled the gaps in my leisure time.
I’m originally from the Lake District, so I also spent a lot of time frolicking around in the hills and valleys, one of nature’s worst kept secrets, with family and friends. Even as a kid, it did not disappoint... well maybe the weather could be a bit grey!
I miss ‘home’ (aka Surrey) a lot. The truth is, I ended up in London due to losing my mum in 2019, while still studying at University. Being a country girl, it’s a struggle in the big rat race, with more cars than houses, enough pollution to suffocate an army and not a truly beautiful farmers field in sight – at least not for a fair few miles.
Even when we lived in towns, it was nothing like London. Lots of people around London seem unhappy and to hate on the world as they rush around like headless chickens. The atmosphere in Surrey is completely different... I feel a weight lift from my shoulders, every time I cross into Surrey - it hits when I see sweetly coloured fields holding hands and nurturing the natural world they nourish, with the exotic smell of freshly mown grass or manure from the local farms, lacing my nostrils. Londoners don’t understand that smell, at-least not the ones I know. While they despise the smell of farms, I cherish it as an echo of my childhood. It wraps me in a warm embrace to remind me it’s still there and that not everything has changed.
If I wasn’t playing rugby as a kid, I was off to the yard to ride a horse. Mud, poo, straw, shavings and stink... that’s what our house was about. I feel some parents are different: they embrace nature and the dirt. It’s never a problem that their kid stinks or their dog has muddy paws or sheds fur, because that’s the normality their lives consist of and it's unbelievably beautiful. My mum never made me change on the doorstep (although, boots off at the door - fair enough), or hose down outside. She never got angry that I’d left a trail of smelly shavings through the house… she just got on with it!
I grew up with dogs as well - along with whatever small animal we could sneak into the house…basically it was a petting farm - and I don't remember my mum ever complaining about the animal hair, the dirt they brought in from the field or the toys scattered around the house, like an explosion had gone off. In London, the majority of the people I come across seem to have this inert fear of dirt, hair, smell… maybe just nature in general...as if they’re allergic to it. I understand having a tidy house is satisfying (Mrs. OCD over here) but where were they brought up? In an army camp? What happened to those people to make them so against LIVING, it truly amazes me and makes me yearn for my mum and home even more.
I wish everyone could have grown up in nature. I find peace by sitting in a field and grounding myself in silence and tranquillity. I could sit in a field for hours on end and watch nature bound past me and be completely content. If I have kids, there's no way they would grow up without experiencing life in a natural environment. And they would have to ride a bike in the countryside - and climb up those gorgeous Surrey hills - at a much younger age than I did.
Ride bikes, eat cake, be happy :)
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