The Essay

The Downs have often prompted dreams of flight. 'I shall lift great heron-like wings and fly...to other points of view', wrote WH Hudson in 1900. Reaching The Cuckmere Valley and The Seven Sisters, Robert Macfarlane re-imagines the life of the artist Eric Ravilious (1903-42), who was fascinated by the 'pure design' of the South Downs: their paths, ridges and light. Ravilious's passion for aerial landscapes eventually led him northwards, to Norway and Iceland. He disappeared off the coast of Iceland in September 1942 while on a rescue flight. Producer Tim Dee.