North Downs

The North Downs are a ridge in the southeast of England, part of the Southern England Chalk Formation.

It runs more than 160 km from Hampshire through Surrey and Kent. In Surrey, a part of the North Downs is also known under the name of Hog's Back. The hills are intersected by the rivers Wey, Mole, Darent, Medway, and Stour. They form the northern part of the Weald, which form the southern part of the South Downs, which represent virtually the mirror image of the North Downs. The highest elevation in Surrey is the 294 m high located south of Dorking in Surrey Leith Hill, but which is not part of the North Downs. In the Kent North Downs reached by Westerham Hill a height of 252 m.

In or near the North Downs are the towns and villages of Basingstoke in Hampshire; Farnham, Guildford, Dorking, Reigate and Redhill in Surrey; and Sevenoaks, Maidstone, Ashford and Dover in Kent. At the point where the North Downs meet the English Channel, they form the famous white chalk cliffs of Dover.

Since the chalk subsoil of the North Downs is very porous and thus saves a little water, a mostly treeless landscape has trained. On the south side of the North Downs are often steep slopes, which are crossed by wooded anticlinal valleys. It involves the landscape typical dry valleys where small towns and winding roads can be found.

Within the North Downs two areas have been designated as areas of outstanding natural beauty Area of ​​Outstanding Natural Beauty ( AONB ). These are the Surrey Hills and the Kent Downs.

Attractive to tourists is the North Downs Way, one on steep slopes along the leading long-distance trail a Pilgrims ' Way follows the Pilgrims mentioned in many places.

The predominant in the North Downs landscape type is called Downland. It is characterized by a particularly high proportion of grass land that was formerly used as pasture for sheep. Based on the names of similarly shaped and unused landscapes a breed of sheep Southdown and Hampshire Down is mentioned. These designations prevailed, although both breeds of sheep once grazed in the North Downs. For a long time kept the sheep grazing the grass in the North Downs shortly. As the number of sheep grazing, however, has decreased significantly in recent decades and also in 1953 a Myxomatoseausbruch decimated the rabbit population, an increasing encroachment of the landscape can be observed. The incipient recovery in recent years the rabbit population has can not take a lot of influence on this development, since the bushland has been extended to over vast areas.