Firle Beacon has one of the most distinctive profiles on the South Downs, like the swell of a huge green wave. Its steep North Facing scarp has never been cut by a plough and its flora is of international importance with up to 40 species of plant per square metre. The Burial Mounds at the summit rise from a landscape that has been devoid of trees for up to 8,000 years, when post ice age settlers slashed and burnt the forests. The ancient atmosphere is added to by the herd of Exmoor ponies, an endangered species, that graze the slopes until May.

A few years ago invasive Tor Grass began to appear on the Downs and threatened to obliterate everything around it. As well as leeching nutrients from neighbouring plants, its collapsed stems in the winter mulch the ground like a carpet preventing anything else from growing. It's so tough that even rugged South Downs sheep refuse to touch it.
A solution was found in bringing Exmoor ponies 200 miles from their home. They find the grass palatable and looking down the slope you can see a distinct before and after effect as they graze up the electric fence that contains them. They seem oblivious to the 60 degree angle as they meander along the hillside, stopping sometimes to flick their long manes from their eyes and sniffing the breeze lost in their thoughts. Admire them from the fence (sometimes they gather for shade at the top under the gorse), but certainly don’t approach them. They are a wild species and make their feelings known if you get too close. MM