Down, Downs, Wenlock Downs
Down:
Down functions as an adverb (Laxman fell down), preposition (Laxman ran off down the street), adjective (Laxman seemed very down during lockdown days), and as a verb. As a noun, down means a very soft fine feather, fine soft hair.
Down also forms idioms: Have a down on somebody or something – disapprove of or feel hostile towards somebody. Usage: Sulochana has got a down on Laxman; he doesn’t know why.
Down forms many other words, phrasal verbs and compound terms: Downbeat, downcast, down draught or down draft, downer, downfall, downgrade, downhearted, downhill, Downing Street (figuratively refers to the Prime Minister of the British Government), download, downmarket, downpour, downright, downstairs, Down’s syndrome (also known as mongolism: an abnormal condition in which a person is born with a broad flattened skull, slanting eyes and mental deficiency), downstream, downtown, downtrodden, downwards or downward.
Downs:
Downs is a plural noun like news. Downs is an area of open rolling land. Downs are in the chalk hills of South England: the North, the South, Sussex Downs. Downs is an expanse of open, high, grassy land.
The Downs also refers to the treeless, hilly uplands of Kent and Sussex in south-eastern England, and the roadstead off the coast of Kent in England.
Wenlock Downs:
Wenlock Downs at Ooty in the Nilgiris district is a lush green stretch of rolling land interrupted by of eucalyptus trees. It was where the British colonial officers went for hunting. Todays it is home to the Gymkhana Club of Ooty, golf enthusiasts. Because of the terrain, this is one of the best spots in Ooty for long walks.
Wenlock Downs is named after Beilby Lawley, 3rd Baron Wenlock, (1849 –1912). He was the Governor of Madras Presidency: 1891-1896 during the British India. He was educated at Eton College and at Trinity College, University of Cambridge. He laid the foundation stone for the Nilgiri Mountain Railway, and for a solar observatory at Kodaikonal in 1895. During his governorship, there was a famine during 1891–92 yet he pressed on to export the grains from Ganjam and Viazgapatm (Vishakapatnam) in the present state of Andhra Pradesh districts, and that had worsened the situation. Lawley established the Board of Mohammedan Education in 1893. The Wenlock Ward of General Hospital, Madras was established in his memory. He returned to England, and was made Lord of the Bedchmaber to the Prince of Wales (later, George V) among other positions he held upon his return to his home country.
Wenlocks Downs in Ooty is no more a hunting ground but one of the places for long walks in the in the Nilgiris district.
Wenlock Downs is a vast expanse of undulating landscape as far as the eye can see! The Gymkhana Club, the Government Sheep Farm and the Hindustan Photo Films factory are located here. If you enjoy walking, you’ll love to walk down these quiet, winding seeds.
