Strange characters picked up in Buckland Down (3)
I believe the answer is:
odd
'strange' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'characters picked up in buckland down' is the wordplay.
'picked up in' shows that the letters should be reversed in order (in a down clue, letters go up).
'characters' indicates the answer is hidden within the clue (some letters or characters from the clue).
'ddo' can be found hidden inside 'buckland down'.
'ddo' back-to-front is 'ODD'.
(Other definitions for odd that I've seen before include "unlike 1984" , "Peculiar or unpaired" , "Strange, bizarre" , "Not matching" , "Peculiar sort of number?" .)