But first the walk. It was nice today! Interesting paths and also nice villages to visit. The route went from Lewes up the Downs to another Iron Age fort and high point: The Caburn.
View over Lewes:
On the way up:
The Caburn:
On the way up I was overtaken by presumably a group of Brighton students. So much easier to ascend a hill when you're young and only have light daypacks. They went another way, but I met up with them again on the Caburn. They must have walked along the contours, while I went down & up through a valley. So they caught up with me again!
Here are two pictures of the A26 & A27. Why? I have driven these roads quite frequently when I had to work in Brighton, from Tunbridge Wells. And often in traffic as well. It is good to look at them from above.
From there the route went down to Glynde. This is the difference between the Old Way and the South Downs way. The Old Way links towns villages and churches together. The South Downs way stays on the top of the Downs on doesn't do these detours!
Glynde is a lovely village, it boasts of course an elaborate church St Mary's. It is almost part of the Glynde Place,
The figure above the entrance is a modern depiction of Mary.
Glynde also has a lovely tea room and garden, nice for a coffee break
From Glynde I crossed the river Glynde Reach and railway to go to Firle, walking just north of the Downs
The approach to the church in Firle is quite special. It sits a bit further out of the village but is connected by a covered footpath
And at the end of the footpath is the door of the St Peter's church. The whole church also feels open en welcoming.
With little seating area:
Used for small groups or for prayer?
The other novelty is that it not only had a seat on the garden but a table too. Perfect for a lunch stop.
After Firle it went up again to Firle Beacon.
View back over Firle:
From there down again to two villages: Alciston and Berwick
Both have nice churches, but Alciston is very peaceful and understated
There is also Pilgrims bell that Pilgrims are allowed to ring
It is newly cast to commemorate the establishment of a pilgrim path that connects all the churches of the benefice together. It rang very nice, with a very long and mellow after tone.
Berwick's church is totally different. It has been completely adapted to show and preserve a decorative scheme of paintings by the Bloomsbury artists Duncan
Grant, Vanessa Bell and Quentin Bell was commissioned by Bishop Bell of
Chichester in 1941 at the height of World War II.
It looks very rich, but also, to my taste, over the top.
From the outside it is a regular church
From there it went to Alfriston my end point for today.
Tomorrow is Sunday so I am not walking and staying two nights in Alfriston. I won't do a blog post but may just post one photo.
Ending with the regular stats:
