Lewes to Alfriston

As I am writing this, I sit in the Smugglers Inn in Alfriston. I am staying overnight in the Old Chapel Centre, which is used to be a URC and is now a community centre. The twinning society has a do tonight, and they should be finished by 10pm. That means that until that time I have to be in the pub! I just had sausage and mash and will get a dessert later.

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.

 

I never realised that this point was above it... 

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:

 

Pyecombe to Lewes

I noticed that today I have only been in one Church, at the end of the walk in Lewes! The main part of the walk was on the South Downs today and only the end between Offham & Lewes was in 'occupied' territory. 

From Chantry Farm where I stayed I took a different route, direct north and upwards to reach the top of the Downs directly bypassing Pyecombe. 

The only problem was to cross the A273 to go up to the Jack and Jill windmills. Had to walk along for a bit, but most drivers were very considerate. It is on of those places that are more impressive from afar then from nearby. Yesterday I could see the windmills from a long way off, so I was looking forward to see them up close. But when I got there they were surrounded by trees and the only shot worth taking was from the car park.

 

As both Mills were closed I could not get any closer either.

I admire all these people queueing to pay respect to the Queen. I wonder if they have the same feeling: having queued for 12 hours, they have only a few minutes (or less?), to pay their respects, and then it's all over. What would people remember most, the time in the queue with all the others , or the few moments in Westminster Hall?

The same for my journey too. My destination is Canterbury Cathedral. But I probably won't be there a long time. I have seen it before, and probably would like to go home. Why do it then? It's the journey, the walking, meeting different people and the achievement. 

Today was an achievement. Not because of the length or the height, but this one was more one and the same.

From Jack and Jill the next stops is Ditchling point, the highest point on the South Downs. 

And the views are gorgeous, but having to walk for what feels like hours with similar views gets a bit same-y. And and if the path isn't so interesting it gets same-y and therefore tiring. 

The final stop was at the beacon on Mount Harry, where in 1264, the Battle of Lewes was fought.

 

From this it was down to Offham, almost near to sea-level again, nearly 600ft - which me knees are feeling! 

In Offham, the church was closed. The route suggested a detour to visit the church at Hamsey, as it has hardly changed since 12th C when it was built. It even does not have electricity. Unfortunately I couldn't see that either as this church was also closed! It does not help morale if you go somewhere special to find it is not open. 

By this time I was quite tired and walked the final few miles to Lewes. 

Lewes Castle was interesting decorated by an art project. And close to the home of my hosts was St Michael's

The usual stats:

 

 

Steyning to Pyecombe

I'll keep it short today, as I just lost the contents of my blog. I had a great walk today through Bramber, Upper Beeding and alongside the river Adur.

After that it went up the South Downs again, with a highlight the hang gliders at Devil's Dyke

 

Now I am staying in a converted wagon :

 

 

with a lovely view:

 

Just the stats finish with 

 

Hopefully better again tomorrow! 

Houghton to Steyning

This morning started with rain, so for the first time I left my overnight place with rain coat & rain trousers on. Because of the rain I put my camera away, so not many pictures today! 

After walking through Houghton it went steeply up the moors following the South Downs Way. I thought with the rain I would be the only person, but when I took a breather, an elderly couple overtook me... On the top there wasn't much to see of course, but it was wet and warm, so my rain gear became also wet on the inside. But at least I stayed warm. 

After a while the route went of the downs to go to Storrington, home to a Catholic Priory & of course an Anglican Church. I toyed with the idea to bypass Storrington, as that meant I did not of to climb twice! 

But I did go down. In the rain the chalk paths get very slippery! So I fell, I didn't hurt myself, but it's difficult to get up with a backpack on... 

Once in Storrington, I had a quick look at the Catholic Priory Church, but it was all nicely carpented and I was very wet and grubby. So I went next door to the Anglican Church (St Mary's) and got to the tail end of their coffee morning! Which resulted in a nice cup of coffee and a chat with Vicar Kathryn. By the time left there it had cleared up and after winding my way through Storrington the path went up again. Just before the Downs proper there was this little church in Sollington (St Mary's). 

By this time the weather had cleared enough for the camera to be used again 

But it was not very clear yet and the tops of the Downs were still in the clouds. For people who did not want to climb there was an lower alternative route, so I decided to take that. Am easy and straightforward route through beautiful countryside. I saw some Buzzards from close up calling to each other. 

I also walked this beautifully covered lane.

 

After crossing the A24 I got to St Mary's in Washington. I had a nice break there, they were very hospitable even though no one was present. I could have just made myself a cup of coffee or use the toilet as everything was open and unlocked! Nice comfy chairs to and running an Alpha Course. 

After Washington I had another choice: i could either continue on the easy route and finish early or go up the Downs again. I did the latter and after quite a steep climb again, I met some other walkers who did a three day section of the South Downs Way. I was jealous of there light day packs! 

On the top of the Downs here is the Chanctonbury ring, an old Iron Age Fort 

 

Plus some cows nicely positioned in front of the wonderful views! 

As I was taking pictures I did not pay attention and slipped on the wet grass and fell again! 

Then it was time to go down again and head towards Steyning. I arrived at 5:15pm at my hosts for the night. They are members of St Andrews and St Cuthman Church and they invited a few others including the Vicar for the meal and so I concluded today with very nice company! 

Slindon to Houghton via Arundel

Today was a good walk, hardly any road walking, the weather was reasonably (although it sometimes rained a bit. 

I left Slindon a bit later to wait for a heavy shower to clear and took this picture of the church I stayed in last night. 

On the way to Arundel it was mainly forest and impressive trees

 

In Arundel I visited first the Catholic Cathedral

 

After that I visited the Anglican Church of St Nicholas 

 

 

Its building is shared with the Chapel of Arundel Castle. It used to be one, but with the English Reformation it was split in two. The Castle side is Catholic, and now a fence is erected between the two halves, behind the Anglican altar

 

After lunch I went up the Downs via Arundel Park 

 

 

Of course there they have to be sheep too! 

 

But had to come down again to cross the river Arun. Its water levels are very high at the moment and at times seemed to flow backwards. Later on I realised that this was a tidal river!

 

I crossed a piece of land in the loop of the river and find these escaped(?) chickens liking the apples.

On my final approach to Houghton I had to walk alongside of the river. Fortunately it had boardwalks, unfortunately one tree had fallen, and I couldn't go underneath with or without backpack. Fortunately I could go along the side sliding my backpack along the planks. 

The next obstacle bested me. The boardwalk finished, but it didn't lead to dry land but to a stream! I tried but gave up as it was deeper than the height if my boots, and I didn't fancy sopping wet feet. 

 

So I returned, doing the same trick with sliding my rucksack. 

I finally had to walk along the road, with no pavements, and as it was getting darker, I was glad fir my hi-viz jacket I carried along as well! 

So I bit wetter than I wanted to be I arrived at the South Downs Bunkhouse, shared overnight accommodation, that I have completely to myself! And the first thing I did was to rinse my backpack rain guard as that's where the backpack was sliding on! Then a shower (first in three days!) and food. 

Tomorrow will be a long day again...