Day 61 - Sunday 28 July 2002 - Selsey Bill to Bosham Hoe

11.5 miles walked today

721 miles walked in total (11.819 average)

After a mini lay in this morning, I was walking at seven fifteen.   It's much hotter than yesterday and not cloudy at all.

Within half an hour of starting, I'd found Selsey windmill which has been turned into the centrepiece of a caravan park.  After heading inland slightly to find a footpath, I crossed my first stile to be greeted by an angry looking horse, snorting and kicking his back leg.  At this point, his front end was facing the path and he definitely was not going to let me pass.  After a few minutes of cajoling and sweet talking, he turned round so I'd have to walk past his back legs.  Not being very keen on this plan, I waited a couple of minutes before walking a few paces forward, at which point he moved off and let me pass.

The path crossed grazing land out to a road which led into a huge caravan site owned by Warners.  The roads even had names and the caravans had numbered postboxes.  Because I'd lost the path now, I walked for what seemed like miles, to get through the site and out to the beach, which I walked along. It wasn't too bad to walk on as the shingle was very well compacted.

I could see the nab tower, cross channel ferries, Freshwater Bay chalk cliffs on the Isle of Wight, Bracklesham Bay and Portsmouth in the distance.  Fantastic views on a fantastic day.

Andy rang from Turkey as I was walking into Bracklesham - apparently it was "red hot" out there and he'd had to buy factor 30 suncream.

I'm less than impressed with the tea making facilities on this stretch of coast.  I'd passed three lots of tea rooms which were closed before I got to East Wittering.  We used to come here on holiday when we were kids and we camped at Scott's Farm campsite which is still there.

I've had lots of sit downs today as it's been very hot and I've been desperate to find pockets of shade.   It was a relief to get onto grass footpaths after the difficult shingle walking around East Wittering, but the grass soon stopped and I was on soft sand, again quite difficult to walk on.

I took a chance at West Wittering to go and investigate a huge car park which was heaving.  Success at last - a tea shop!  I knew there would have to be one here because of the amount of people at the beach.  Good tea too (unlike the gnat's piss at the Pagham Harbour Visitor Centre yesterday!)

From West Wittering, I followed a great footpath all the way to Itchenor, and stopped to chat to lots of people en route.  I got caught up in an affray at one stage - an elderly gentleman (very elderly!) was trying to control his young dog, but five youths (who it would seem had been camping illegally and lighting fires under some trees on the path) were calling the dog who kept pulling the old boy over.  A middle aged couple on bikes were trying to reason with the lads and, because they were blocking the path, I got caught up too.   Because I hadn't seen anything and couldn't contribute anything constructive to the discussions, I sussed out a way to get past them - only to be approached by a young woman coming the other way who obviously knew the old chap and wanted to know if he was distressed in any way.  The other couple had caught me up by now so I left them all to it.

The path was quite shaded which was a bit of a relief - it's been so hot today.   It wasn't long before I got to Itchenor and took my first ferry!  I know I started off vowing not to take ferries but Andy and I calculated that I'll be sixty-three by the time I finish my walk if I carry on at this rate.  And, quite frankly, I don't think Andy will put up with it!  I rather think he's got travelling and fishing planned for me.   So I went over to Bosham Hoe, didn't bother getting off the boat and went straight back over to Itchenor.  That way, I can start at Bosham next time around.  And, apparently, that's not the weirdest request the ferryman's ever had!

Day 60 - Saturday 27 July 2002 - Middleton on Sea to Selsey Bill

14 miles walked today

709.5 miles walked in total (11.825 average)

Seven o'clock this morning found me walking along the beach at Middleton.  It was, not surprisingly, very peaceful and I'd planned to start walking at this time, if not earlier, because the weather forecast was for a scorcher.   Within only fifteen minutes, I got my first view of Bognor Regis which appears to have built its own version of the Millennium Dome.   Butlins of course!  I spied a chap behind the barrier fencing gazing wistfully out to sea - almost as if he wanted to escape!

Walking around the coast of Britain seems to be in danger of becoming a national sport.  I read in my walking magazine this week that someone else has done it (with her dog) and written a book about it, and I met a couple this morning who are doing it, anticlockwise.  They've walked from Minehead to Bridport so far, but are going to cut up through the New Forest and then down along the coast to Dover.  I'd better get a move on before everyone else beats me to it.

The houses have been either very grand or very cottagey today.  I much prefer the smaller properties with the wild flower meadows than the more imposing ones with the very formal, minimalist gardens.

Pagham had five very good looking pubs, which was a bit unfortunate as it was only nine o'clock!

I carried on, on footpaths around Pagham Harbour Nature Reserve until the sea wall finished due to emergency repairs to the sea defences.  This meant a detour - still on footpaths - but through fields to Sidlesham where yet another pub didn't open for ninety minutes.

I sat down on a bench overlooking the harbour for a while and, as I got up to go on, an elderly couple hove into view.  They'd overtaken me at Pagham while I'd been looking around the churchyard at St Thomas a Becket's, then I'd overtaken them on the path and they'd finally caught up with me again.  They lived in Bognor, but frequently came out to this spot to look at the birds.   I've seen loads of twitchers about today and wish I'd had one with me to identify all the different varieties I'd seen!

After a cup of tea and yet another sit down at the Visitor Centre, I was back on sea wall round to Church Norton.  Unfortunately, the path ran out just a short distance from the church and I got very muddy feet as I waded through the mudflats to reach dry land.  

There was a lot of activity in the graveyard which is huge considering the church is only tiny.  Three old dears, armed with rake, wheelbarrow and thermos flask, were buzzing around trying to organise each other.  St Wilfrid, whose church it is, was a seventh century missionary who ministered to residents of Seal Island - now Selsey - when it really was an island.  It still feels a bit cut off today, with only one road in and out. 

I was struggling a bit now with heat and hunger pains, having forgotten to pack any munchies, so I stuck to the road rather than heading along the beach.

I decided to stop at Selsey Bill and gave up for the day.  I had lunch and called a taxi to get me back to my car.  My driver was very entertaining and told me lots of stories about the local area.  I saw a sign for a fete at Sidlesham to be opened at 2.00 pm today by Sir Patrick Moore.  I was informed that he lived at Selsey - I think I already knew that, but had forgotten.   Apparently he does a lot for the local community.  I was told where he lived so I'm going to have a gawp tomorrow.

I told the driver that I was going to call in and have a look around Bognor Regis on the way back to Portsmouth but was advised against it "if you value your health" - it's Carnival Day!

Day 59 - Saturday 13 July 2002 - West Worthing to Middleton on Sea

11 miles walked today

695.5 miles walked in total (11.78 average)

I started walking at eight thirty this morning in bright sunshine.   I wasn't even sure that I would be walking today until I woke up, as the weather forecast wasn't great.  This, according to the Met Office, has been the wettest July for forty years.  But I awoke to glorious sunshine so my contingency plan of the laundrette, Tescos and a garden centre or two wasn't needed!

There were lots of people about today dog walking and riding horses along the beach.  West Worthing to Ferring is very peaceful with lots of big, well spaced houses and a lot of greensward between beach and road.  There are strategically placed cafes along the beach and I stopped at the Bluebird at nine thirty for tea and toast.  It was so hot by this time that I even elected to sit inside as I knew I'd be spending a lot of time in the sun today.

Kingston Gorse wins the prize for the biggest houses I've ever seen!   You could fit at least ten homeless families in each one!   However, one house currently being built was the ugliest looking residence I've ever clapped eyes on.  It was almost as if the owners had so much money that they were going to build the most imposing castle they could and had forgotten to incorporate the "tastefulness" element - yuk.

An old boy on a motorised wheelchair stopped me and another lady to ask if we'd sign his petition.  Arun District Council intend to build a fence with gated, stepped access to stop cyclists, but which would also stop wheelchair access.  The old boy asked for our views and, to be honest, I hadn't seen one cyclist at all so far.   And, in fact, the South Coast Cycle Route runs parallel with the greensward and is very well signposted along the road.  I couldn't see the point in putting the fence up so I signed.  The other lady (who was Dutch so knew a fair bit about cycling!) said our cycle network was one of the best she'd seen.  So she signed too!

Angmering didn't compete with Kingston Gorse on the size of the houses, but it won on "Englishness" - lots of cottages with roses and honeysuckle up the doors - lovely!  I stopped to sniff the odd rose en route of course

As I walked into Rustington, I was stopped by two policemen which was a bit scary.   They informed me that they'd been watching my progress and that I was getting noticeably slower and that I should get a move on!  Cheeky sods!  They were right though - it was very hot and I was afflicted by flies - in my eyes, my mouth, up my nose and in my hair - how I love the summer!

At Littlehampton, at Rope Walk, I walked past the chalet park where Sheila, Alan, Auntie Joyce and I had stayed during June 1988.    We were going to take Nan Rowland on holiday with us, but, sadly, she died in the March and the holiday was already booked - so Auntie Joyce stepped in.  I think that was the year I learnt to put up my first deckchair!

A footpath through the golf course caused more fly trouble.  Because golfers and walkers are sworn enemies, the golfers didn't want to see anybody on their course who wasn't wielding a long metal stick, so they'd created a very narrow path which was surrounded on both sides by hedges and trees.  That way, the walkers could go through undetected by players.  However, because the path was so narrow and no sun could get through the hedging, it was very muddy and full of flies  But just to make sure they knew I was there, I sang hymns very loudly.  Hee, hee, hee!

Past the golf course, the footpath then headed out to the beach and I was on shingle for the last stretch to Middleton on Sea.  I'd planned originally to stop at Littlehampton, but when I got there at eleven o'clock, I realised I needed a further plan.   I'd decided on Bognor as I could get the train back to Worthing to collect my car.  However, by one o'clock it was just too hot and I was desperate to find some shade.  But I was still pleased with the progress made and eleven miles isn't bad by lunchtime!

Day 58 - Saturday 29 June 2002 - Brighton Palace Pier to West Worthing

13 miles walked today

684.5 miles walked in total (average 11.8)

I started at Brighton Pier at eight thirty this morning - unfortunately it didn't open until nine o'clock so I couldn't have a wander.

The weather was glorious and, by the time I walked into Hove half an hour later, there were already people on the beach and in the sea.   Brighton always seems really relaxed to me, despite the number of people there, and even though it was Saturday, there were very few cars or people about, except a few joggers, dog walkers and keen sunbathers.

At Hove Lagoon, I stumbled across the Ocean Carnival, some sort of windsurfing mecca.  I then had to head onto Basin Road South down towards the lock gates across Shoreham harbour.  Things got surreal along here, as I had to walk past my old office where I'd spent two days a week for the best part of 2001!

Right on cue, I got a 'phone call from Andy and I had to describe the site to him.  He was a bit cross that I was walking as I'd felt a bit fluey all week and he'd ordered me to take a day off . I've been reading a lot of walk books lately though and have got re-inspired.   To be honest, I think about giving the walk up quite a lot, but I'm trying to prove a point now.   I start so many things that I never finish and this would be a chance to prove to myself that I can achieve something if I really want to.

From the lock gates, I was back on the main A259 to Shoreham town where I crossed the River Adur by footbridge to head along the beach.   I used to drive home this way from work and I was never too impressed with any of the houses en route  However, having walked along the back of them, I've totally changed my opinion.  They all have their own moorings on the Widewater Lagoon, a local nature reserve.  Superb!  It's been very quiet on this stretch, just the constant low drone of the 'planes coming out of Shoreham airport.

Past the lagoon, I was back on the prom to Worthing and lunch, which I took on the balcony of a very nice little tea room, from where I had brilliant views back over to Brighton and the Seven Sisters.

The bottom of my feet were quite sore at this time - it's been all tarmac and shingle this morning - and I think I may need better insoles for my boots  However, I had an emergency pair of socks in my bag, so I put those on over my other pair and I tried to carry on, albeit with a slight limp!

At West Worthing, I had to give up finally and go and find Milletts to get insoles, which turn out to have some rather marvellous shock absorbers in them!  My shins, calf muscles and soles of my feet were crying out for me to stop.   But I'm very pleased with thirteen miles - that'll push my average up a little bit.

Day 57 - Sunday 21 April 2002 - Newhaven Fort to Brighton Palace Pier

10 miles walked today

671.5 miles walked in total (average 11.78)

By coincidence, Katie and I started walking at twelve minutes to eleven again!

The day started off very hazy but soon warmed up and we walked in teeshirts for practically the whole day.  We started off by popping into the fort to ask directions out onto the footpath over the cliffs and we were soon on our way, passing the hang gliders and looking down at all the divers down on the beach.

Newhaven Heights is a new housing development of prefab bungalows on top of the cliffs.  If the houses - and I've lived in a prefab which was brilliant - hadn't been on top of one another, but had been set in their own fields, they'd have been great.  But, in their setting, they looked quite astoundingly ugly!

As we walked along the cliffs to Peacehaven, we marvelled at all the flowers growing along the cliff edge - namely, marigolds and wallflowers which stretched on for miles.  Again, we saw lots of people out - on the prom at the bottom of the cliff - and in their gardens and on their balconies.   We passed the Meridian at Peacehaven which was quite a milestone again.   It's marked in a memorial to George V and gives the distances to various places in the commonwealth and must once have been a fountain, although the water features seem to have disappeared.

From Peacehaven, we made our way along the cliffs - with a short detour onto the main A259 road - through Telscombe to Saltdean where we stopped for lunch.  We had to do a bit of decision making about whether to have lunch on the beach or on the cliff - the cliffs won.  But only because, if we'd walked down the steps to the beach, we'd have only had to walk back up again.  As it was, we made sure we were at the top of the next cliff, before we stopped to eat.   We knew that the wind had changed direction as the weather vane on the monument at the top suddenly swung round on its axis as we passed!

The view from our lunch stop was superb.  We could see any number of art deco buildings - the Saltdean Lido, the Ocean Hotel overlooking all of Brighton, and the tearooms on the prom, to name a few.  By this time, we were feeling quite hot and it wasn't until later that we discovered the extent of our new stripey suntans!

We spotted some quite wacky characters on the beach too.  We watched as two chaps, one of whom was done up in red teeshirt and shorts, and blue Crocodile Dundee hat, manoeuvred a bright red canoe down the A259, through the underpass and onto the beach.   That would have been enough exercise for me, never mind rowing the blinking thing as well!

We came down into Rottingdean after lunch and had a quick mooch around the shops and stopped on the front for some more people watching.  Katie pointed out a pretty little tearoom - The Old Cottage Tea Rooms - so we felt it only right that we stop for a beverage.  The garden was fantastic - crammed full of tables and benches - and the borders were full of fantastic, healthy looking shrubs and trees, not to mention bird houses, gnomes and animal ornaments.

We sussed out where the bus stop was in Rottingdean in case we couldn't be bothered to walk any further.  I think that, if I'd been on my own, I might have given up then, but Katie was eager to carry on and provided some much needed encouragement.

From Rottingdean, we were back on the cliffs for a while past St Dunstan's School for the Blind, Roedean School for Girls and Brighton Marina.

Just past the marina, we made our way down the path into Madeira Drive and past Volks Electric Railway towards the pier.  We then got caught up in a coach rally which was quite bizarre - dozens of coaches done up and gleaming and being judged - the trophy table was huge with trophies for best driver, best coach, best make of coach, etc.  The overall winner was Banstead Coaches, which made me laugh - I used to go to Sunday School in Banstead!   They won about a dozen trophies, I think.  We also spotted a Club Cantabrica coach - the company I used to be a holiday rep for.  I made sure I spat on that one as I walked past.  Only joking!

We had about two minutes to catch the bus back to Newhaven from opposite the pier - so we made a mad dash, running along the pavement with our backpacks knocking people out of the way.  We weren't too impressed when the driver saw us and drove off anyway.  Humph!  We only had to wait ten minutes for the next bus though back to Newhaven, and we walked through the marina again and down to the Hope Inn, for a beer to celebrate the weekend's walking.

It was an excellent weekend, but I'm sure Katie was sad that we'd missed the swingbridge opening twice, today only by ten minutes!

Day 56 - Saturday 20 April 2002 - Cuckmere Haven to Newhaven Fort

9 miles walked today

661.5 miles walked in total (average 11.81)

Katie and I arrived at the Golden Galleon at ten thirty this morning, to find banners up announcing a beer festival all day - hurrah!  We dashed into the pub and asked whether, if we promised to come back for a beer after our walking today, we could borrow their loos?  Suitably relieved, in more ways than one, we started to walk at twelve minutes to eleven!

This was Katie's first walking day ever apparently!   We're going to Portugal in three weeks' time on a rambling holiday so it was good to get a bit of practice in before we go.  All we need to sort out is the shopping bit now - rucksack, waterproofs, etc - it's a good job I've got two of everything!

The view from Cuckmere Haven back to the Seven Sisters was very misty - as we'd known it would be as we'd heard the foghorns from Newhaven as soon as we arrived at the country park.  However, as we walked over the next hill and down to Hope Gap, it began to clear a bit - the sun was very warm and soon burned the mist off.  We had a couple of stops up the next hill and removed various layers of clothing as we began to overheat. The walking was great - very springy turf which really helps to lessen the blows on the knees.

We had to walk through Seaford golf course, which was very well populated.  We assumed there was a tournament because of the number of people there - in fact, they were having to queue up to play the holes.  As we descended the hill down into Seaford, we were outraged by the number of people just sitting in their cars reading the papers, when they could have been sitting on any one of a hundred benches along the prom.

We took up our places on a bench to have our lunch and watched the world go by.  It was great to see so many people about.   After lunch, we were back on a track along the back of the beach - the Vanguard Way - which took us to the harbour entrance at Newhaven, over the railway bridge, through the industrial bits and past the station to the pedestrian/ car bridge into Newhaven itself.  Katie could barely contain her excitement, as a Southern Water engineer, about the water treatment works and I swear I caught a glint in her eye when she noticed the bridge was a swingbridge and would be opening later - sadly, an event which we missed!

From the bridge, we walked through the marina, watching all the fishermen in their boats.  Past the lifeboat station (which was actually a portacabin!), we stopped at Coral's Cabin Café for a cup of tea, when we heard an explosion, but just passed it off as background noise.  After a short break, we continued along the road down to the fort and the harbour entrance, but were caught up in a marine disaster, which explained the explosion we'd heard.  A gas canister had exploded on one of the smaller boats, which necessitated two fire engines, two police cars and a paramedic's arrival on the scene.  Katie and I pondered for a minute or two whether to ignore it and carry on to the fort or to go and satisfy our morbid curiosity - it was obvious what was going to win!  So we went into the marina to watch - it was the Marina Open Day anyway, so we could have passed off as visitors rather than weirdos!  Eventually the paramedics led a very badly shaken man along the jetty to the ambulance - the poor guy was wearing a teacloth on his head as his hair had been very badly singed and the skin was hanging off his hands.  I thought about recording the incident on film for the walk diary, but decided that even I'm not that sick.

Further round the bend towards the harbour entrance, we took a look at all the boats up for sale and in general winter storage.  One boat seemed to have been wrapped in clingfilm/ shrink wrap!  I suppose it keeps it protected from the elements.  We saw the Mayor too - what an exciting day!

From the fort, we walked back up through the marina and back to the bus stop for the bus back to Cuckmere Haven.  Once there, we popped into the Golden Galleon for a couple of ciders to celebrate the day - there were lots of people there, including some walkers who hadn't quite finished for the day, but who were having a pint anyway.  They're obviously more dedicated than I am - I think that, had I been having a pint in a pretty little pub garden with fantastic views over the Seven Sisters, I probably would have given up walking for the day.

The wildlife was fantastic - we saw horses, cows, sheep, a heron in flight, some swans, robins and goldfinches - all from the pub bench!   Excellent work!  And Katie's well and truly got her boots worn in - she spilled her cider over them!