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!
No comments:
Post a Comment