We're back at home now....

Cuckmere Haven

The Seven Sisters

Front Stain Glass Window, Winchester Cathedral

He said:
We are back home safe and sound, and are reflecting on our trip.
We really enjoyed our long walk; we saw so many places and things.

I just added the stitched and panoramic photos of our trip to a new Picasa folder.
To see more of these photos, please see the links to the right.
cheers.

Touring Bletchley Park, Aylesbury, Swanbourne, and Thornborough

Alan Turing Tribute, Bletchley Park

More photos are found from the links on the right  -->

He said:
Another soggy, wet day, so we're glad to not be walking for hours in the rain.
Our day was spent doing a tour of Bletchley Park.

Bletchley Park is the secret location where Axis military communication encryption codes and methodology were cracked during the 2nd world war.  The Enigma machine was a portable device used for encrypting or decrypting messages, and all german ships, U boats, army, SS units had them along with the many command centers.  The Enigma unit took a text message and turned it into a very scrambled, or encrypted text message, it then took just the right method to decrypt that message.  The encrypted message was broadcast by radio as morse code, which anyone could pick up, but without the method to decrypt it, the message was meaningless.

The Enigma codes were just one part of process of using the Enigma machine to establish "secure" communications links.  There were 3 wheels on the unit that were changed daily according to a chart, the chart was changed monthly.  There was also a random 3 digit code used and chosen by the sender, this was one of the most difficult parts to crack.  Once the process and methodology were finally "cracked", the Axis Powers secure communications could be decrypted and so understood by the allies within hours of their transmission.  The german and japanese forces and leadership never found out that their communications were being intercepted and understood, partly because the allied commanders were very sly about what they did with the information they obtained.

The general public did not find out about this Bletchley Park secret activity until 1974 since the system was still in use during the cold war when the USSR used the same Enigma system.  The Soviets had captured Enigma units from Germany during the war on the eastern front.

Alan Turing, a Cambridge mathematician, was one of the main thinkers of the code breakers, and invented algorithms, systems, and machines that could quickly find the encryption/decryption codes, which were changed every 24 hours at midnight Berlin time.  We saw a demonstration of the Turing Bombe, this was an electromechanical system which ran for some time and allowed for the discovery of the daily random encryption entries used with the Enigma.  Over time, these large physical systems evolved to higher performance and became the first high speed computers ever created.

rebuilt Turing Bombe demonstration

Enigma machine

After leaving Bletchley Park, we were taken around to see other places in Buckinghamshire where my family had ancestors a few hundred years ago. We walked around in Aylesbury first, this is an old market town.

Aylesbury

Aylesbury

Then Swanbourne, a small hamlet with a church, St Swithun's

Then on to Thornborough

St Mary, Thornborough

St Mary, Thornborough

Tomorrow, we are off to the Heathrow area in preparation for our trip home.



She said:
Winslow (Just So Cottage B+B)
Bletchley Park
Aylesbury
Swanbourne
Thornborough

Our B+B mate, Ben, is a professional cricket umpire.  He is in the area to umpire several league games which were, unfortunately, cancelled because of the rain.  He says that the players don't always mind, as they get paid whether they play or not.  His kids are coming to Winslow today, so we may meet them all later downstairs around the table.

Our driver, Ajim, picked us up at 9:30, and off we went to Bletchley Park.  Ajim is of Indian descent, but was born in England.  His  dad was from Calcutta and was born under the Raj.  He was interested that we were doing an Ancestry thing (R's family) as he goes back to India now and again, too, even though 70% of his family lives in England.  He's a great conversationalist and knows the area well.

First stop, Bletchley Park

Bletchley Park is the sight of the code-breaking facility used during WWII.  We always knew the work was arduous and intricate, but touring the "campus" really gives a sense of the urgency, secrecy, camaraderie and importance of code-breaking.

The original property has Roman and Saxon roots (and archeological finds), of course.
During WWI, all of Britain's intelligence facilities were in London, but when WWII broke out, it was clear that top secret code-breaking should be housed outside of London, as London was such a prime target for German bombs.
Bletchley was a perfect sight, as it had a rail station and the A5 motorway very near by, so good transport options, and it was close enough to Oxford and Cambridge so that the best academic minds could be pilfered and commandeered for code work.

One recruiting method of the time was the crossword puzzle in the Daily Telegraph Newspaper.  If one was able to solve it in 12 minutes, they were asked to come to Bletchley Park (BP) for further testing.  The best mathematicians from the universities were also recruited and the best military intelligence minds pitched in, too.
BP was a very egalitarian mix of military, academics and civilians.

As you enter the museum, which is the entire campus, refurbished to look as it did during its WWII use, you are able to access an interactive touchscreen that takes you through how the Enigma machine worked.
The Enigma was the coding machine that the Germans used to send their messages during the war and Churchill was convinced that if Britain could not break the Enigma, the war would be lost.
Touring BP, you feel that Churchill was absolutely correct.

One of the British code breakers was a guy who invented (perfected?) the "punched card" operation - shout out to sister Murry who was a key punch operator in her young career days - who knew she was working on machines that were intertwined with breaking codes?

The Germans would send their encrypted messages via Morse Code, because they were absolutely sure that no one could figure out the codes of the Enigma machine.

So, anyone listening could intercept the Morse Code signals.  Now, if the British could crack the many safeguards of Enigma, the benefits could be (and were) enormous.

"The Girls" of BP were crucial to the support of the code breaking effort.  And, they were just that - girls.  The average age was 19, with many so much younger.  17 1/2 was the minimum age the girls were supposed to be to work there, but some lied about their age and some were as young as 15!
To think of their responsibilities and dedication is extraordinary.
They were the ones who listened to the Morse Code transmissions, copied them out meticulously, typed them endlessly, and gave them to the guy code breakers.  The work was intense, especially when you realize that what they were copying out made no sense - it was just lines and lines of letters that had to be transcribed without mistake.

The BP Girls swore an oath to King George to not reveal what they were working on - not even to their parents or boyfriends.  They were not even able to talk about what they were doing to other girls in other buildings at BP - that is, what they did in their building, stayed in their building - no cross pollination!
It is remarkable that there were no security breaches at all.  These were young girls yet they took their oath and their jobs so seriously, that they never broke their silence.
Our tour guide told us that they sometimes get ex-BP girls through and they still do not talk about their specific work.

BP was a huge operation - 3000 people worked there and came in and went out every day.  The townspeople knew that something Top Secret was going on there, but they never asked what and they never questioned the need.  It was a very cohesive country during that war.

The British got their big break when a German submarine was hit and sinking.  Three British sailors (one was a kitchen sailor!) dove down into the sub, grabbed the Enigma "codes of the day" (they were complex and changed every day), kept the code papers dry on the way up, and got the info to BP.  Unfortunately, two of the sailors were trapped in the sub and drowned, but Tommy Brown (the kitchen sailor, not even a fighting man, and not even a man - just 17 years old!) made it out with the codes, and the 4 wheel Enigma, that one act probably, really, won the war.
Since he was underage (remember, 17 1/2 was the youngest one could be) the government gave him medal, a fancy clock, and then booted him out of the Royal Navy!  Crazy!

Tommy Brown Clock

Alan Turing was the big computing/mathematical brain behind cracking the Enigma.  His contributions to the effort were legendary and BP would not have succeeded without him.  The permutations of the Enigma were estimated at, are you ready?:
158 million trillion!!!
In order to "test" the theory code breaks, the British would need to run over 17,500 "tests" a day.  Impossible for humans to do without a large machine.
So, Alan Turing knitted all the needs and possible ways to solve the problems together and came up with the first real computer to run those tests.
Is he The Father of Computing?
Unfortunately, Turing was gay at a time when being gay was against the law.  After the war, his options were prison or hormone treatments.  He took the hormone treatments, went into a deep depression, and committed suicide.
Here's the interesting thing, Silicon Valley-wise: Turing killed himself by injecting an apple with cyanide.  When he was found dead in his bed, an apple, with a bite taken out of it, was on his bedside table.
BP wonders if Steve Jobs knew this story and if the Apple logo is an homage to Alan Turing.
I hope so - it's a great story.

We had a good curry for lunch at the cafe on the BP campus.

Bletchley Park was the most wonderful museum.  Our tickets are good for one year and I hope we come back to England next year in time to use them again and see more of this fascinating place.

Ajim picked us up and we went off to the first of three villages that we know have a connection to the Brooks ancestry - Aylesbury.
(Thank you Carrie for researching the Brooks family history.)
Ajim had a bit of British lore for us on the way - one of the towns in the district of Milton Keynes, in Buckinghamshire, is named Stoney Stratford and it is the birthplace of the saying "Cock and Bull Story".
Stoney Stratford was a coaching stop and had two inns, The Cock and The Bull.  The way that people heard news then, was via coach or horse rider.  It was said that the news heard at The Cock would be so distorted by the time it made it over to The Bull, that a "Cock and Bull Story" was known to be greatly different, embellished, changed, etc. from the original tale.
Another Ajim fact: The A5 is the main artery across Britain that is a straight shot.  It follows a Roman road, known for their absolutely straight roads.  It is said that the way they accomplished their straight roads was to build a fire in one place and another in the direction they wanted the road to go, shoot a fiery arrow from the first to the next, and so on until their perfectly straight road was built.

Aylesbury is actually a good sized town with a bustling village square that was having a market day when we were there.  We went to the Tourist Information office, housed in the coaching courtyard of The King's Head, dating to 1455.  The Tourist Info ladies there were quite helpful and directed us to St. Mary's Church, built in 1180.  In keeping with Carrie's finding of the earliest Brooks name (de Brooke), we found that all the surnames listed in the Church up until 1380 had "de" before them.
We also learned that the market in Aylesbury has been continuously held in the square since 1577 - and that the Brooks were farming people, so it is entirely possible that R's ancestors came to that square to buy and/or sell produce.
The old, original part of Aylesbury is quite quaint and beautiful - narrow cobblestone streets and many medieval stucco and timber houses, tilted at crazy angles.

We were driven next to Swanbourne, through tiny lanes lined high with hedgerows.  Very rural, no real center or High Street. A very small village, maybe even a hamlet.  The church there is St. Swithun's.  On entering, the first piece of info I read was a plea from the Swanbourne History Group, looking for anyone who is looking for their ancestors! (We documented the contact info for Carrie.). The History Group has been awarded a grant from The Heritage Lottery Fund, so they are keen to help all who ask.
On the WWI War Memorial summary outside the church, we found written "George Richard Brooks" - a solid connection in Swanbourne.

Next to Thornborough and another St. Mary's Church, this time St. Mary the Virgin and another memorial to The Great War - WWI.  Two Brooks listed - HBR Brookes and C Brookes.
Again, the listings in the church itself (Deacons, in this case) all had "de" before their surnames until 1361.
A long and tiny-typed history of Thornborough and Buckingham inside the church made reference to Thomas de Broke, in 1351!
Thornborough still has some decayed stocks on the green and the houses are 17th century stone houses and cottages with thatched roofs!

It is not unusual or unrealistic that the Brooks name would have different spellings at different times in history and since these communities were very small and close knit and very close to each other, it is highly probable that all the de Broke, de Brooke, Brookes, Brooks surnames have blood relations.

A very productive day.

Take away fish and chips for supper.  Tucked in for the night.  Blog is written and Spring Watch is on.
Over and out.

A new location: Buckinghamshire

Winslow, Buckinghamshire

He said:
Our train travel today was smooth and we arrived at the Bletchley station after a few hours from Eastbourne and one transfer at Clapham Junction.  We had the taxi drop us at the Milton Keynes urgent care, to have a doctor look at my left hand which had developed a rash.  After waiting 3 hours or so, and at no cost, I saw the doctor.  Everything was actually fine, and we continued on our way by taxi to Winslow, Buckinghamshire to find out cottage B&B.  The cottage dated from 1605 and had quite low ceilings.  Later, we walked out for groceries and made our supper at the downstairs living room.

salad for dinner

Just So living room

view from room

Good night, we are off to see the sights tomorrow.

She said:
We took the train this morning from Eastbourne to Bletchley (changing at Clapham Junction).
The trains in the UK are punctual and relaxing.  So nice to ride through the countryside (especially when it is raining - beats the heck out of walking through the countryside in the rain!)

Some of the towns that our train stopped at, on our way to Bletchley:
Hemel Hempstead
Berkhampsted
Tring
Leighton Buzzard
Bletchley

But are they really any weirder than:
Menlo Park
Atherton
San Carlos
Hayward Park
Millbrae
South City?

Yes, they are.

The taxi that brought us to our B+B (Just So Cottage) had a SatNav set up - very precise - directions referencing "Roundabouts" rather than streets.

Just So Cottage was built in 1605!  Our room is tiny but so comfy.  We have a kitchen downstairs where we made an excellent salad and cups of soup.  Oh, and wine - again, surprisingly good wine available in the local shop.

Watching Spring Watch.  Badgers and water voles and foxes and rabbits and bitterns and crows and bluebirds and owls, so far.  The nest cams are fascinating.

Tomorrow - Bletchley Park - the code breaking museum from WWII.  Can't wait!

A Wet, Relaxing Day in Eastbourne

He said:
I relaxed today and took no photos, it was wonderful.  Outside, the rain is coming down, inside, we are reading and organizing.  It's nice to have a day off.


She said:
Eastbourne (Ocklynge Manor)

Slept well.
This morning we ate breakfast with the other guests - Ilsa and Katy, from Finland, and Ilsa's daughter, Emma and her husband, Joe, from London.  We talked weather and saunas and technology and travel and architecture.  We were all agree that we loved how small the world is now and the opportunities that affords us all.

The colors in the garden are vibrant this morning as the heavy rain last night saturated the plants.

We spent a couple of hours in the summer house at the back of the garden while our hostess serviced the rooms.  The summer house is fantastic - a small, cozy, comfortable place for reading and relaxing with, of course, great views of the garden.

It is raining, so we are not likely to be out sightseeing today.  In any case, Eastbourne does not hold an attraction for us as it is a seaside resort and seems mostly to have just shops.  We are lolling around, reading and surfing, and enjoying our non-scheduled day.  I am thumbing though British home and garden magazines and R is maintaining his online photo galleries.  When we look up we see the beauty of this garden and feel the satisfaction of our walking accomplishment.  These hours seem otherworldly to me - surrounded by flowers and away from any cares.  Excuse me while I sit back and just "be" for a bit.
More later...

Back in our room after our "outing" for the day - walked down to Waitrose for dinner supplies for tonight and sandwiches for the train tomorrow.  (And, cash. Our upcoming accommodations and driver in Bletchley are cash payments only.)
Yes, a small excursion, but, as Rick says, this is the first vacation day of our vacation.  So, we are lolling and hanging around.
Plus, it is raining like crazy, has been all day, and is supposed to continue for the next few days.  It is much more relaxing to stay in.

We are now watching my favorite show on British TV - Spring Watch.  It started yesterday, so I have been suffering without it for the last couple of weeks.  It is a very low budget nature program (one camera on the commentators) that follows the births and developments of the birds, foxes, and various other countryside animals via "nest" cams.  So quirky and kooky and fascinating.  (Night cams of the badgers are great.)

About Ocklynge Manor (OM) -
OM is built on the sight of a Commandery of the Knights of St. John, 11th century until the suppression of the monasteries in 1540 (remember Henry VIII and his land/$ grab).
A Roman font was found on the sight, so settlement and occupation of the land was even earlier than the Knights.
After 1540, the land reverted to the crown until the reign of Charles II, when it was offered for sale.  The Hurst family lived here for 4 generations and until 1894, there were 32 acres of land, a chapel and a windmill included in the property.
The present garden includes an original 18th century gazebo, an 18th century grotto and a deep well.

A very famous resident of Ocklynge Manor was Mabel Lucie Attwell, the children's story illustrator most well known for her drawings of Peter Pan and Wendy.
The present house is over 300 years old and has been lovingly and meticulously restored and preserved by the current owners, Wendy and David. They raised their family here and after their youngest left home, they changed one floor into three en suite B+B rooms.  Our "room" is more like an apartment - large bedroom with a sitting area, a second bedroom/dressing room, a hall and a bathroom.  Completely comfortable.

Train tomorrow to Bletchley.  Looking forward to the museum of the code-breakers.

The Last Day of the South Downs Way Walk

Near Cuckmere Haven

To see more photos of the day, look at the links on the right. -->


He said:
The weather was kind to us on this last day of walking the South Downs Way (Yay!).  Yes, we were lucky today because the weather was clear and breezy again, whereas, the following 4 days were forecast to be gray, wet, and cold.  This last section of the walk showed a dramatic change in scenery from the previous 90 miles; no more exposed, windy ridges.  Instead, we would enjoy a cliff walk above the sea.

From our B&B, we started the day's walk by heading back into Alfriston to have a look at the church of St Andrews and the clergy house, but the clergy house was closed.  In general, we are interested in the churches because for centuries, they have been the center of interest of the people in the area.

St Andrews, Alfriston

From the church, we took the path and crossed the Cuckmere over a small footbridge.

The Cuckmere at Alfriston

As we followed the Cuckmere valley down to the sea, we were both glad to be following a river valley instead of a high exposed ridge.  The Cuckmere is a very small river compared to others we had crossed, this was more of a peaceful stream.  Surrounded by grassy fields and marshes on both sides, the Cuckmere winds its way slowly down towards the sea.

After a mile, our path veered away from the river and headed through small hamlets, like Litlington, and up and down a few hills, mostly in the woods.  We did pop out of the trees on one or two farm fields, and saw the Litlington Horse across the valley.  The Litlington White Horse was cut into the downs in the 19th century.

Litlington White Horse

Once we reached the sea at Cuckmere Haven after a few miles, we then followed a series of undulating chalk ridges along the cliff edge above the sea in a region called the Seven Sisters.  The chalk ridges, on which the downs are built, end at the sea as shear cliffs, reminding me a bit of how glaciers terminate at the sea.  Over time, these chalk ridges erode away from the sea, but the faces remain vertical.

The remaining path to Eastbourne had spectacular views in all directions, and being a bank holiday Saturday, was also crowded with day trippers, families, and people from many countries.  Everyone was enjoying the day.  We crossed the ups and downs of the Seven Sisters, the walked past the Birling Gap, then climbed Beachy Head, and finally descended into Eastbourne.

The Seven Sisters

The photo above demonstrates the scale of these chalk cliffs with people walking along the top.

The photo below is a look at all of the seven sisters going back more 3 miles.

Crowds at Birling Gap, looking back at the Seven Sisters

The path climbed up to the top of Beachy Head, the lower part shown here along with the Beachy Head Lighthouse.

the climb to Beachy Head

From Beachy Head, we descended and were able to see the coastal city of Eastbourne, our final destination of the walk.

Looking Down on Eastbourne and the end of the SDW

All in all, it has been an enjoyable walk, we saw many interesting sights and learned a lot about the long history of the area.  Our feet are sore, but that is expected on such a long day of walking and exploring the many sights.  We will always remember our trip as a wonderful chance to see a different environment from our own at home; a world in the present, but with a lot of reminders of its past.



She said:
Alfriston (Riverdale House) to Eastbourne (Ocklynge Manor)
The end of the South Downs Way
11 miles

Though we are absolutely enamored of the foxes that we see in the gardens, most owners do have bad fox stories to tell.  At Riverdale House, a small pack (?) of foxes bullied one of their cats, but the single one that we've seen there seemed happy to keep to herself and hunt (Rabbits? There certainly were plenty of them in the fields and gardens every morning and evening.). Our RH hostess, Judy, said that she had one fox that used to follow her from spot to spot as she did her gardening - always settling down about 6-8 feet away from her but liking her company.

Judy is also a long distance walker and plans to complete the Offa's Dyke Walk in a few weeks with her girls.  They did one half last year.

We started out today on what could only be called a day that walkers everywhere dream of - perfect temps, blue sky with puffy white clouds, a slight breeze.
The promise of a varied landscape (welcomed after our high Downs walking, day after day.)
We stopped first in Alfriston at the Church of St. Andrew - 1360.
The church stands on a "tye" or mound on the edge of the village.  There is a painting of a Consecration Cross faintly visible on one wall, which is amazing considering that the paint is almost 700 years old.  From 1725, there remains on another wall the Royal Arms of King George I.  Bell ringing for St. Andrew's is done from the floor of the Chancel, the point where the cross intersects in the architecture (that is, the nave and the transept.)
(Look at me with the medieval church architecture language!)

The church was still dressed up from a wedding yesterday - flowers galore and looking lovely.  When we walked back to our B+B yesterday from the bus stop, there were balloons and ribbons all along the High Street, guiding the wedding guests to the church and reception hotel - very festive and sweet.

At one point of the walk we saw, in the distance, a giant horse carved into the chalk on the side of a hill.  We had seen many of these chalk horses on the Wessex Ridgeway walk that we did a few years ago.  They range in age from contemporary to Roman occupation age.

Our first uphill today was through a field of buttercups.

A bunch of adolescent cows were alternately curious and skittish (we have experienced adolescent cows many times on our walks and this is definitely their MO -they come close, then run away if we take a step nearer to them.)
But, like adolescents everywhere, in all species, they are drawn by food - I grabbed a few bunches of grass and soon had them, literally, eating out of my hand.

Last evening in Alfriston, we passed a group of about 10 teenaged boys who were backpacking into a campsite on the edge of the village.  Carrying everything on their backs.
Today, we saw them again.  I took their picture and had a little chat.  They are from the same class at their school and are spending the Bank Holiday walking the South Downs Way.  We saw them again, here and there, on our walk throughout today.

Our walk today began through a level valley and only had a few steep climbs.  Soon we arrived at the Cuckmere Meanders, the  flat lowlands where the rivers and streams of the Cuckmere Valley meet the sea.  All kinds of people out enjoying good weather on this weekend.

We began our ascent to The Seven Sisters, the seven chalk cliffs that run from the Cuckmere Meanders to Beachy Head.  This is, without a doubt, the big payoff for walking the South Downs Way.  Picture the white cliffs of Dover, times seven.

Of course, this meant seven downs and seven ups.

Every other day on the South Downs Way, we would encounter maybe 10-20 people, max on our 10 mile trek.  Today, Bank Holiday Sunday, we saw hundreds, maybe even thousands.  A bit disconcerting for us.

Still, the views were jaw-droppingly gorgeous.

After the Seven Sisters, next up was Beachy Head - a prominent and high point that was used for signaling and lookouts during WWII.  Again, we forget that Britain was in the thick of it and was attacked on most fronts.  And, as always, memorials to those who served, suffered and died during that horrible war.

Down to the seafront of Eastbourne and the official end of the South Downs Way.
Eastbourne looks a bit like Santa Monica.

The obligatory pictures at the sign.  A bit anticlimactic, after the drama of the Seven Sisters and Beachy Head.

Called the recommended taxi and was assured that they would be there in 5-10 minutes.
We have come to realize that "taxi time" is a little different from real time.
After a second call, our excellent Albanian taxi driver showed up, cheerful and accommodating.  He stopped by Tesco so I could buy wine and salads and chatted amiably with R about driving in different countries (his favorite was, of course, Germany - but he only drove 90 on the autobahn as he did have his young son with him.)

Our hostess at Ocklynge Manor, Wendy, greeted us with a tour of her spectacular garden (it was featured last year on The Chelsea Flower Show show on TV!) and...cake.

Perfect.  R and I ate supper in an alcove upstairs overlooking the garden.
A fox trotted around the far end and disappeared.
Still blue sky and birdsong.

Thankful to my body for walking a hundred miles.
So lucky.


We made it.

The end of the walk in Eastbourne

Wet, windy, cold walk on a high ridge?? - No... instead a visit to the historic town of Lewes

Lewes Castle

For more photos of the day, see the links on the right.

He said:
We choose to take a trip to the historic town of Lewes rather than walk on the top of the downs on a cold, wet, and windy day.  This decision now creates the first gap in our journey along the path, but on a positive note, we gained a chance to see Lewes, a town with a long history.

The town of Lewes dates from Saxon times 2000 years ago, but it was the Norman invasion under king William that made the greatest lasting changes to the settlement after the Normans won the battle of Hastings in 1066.  Lewes Castle was constructed next to and incorporating an existing Saxon Gate, the castle was added onto more over the years.  The castle is situated on the top of a hill that overlooks the River Ouse, which at the time, 1000 years ago, was navigable all the way from the sea.  So, like the other castles they built, the Normans intended to secure their newly gained lands by building strategically located castles so as to maintain control, and they were ruthless in subduing the people who were now their subjects and slaves.

We arrived by bus, and after a trip the the pharmacy to find a solution to a bothersome hand, we wandered out the the tourist information center to find out what was up.  The Lewes Castle was first on the agenda, we paid our way in and climbed up the various towers.  This castle is actually quite small, especially compared to Arundel Castle, but it is also much farther from the sea.

After going through all of the castle and its museum, we walked over the Anne of Cleves House, an 15th century historic house given to queen Anne by Henry VIII as part of an annulment agreement in 1541.  Unfortunately, the house was closed to tours, so we had to go back to the castle to get refunds on our tickets.

Anne of Cleves House

River Ouse, Lewes

friends waiting at the pub

Thomas Beckett Church, Lewes

We continued to poke around parts of the city, visiting shops the Thomas Beckett church and various odd shops before catching a bus back to Alfriston and a dinner in a good restaurant  yay!



She said:
Alfriston, The Riverdale House

Rained like crazy last night with lingering showers this morning.

We made the unanimous decision to not walk the Downs today in the wind and rain.  We set out by bus (I love the bus) for Lewes, a village with a castle about a 30 min. bus ride away.

The castle in Lewes is smaller than most,  but has parts well-preserved.  The Barbicon, a fortification outside the main fortification, is tall and thick and spiral staircase-y.  We climbed and walked around and true to English weather form, it started raining.  We ducked in here and there in the castle:

Viewed a terrific tapestry made by townspeople to commemorate the 750th anniversary of the Battle of Lewes in 1264, which is widely considered the beginning of British democracy as the Parliamentarians won.  The townspeople that wanted to participate had to take classes to learn the knots and stitches and pass a test by producing a sampler to prove their competency.

We learned about the Southdown sheep breed, famous because they could produce lambs in record time!  And, they also had fleece with a short staple so very suitable for carding and spinning on the great spinning wheel, coming to use in Britain at the time - 1300s.

Painted tiles of the time (same, 1300s) were made in a two-step process - a carved wood block pressed into soft clay, fired, a different color clay pressed into the pattern, fired again.

Stiletto rapiers were used because they could piece chain mail.

A Sepulchral Urn is a strange pot with a tight fitting lid that contains the heart and other internal organs of a body that was interned elsewhere.

Thomas Paine lived in Lewes and was key in both British radical thinking and spreading democratic thinking to America.  While in Lewes, he belonged to The Headstrong Society.  Is that a great name for an organization of progressives, or what?

Now Lewes is famous for huge parades and celebrations of Guy Fawkes Day and May Day.

We left the castle and headed towards Anne of Cleves house (her property given to her by her ex, Henry VIII.)  We walked down a tiny, lovely "twitten" (supposedly a lane that is betwixt and between) and walked past a beautiful blue door and a cat named Poppy, whose young girl owners were trying to coax him back into the house.  Poppy, a cat with leopard markings (!) took his time and greeted most everyone else he met before sauntering back home.

Anne of Cleves house was closed for a wedding.  Bummer for us as we now had to walk back to the castle to get a refund on our ticket as we had bought a two-fer.  Accomplished that and walked down a pedestrian shopping lane and to the oldest part of Lewes.  Popped into Saint Thomas a Becket Church and met serendipity.  A local parishioner was just finishing up arranging the flowers for the church and I commented to her how lovely they looked.  As we walked around the church, she took a special interest in us and pointed out a couple of things we never would have seen:
A Leper's Squint - a small portal (more like a window) where the lepers could stand outside the church and still see the alter and experience the Mass.  Weird but interesting.
A very old stained glass window that incorporates a picture of the church.  Not a regular occurrence.

We caught the bus back from Lewes and ate at the Wingrove House, recommended by our innkeepers.  Fantastic meal.  Walked back to our B+B along the footpath from the village - very local.

Tomorrow we walk our final day along the South Downs Way.  Looking forward to the dramatic views of the chalk cliffs and the ocean.

Pyecombe to Alriston, via Kingston near Lewes

down hill on a chalk road, Juggs Road

See more photos using the links on the right  -->


He said:
Today, the good news was that we had bright sunny skies with fast moving clouds dramatic views, and no rain.  The bad news was the relentless stiff and gusty wind, along with the fact that our path went along the top of the ridge for miles in open country.  Pack and hat straps were slapping me in the face as we were buffeted by the wind.  The wide brim sun hat was trying to pull my head off, or flapping into my ear.  Enough complaining, we're lucky to still be able to do this, but do we still want to?  We asked ourselves this question more than once today, was it still worth our time and effort to make this kind of trip?  The answer used to be yes. But now, at least on this path, in this weather, it's getting to be more and more of the same thing each day.

Early on, we were happy to see something different, real windmills, like Jill.

Jill Windmill, Sussex

the exposed path

goofy

We walked 11 miles today, but it was all about the same until we came down the steep, sunken, chalk road into the village of Kingston near Lewes where we had plans to meet a taxi to Alfriston.  The warmth and quiet of the village highlighted the fact that we like the valleys and the villages more than the wild, wind blown heights, which is no surprise.

St Pancras, Kingston near Lewes

The taxi carried us from the pub in Kingston near Lewes 10 miles east to Alfriston, and thus to our B&B for the next two nights.  The taxi passed through the rush hour traffic from Lewes, which is a large town nearby, and then onto lonelier roads.  Alfriston was a quiet and sheltered village, so we were able to walk and get groceries for a quiet meal in our B&B.  Nobody else around, we were happy to relax finally and split a bottle of wine.



She said:
Pyecombe (Hobbs Cottage) to Kingston Near Lewes (taxi to Alfriston and The Riverdale House B+B)
11 miles

Last night's stop, Hobbs Cottage, is 400 years old and full of low doorways, exposed beams and funky roof angles.
Our hosts welcomed us with an American flag flying from their flag pole.  Nice touch.
This morning, we took a few pictures in Wendy's beautiful garden, then off and up again to the top of the Downs.

Once again, another very windy day - shades of the Cornwall Coast.

This is definitely horse country.  Near Hobbs Cottage, a very large jumping/dressage venue - gearing up as we walked by for a busy Bank Holiday weekend.

At the top of the Downs, we took a short side trail off to see the Jack and Jill Mills, two windmills which, ironically, were not working despite the crazy wind.
Jack is old and rusty and missing his blades (and, anyway, is inaccessible to the public.)
Jill is impeccably restored and quite photogenic, especially with the blue, blue sky and puffy white clouds behind her.

I followed a trail behind Jill and came upon some large pens packed with full fleece sheep, ready to be shorn.
I asked the woman (!) in charge if it was OK if I watched and she said yes, fine! She pointed out that they would be shearing both pen-fulls (about 200) and that the guys were about to start.
Two guys, tattooed and tank topped, oiled up their electric shears, turned on their boom box, and got to it.
In a holding pen off the main pen, 5-6 sheep were ready. Each guy grabbed a sheep by the front legs, flipped it on its back, and started shearing.  The sheep didn't seem stressed at all, but did run off quickly when they were fully shorn.
A girl picked up the fleece, rolled it into a ball and stuffed it into a plastic bag about the size of a VW Bug.  When the bag was full, it was sealed (somehow) and another started.
The guys with their rock and roll reminded me of surgeons in an operating room who listen to music while they operate.  Same thing, different patients!

Here and there along the path we came upon "dew ponds", man made ponds, from Saxon days, built to provide water for grazing animals up on the Downs (which have no naturally occurring water.). Reminders, along with the Bronze Age hill forts and burial mounds that life on the Downs goes way, way back.

We veered off the path and made our way down a very steep chalk track to the town of Kingston Near Lewes, where we called our taxi who took us to Alfriston and our B+B for the next two nights.  Plans are for the taxi to pick us up in the morning and bring us back to that point then to pick us up again at the end of our walk on Sat. and drop us back at The Riverdale House.

However...

Both R and I had a bit of an Epiphany on the trail today.  As the wind whipped us into oblivion, and our feet got sore and our knees screamed on the downhills, we thought that maybe we were done with long distance walking.  We do love the history of England (Winchester was fab and the castle at Arundel was amazing) and we like staying at good, country inns and B+Bs (so different from our own mid-century modern house) and the trains here are fun and efficient (so nice to not have to drive), but - walking all day, every day was getting a bit boring!  The scenery was all the same - wide open fields with views miles away.  All the villages were way down there and, quite frankly, villages all look the same from way up here on the Downs, so not much going on for the 6 hours of walking, except walking.

Our many other long distance walks in England were lower - through valleys or lower ridges and the paths themselves wound through villages so each day was quite different and interesting.  The South Downs Way is a long, hard walk and you don't come down until you are ready to shower, eat and sleep.

Anyway, we may skip our walk tomorrow (Sat.) and take the bus to Brighton and goof around there with the thousands of Brits goofing off there for the Bank Holiday.

Or not.  Perhaps after I have stretched and my feet rest and my back sleeps I may feel like climbing up to the Downs again in the morning, but I'm telling you, if wind AND rain is forecast, the bus to Brighton gets my vote.

That said, we took the sweet little footpath from our B+B into the village this evening, bought a good bottle of wine at the local shop and a couple of slices of homemade quiche, sat in our B+B conservatory watching the rabbits hopping around in the garden and fields, happily eating and drinking our way to relaxation.

A fox trotted through the front yard.

It is beautiful.

Upper Beeding to Pyecombe, with some dramatic showers and wind

Climbing to a darkening sky

For more photos of the day, look at the links on the right  -->


He said:
The wind was up all day, lots of moving clouds, increasing darkness and exposed ridges.  The weather was coming straight from France, that is never good.  In this case, it was stormy weather, and the drama was going to pick up.
The weather was not so good for the long views today, and the happy peaceful meadows had changed to wind blown turmoil.  Poor little Buttercups; it was a day of some weather drama.  The walk was a bit of a chore for me as I had to continuously keep one hand on my hat to keep it from blowing away.

Near the start of our walk, we passed a large pig farm.  They all seemed happy and peaceful in their home with a view, and they had all of their friends around.

friends in the trough

We descended through the pig farm, passed through the small hamlet of Botolphs  and then crossed over the river Adur, then facing another climb back up to the windy heights.

The river Adur

We saw more hikers than expected as we approached the Devil's Dyke (a long, curved, natural V shaped valley).  The walkers we saw mostly seemed to be going the the pub on the top of the hill near Devil's Dyke.

Devils Dyke

After descending the hill, and then ascending another, we came upon a small group of free range guinea fowl…. unexpected.

Then, as we continued to climb sharply up an exposed hill, we saw a storm coming in from the coast fast, it was on us in a couple of minutes, hitting us in the middle the long climb.  We got caught before being fully clothed for it, it happened about a mile from our destination.  We threw on rain jackets, but had no time for the rain pants; already soaked within 2 minutes.  Thank you France!
We spent a couple of hours washing clothes, drying boots, generally cleaning up and getting warm.

Happy Birthday Jean!



She said:
Upper Beeding (Downs View B+B) to Pyecombe (Hobbs Cottage)
10.5 miles

Lesley, our hostess at the Downs View B+B, served a delicious breakfast of homemade everything.  I really appreciated her hospitality - she is super organized and super neat and super clean.  In other words, she is me - what's not to like?
Taxi John brought us back to our starting point.  John is a true Irishman who loves a good chat.  We talked for a bit before he departed - a friend already!
We headed out and up to the Downs.
The wind was furious today, my friend, like an old man ordering soup in a deli.  Almost felt like we were back on the Cornwall Coast.  Sustained 25 mph winds, all day long.  Winds coming off the ocean (we could see Brighton from the top on the Downs).
It actually felt great for a while - that whole "I feel so alive!" thing.
We passed the Devil's Dyke, a natural deep crease in the earth, caused by tectonic plate movement.
More wind.
Started to get a little sick of it and ready to find a bit of shelter so we could sit and have lunch (which we knew would be outstanding as Lesley had made it.)
It started to get dark.
And, before we could prepare with rain pants, the rain started pelting us, sideways, of course, because of the wind.  Soaked to the bone in a matter of minutes, and still a mile to go to our B+B.  Then, thunder.  More heavy rain.  Boots and socks soaked.  Feet squishing around.
Me swearing mightily.
Our B+B, Hobbs Cottage, finally came into view.
Sigh.
All that is behind us now, though - we are showered and dry (and the sun is out) and we are about to head out to the Pub. Nothing a pint can't cure.

Only three more days of walking - hard to believe.  The days have been very easy and sometimes it makes me think that we could have walked longer days - maybe 15 miles or so but then I come to my senses and am thankful we pared down our daily distances this year.  Our max day will be 11 miles and that's just fine.  Plenty of time for relaxation (and Pubs and pints and, surprisingly, decent Chardonnays.)

Back to the Walk, Amberley to Upper Beeding

R&E back on the road again

See the links on the right side for more photos  -->


He said:
The town names seem random and arbitrary to me, why Upper Beeding?, Why Bramber, why Steyning (the nearby villages)??  Nobody seems to know how they got these names, at least the taxi driver did not know when I asked on our way the the Upper Beeding B&B.

Miles from Arundel Castle on a hazy day

Today, our weather was hazy/foggy/overcast, and without the long views, and with the feel of rain, the path seemed devoid of the bird and animal animation.  So, we just walked on, doing the first 6 miles in 2 hours.  We have already heard more than one weather forecast for rain on previous days, but we really only got rain on a couple of days.  Anyway, there are no complaints from me other than the wish for clear weather for better views and photos.

The path has become monotonous to a certain extent.  This path lacks the dramatic changes in topography or vegetation that other paths tend to have.  But this walk is peaceful, calm, and relaxing, other than the walking 10 miles a day and what that does to the feet.

At one point, we saw a small herd of deer lounging in a secluded field.

relaxing deer

We climbed up to the Chantonbury Ring and found a sheltered place in its trees to enjoy lunch with a view.  This copse was apparently much more dramatic before the great storm of 1987 blew down most of the Beech trees planted in 1760, well they had a couple of hundred years of growing at least.  The spot on the top of the downs is certainly very exposed.

After our lunch, we walked off down our trail, and then later called for our arranged taxi when we got to the Bostal road near Steyning.  We were then taken on a quick history tour on our way to Upper Beeding B&B.

We are staying in the Lilac room, apparently, it is attractive to the female of the species.  I like it too, the room is big and the drying rack works.

The Lilac Room, Upper Beeding

She said:
Amberley (The Old Bakery) to Upper Beeding (Downs View B+B)
10.5 miles

We had a great conversation with Sarah, our hostess at The Old Bakery, before we left today.  She and her husband were in the British Foreign Service for many years.  They lived, in the 80s, in Kenya- when the people/govt. were safe and the animals were wild.  Unfortunately, now the animals are safe and the people/govt. are wild.  Still, they enjoyed their time there immensely.  They also lived in Vancouver, BC and considered staying there and we could see why, having spent some time there ourselves.
But, lucky for us, they live in the very charming town of Amberley and Sarah runs the most wonderful B+B.
(I plan to steal a couple of her recipes: roasted red peppers with olive oil and cherry tomatoes nestled in the peppers, and poached pears with honey or maple syrup - heavenly.)
Today was very fast walking.  The cloud cover was thick, so the walking weather was perfect.  We set a good pace and kept it, and since the path today was very rural (desolate is another word for rural today) we made excellent time and completed our miles earlier than expected.
We did pass a herd of deer, our first real "wildlife" outside of the birds and bunnies.  They were lounging in a field and seemed unconcerned about anything.
We ate our lunch high on the Down in the area of another Bronze Age hill fort.  Easy to see why this was a fort as the 360 degree views have a clear vantage to any marauders.
Below, in a series of fields, we could see a tent city set up, perhaps in prep of a concert in the countryside, which we do know happens often.
It had been prearranged for us to be picked up at 4 pm at a crossroads by a driver and brought to our B+B for the night, but we did arrive at 2:15.  We called our driver, John, and he picked us up in 20 minutes.
Thank you, again, David Olson, for the use of your UK phone.  You are right, it is the only way to go, given that AT&T/iPhone is crap in the UK, no matter what AT&T tries to tell you.
John gave us a nice tour of Steyning, the largest town near us, on our way to our B+B - 2 Saxon houses (rentable through the National Trust) and many medieval buildings that are still in use as homes, and in one case, a series of medieval buildings famously in use as a school.
We were welcomed wonderfully by our hostess, Lesley, and led to the most beautiful room and the absolute best shower (so far) on the path.
We walked the few blocks down to the village shop where we picked up salad fixings and wine.
Back at the Downs View B+B, we had a great, healthy supper (though we are still porkers, for some reason - you would think walking 10 miles a day would have some weight loss effect, but no...) and are now, once again, fat and happy in our very comfortable room.
Rain (heavy, with lightning) is expected tonight but we are tucked in cozy, clean and warm.
We are the luckiest.

A Day Visit to Arundel

Arundel Castle

For more photos, look at the links on the right  -->


He said:
Today, we had a day off from hiking the South Downs Way, and instead, we took a train to the nearby town of Arundel.  The Arundel Castle itself was built by Roger de Montgomery starting in 1067 after the Norman Conquest when he was given a third of Sussex by William the Conqueror.  The castle is the home to the Duke of Norfolk, and was located so that it could defend the River Arun from invaders sailing up from the sea.  The castle grounds are huge, going from medieval fish ponds below, to gardens and greenhouses up the hill.  Photography was only allowed outside the castle, so I copied the postcards that we got in the gift shop to give a sense of the old world wealth housed within.

Some of the garden photos:

She pheasant

He pheasant

The Jackdaw

Arundel Castle gardens

Once we had our lunch in the gardens, we headed to the castle entrance, having to show our expensive tickets on numerous occasions.  The interior had many great halls, small rooms, tall towers with spiral stairs.  It was a large labyrinth of halls, stairs, rooms, tunnels, and even gardens.
After seeing the full castle tour, we poked about town; in charity shops, delicatessens, and other stores.  Then we headed off to a grocery for our evening salad, and then to our train back to Amberley.



She said:
Rest day in Amberley

Last night, we ate in at our excellent B+B, The Old Bakery.  So good to have a true, home cooked meal.  And, at breakfast this morning, more delicious food - in addition to the normal full breakfast buffet, we enjoyed poached pears and Chelsea buns.  Yum.

We walked along the 1 mile village footpath to the rail station and caught the train to Arundel - a 5 minute train ride away.  Very civilized.  We were keen to spend the day touring the Arundel Castle and Gardens and we were not disappointed.

First up was the Fitzalan Chapel, a wonder of 12th century (what else?) architecture and history.  The Duke of Norfolk (yes, way far away from Norfolk but by a quirk of royal decree, The Duke of Norfolk resides here in Sussex) is the same as the Earl of Arundel and the Lord of this castle.  The  sarcophagi of past Dukes/Earls (and their wives) are many and the effigies are plentiful.  The Chapel docent told about one of the most dramatic statues in the Chapel - the 12th Earl of Arundel fought in the Hundred Years War with France and was wounded in one leg.  The initial attack didn't kill him, but the resulting infection did and he lost his leg (and his life).  His remains were smuggled back to England in a barrel of rum (the only preservative available at the time).  Then, lost.
Before he went to war, he had his armored effigy carved and also a death effigy (creepily decrepit and definitely dead looking) installed in the Chapel so that when he prayed he was always reminded that he was vigorous now but mortal and would someday die.
In archeological excavations of the Chapel, a skeleton was found below the effigies, and it was missing a leg.  So now, it is believed, that the 12th Earl of Arundel/Duke of Norfolk is buried where he should be - below his armored effigy and his death effigy.
The men's effigy's are portrayed with a small likeness of their horse at their feet and the women are portrayed with the likeness of either their small dogs or a gryphon at their feet - no reason, just the convention of the times.
The Earls of Arundel were always Roman Catholic.  When Henry VIII needed his divorce and broke from Rome and the Pope, he really ran over the Catholic monasteries and abbeys and churches and chapels to make clear that his new church, the Anglican Church, was the one true Church of England.  However, the Fitzalan Chapel was spared, because the Tudors were related to several of the Howards (the Arundel family) and Henry didn't want to desecrate the burial site of some of his ancestors, no matter how distant.  Instead, his troops ran through the Chapel and lopped of the noses and heads of some of the statues just so that everyone was clear that he was the boss.
(Should also be mentioned that Anne Boleyn's mother was a Howard.  As we all know, British royalty is wildly incestuous.)

The motto of the Duke of Norfolk is:
Sola Virtus Invicta
Virtue Alone is Unconquered

A highlight of our day today was the Castle gardens - quite elaborate and impeccably well maintained - not a leaf out of place.
In one garden (the Chapel Garden) all the garden structures were carved from wood but looked like stone - very unexpected.
All views to the Castle and the Cathedral (outside the Castle walls) were framed with plants and flowers so that every vantage point of those buildings was a photo postcard waiting to happen.
Another garden on the Castle grounds is planted around inverted tree stumps. I know that sounds odd, but the stumps have about 3-4 feet of the rootball showing, dirt in and around that rootball, with amazing plants growing in and around it all.
Another garden was planted around huge boulders.
Whoever planned these gardens was an innovative genius.

As we entered the Castle proper, the first display showed the uniforms of the Castle footmen.  (They looked heavy.)  The uniform was passed on with the job,  and each wearer penned his name in ink on the inside of the coat - just another kooky British tradition.

The Duke of Norfolk's Archives date from the 12th century and make up one of the largest private written records in England.

Arundel Castle figured largely in WWII.  Troops that were evacuated from (disastrous) Dunkirk regrouped at Arundel.  And, to prep for WWII, the Downs and the farms around Arundel were requisitioned for tank training and other military maneuvers.

131 very steep and narrow steps led up to The Keep, the oldest part of the Castle.  The Keep is cold, bleak and dark.  Besides the basic (cold, bleak and dark) living quarters, it also contained the guards room and a Sally Port, a narrow passage that was used to lower a scout down on a rope to reconnoiter during a siege.  There is also a room for the Chapel priest, which didn't sound like a very good gig - up every day at the 2 a.m.?  The docent on that level did bring me back to that room to point out a Latin inscription that was scratched into the wall.  It was pretty amazing that it had been there, supposedly,  since the 12th century (of course) though nobody seems to know what it translates to.
In one of the guard rooms, there was a set up of civil war soldiers - musketeers.  They had to keep their matches lit for their entire marches - a "slow match" made of twisted hemp rope and soaked in salt petre or urine (gross).
The saying "Lock, Stock and Barrel" supposedly came from the entire process of loading a musket and means "everything", from beginning to end.
During wars, young boys were lowered down on a rope on the outside of the castle walls so that they could slip away and bring messages to and from the other troops in the field.
The Castle also contains an impressive Armory collection and a spectacular private chapel.
Anne Boleyn's mother was a Howard, so there's another connection to Henry VIII.
The most gaudy displays were of the carved wooden tables, chairs, sideboards, mirror/portrait frames, beds, benches, chests and shelves.  It seems that it was a measure of your wealth and influence to have to most crazily carved everything.  So incredibly over the top.
The Library is an impressive long gallery room lined on both sides with high shelves of ancient books tucked in behind wire doors.
And on, and on, and on, and on.
Great to see, but glad when we were done.

Stopped at the Coop grocer in Arundel and the village shop in Amberley for salad supplies.  Ate a healthy and light supper in our own garden view room back at our B+B.

Got ourselves reorganized and ready for our walk again tomorrow.  Our Rest Day was terrific but I am anxious to get back out onto the path.