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.