 |
| St Mary and St Gabriel Church, South Harting |
He said:
Everyone enjoyed very sunny weather today, with a gentle breeze and comfortable temperatures... this is perfect walking weather.
Although our walk was short, that meant that we were rewarded with extra time to look through the village of South Harting and then walking to our B&B by early afternoon. The villages in this area are quite small with a diameter of less that 1/4 mile. They are also old, very old. Due to the narrow roads to get to the villages, the automobile has not changed things very much. The villages have a school, a church or two, a shop, and one or more Pubs. Pubs are the hotspot for visiting other folks in the village. People have happy lives here, away from some of the big city pressures.
Out on the South Downs Way, there were very few walkers and only a handful of cyclists. Our path is calm and beautiful in the emerging spring foliage. Beautiful yes, but also somewhat monotonic and repetitive. But I guess that is always the case when you see the world at walking speed.
The walking path on today's route consisted of wooded sections and a number of arable farms growing winter wheat in large fields; we saw no farm animals. There were a few large houses along the path as well. As this is a wealthy area, my theory is that people have horses kept away in private stables, and someone rides them once in a while, although we saw no equestrians today. Perhaps they are keen to keep away from walkers and cyclists that might spook the horses, choosing to ride on other paths instead.
Once we arrived at the intersection of the footpath down to South Harting, we found our way steeply downhill in the quiet shade and arriving at a still pool of water at the edge of the village. The pool was old and happily populated by aquatic plants and small fish.
 |
| quiet pool, South Harting |
Next to the pool was a village green bordered by enormous Chestnut trees.
 |
| large Chestnut, South Harting |
After we wandered around the village green, we headed towards the South Harting village center with the well preserved St Mary and St Gabriel church.
 |
| St Mary and St Gabriel Church, South Harting |
She said:
Petersfield (The Old Drum) to South Harting (The Severals B+B)
6 miles
Crazy easy day today!
Jo is our new best friend in Petersfield - she is our breakfast hostess and general take-care-of-everything-in-the-mornings-at-The-Old-Drum person. Jo chucked her stressful life in London for the peace and tranquility of a countryside village (something we all dream of doing - well done, Jo!)
She is also my sister in thrift store hunting.
Jo teaches English every morning to Tom, a cleaner at The Old Drum, who is from Hungary. Tom was a teacher in Hungary and now makes more here in the UK as a cleaner than he did in Hungary as a teacher which tells you all you need to know about the economy in Hungary. Tom is also a 3-D photographer and when we get around to checking out his Facebook page we will tell you more.
We took some good pics of Jo and Tom and Digby (the Old Drum pub dog that I loved - ever hopeful, he planted himself at our feet at our breakfast table - happy to lay down and be petted every so often.)
Jo and Tom and Digby made an otherwise "Yes, Hi, how are you? Is everything alright?" experience so much more personal and fun and human. Thanks, J, T and D.
We set out into a very quiet, calm countryside - nothing going on. Wild Garlic, finally everywhere - smelling heavenly. Thank you, Romans.
Instead of taking the road down to South Harting, we opted for the town footpath that brought us past a lovely pond. Very clean water clearly showed the underwater plants - straight and blooming and looking every bit like an underwater garden. Odd and beautiful.
In a small park we saw a giant blooming horse chestnut tree - hey, sibs, shades of Workman Avenue.
We walked into South Harding before noon - such an easy short walk today.
Since we were so early to our day's final destination, we really took out time in the village church - The Church of St. Mary and St. Gabriel. Outside the front of the church is the ever present monument cross to those boys and men who died in WWI and WWII. Even though they are so sad, I like these constant reminders - they are an honor and a caution.
The church houses several good sculptures:
The ArchAngel Gabriel - given by an anonymous donor in 2002, in the memory of "Charlie". This sculpture hangs from the ceiling of the church and looks exactly as though the angel is descending to Earth. His face is beatific and benevolent. Peaceful and caring. The sculptor caught what we would think is the essence of an angel. According to the Bible, Gabriel is the most important of the ArchAngels (the other two are Michael and Raphael). He foretold the birth of John the Baptist, Mary's pregnancy to her (that she was carrying the son of God!) and got the shepherds moving towards Bethlehem by telling them that Christ had been born. Big angel delivering big news. Such a lovely sculpture of a magnificent angel.
The Cowper Tomb - three painted sculptures - of John, died 1586; his wife, Margaret; his father, John.
The Caryll Effigy - a stone supine death sculpture of Sir Richard Caryll. There is no date on the stone, but it is believed that Sir Richard died somewhere around 1601-1613. It is said that 11 members of the Caryll family died of smallpox and are buried at another location in the church.
The church organ dates from 1866 - no big deal given the dates of the church and the rest of its contents! There is actually a very small section of stained glass that is from the 14th century. Old, indeed.
Our Severals B+B host, Neil, greeted us as we walked to our B+B. Our room is large and luxurious. (Cock-up on the luggage front, though - bags delivered to the wrong place but Neil found them and brought them to us.)
Mari, our hostess, drove us back to the village for our phenomenal meal at The White Hart inn. Came to collect us afterwards and we are now tucked in, fat and happy in our puffy bed.
Very civilized.
No comments:
Post a Comment