 |
| down hill on a chalk road, Juggs Road |
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.
No comments:
Post a Comment