The Walk from South Harting to Cocking

Near the top of Beacon Hill near South Harting

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He said:
Another pleasant and comfortable day for walking, although it did get a bit warm and humid midday, and the visibility was reduced compared to the previous couple of days.

Today, we had 9 miles of trail through terrain that has started to become repetitive: up, down, fields, forest...  So, we had to look at subtle points of interest and diversion, these were hard to find.  A butterfly here, and song bird there, and always the uneven path amalgam of chalk and flint stones.

We were refreshed by our stay at the Severals B&B last night, it was so easy to relax there.  At first, the walking was easy climbing gently under the shade of the trees.  But later on, I found the trail surface hard and uneven, again making for sore feet.
Happily, the trail navigation continues to be almost trivial and much easier than most other paths we have followed.  The trail guide we have contains lots of trivia about areas and points of interest on, or closet where the path passes, like the Bronze age burial mounds at Devils Humps, and the exotic animals kept at the Monkton Estate.  Monkton Estate is private, and clearly secured by heavy duty barbed wire fences, but we could glimpse some cages animals through the foliage and fences.  These were some of the few highlights in an otherwise boring path today.

We finally arrived at a view of Cocking, next to a large chalk bolder that Andy Goldsworthy created and placed to study the effects of erosion.  From this point, we followed a narrow footpath down through fields and woods the the small village of Cocking.

The SDW above Cocking

Goldsworthy Chalk Boulder

Once we reached the village and checked in, we walked around Cocking and found the old St Catherine of Siena church, and a private sculpture garden owned by the same sculptor the created the angel in the South Harting church we saw yesterday.

St Catherine of Siena church, Cocking

Private Sculpture Garden, Cocking

I was happy, and became even happier after a pint of Guinness at our stay, the Bluebell Inn.  We met Simon, the proprietor, and I must say that he is a very energetic person and we hope for his success there after owning it just a short time.  We enjoyed the hospitality, and the food and drink.



South Harting (The Severals B+B) to Cocking (The Bluebell Inn)
9 miles

She Said:
Last notes on The Severals B+B -
"The Severals" means sheep pens or enclosures and supposedly there were many in the area.
When Mari and her husband bought the house, they lucked out as the buyer who was lined up before them didn't like the idea of some of the property (the house came with 70-80 acres) being granted, in perpetuity, to a family (most of them dead now, anyway) as grazing rights for their sheep.  Because of that clause, buckets of $ got knocked off the price and it was suddenly in Mari's and Neil's price range so they snapped it up.  They have made many wonderful improvements and their house is a real home.  (And, they have never had any problems with anyone wanting to graze sheep!)
HG Wells' father lived in the house and there are letters written by HG posted from The Severals.

Once again we had a warm start but with good cloud cover as we walked out onto the open Down.  Nice shield from the sun.
Cuckoo birds cuckoo-ing us along.
Hot, hot, hot today (and those who walk/hike with me know I. Hate. Heat.  Plenty of whining that R, by now, knows enough to ignore. Just when I was getting ready to blow, we enter the Forest of the West Dean Estate - cool, shady and perfect for 1st Lunch.
We came upon a small stone memorial to Joseph Oesterman, a 25 year old German soldier who died when his plane crashed on that spot during WWII.  The memorial is tended and festooned with the red British Remembrance poppies.  Passers by have left stones of thought and honor on the memorial.  It is sweet and sad.
Next up, The Devil's Jumps, a group of 5 burial mounds from the Bronze Age, dating back 3000 years.  All aligned to the setting sun on Midsummer Day.

The path today is, well frankly, boring.  Lots of high, open walking and not much variation in terrain and/or views.  Then, literally, in the middle of nowhere, a giant ball of chalk appears right on the side of the path.  An Andy Goldsworthy installation!  In 2002, he had the crazy idea to place a all made of chalk on the South Downs Way to see how long it would take to degrade.  Looks like it will stand forever, like the chalk downs themselves.

We arrived in Cocking early, so poked around and found the ever-present 11th century Church.  I always think that one 11th century church is just like another 11th century church, until I get inside and then there is always some crazy feature that no other 11th century church has.  In this  case, at St. Catherine of Siena Church in Cocking, an original Norman window was discovered (uncovered) in the 1800's.  On one of the splays (sides) of the window, is an incredibly interesting painting, dating from as early as 1220.  Now, that's amazing.  The painting clearly depicts part of the Christmas Story, showing shepherds, their dog, the star of Bethlehem and the arms of an angel pointing to the star.  Archeologists think that this was only part of a larger painting that covered the entire side of the church and told the entire Christmas Story.  The colors are still pretty vibrant for being 790-something years old.

Next door to the church cemetery is a locked, walled garden that we were compelled to peer into - huge, whimsical sculptures of ladies in lovely poses.  R's pics describe them better than I ever can.

Our inn for tonight is the Bluebell Inn in Cocking (really).  Room is tiny but delightful.  Shower is crappy.  Bar/restaurant is hiply decorated.  Food fantastic (lamb meatballs).
E has had some wine surprises recently, as buttery Chardonnays are not the norm in the English countryside: French White Burgundy is delicious and Italian Pinot Grigio will do in a pinch.

Once again, our laundry is hanging around us and we are fat and happy in our room.
Tomorrow - Cocking to Bignor, 9.5 miles