DAY FIVE: STEYNING to AMBERLY

GUESS WHAT, GUYS?

I've gone  54  miles on the South Downs Way, with 48 more to go. That means I'm more than halfway to Winchester. This was a very good day. 

I've gone many more than just the route, there's been almost 2-3 extra miles a day. Today was clocked in at about 11 and actually arrived at the hotel with energy to spare and no pains. That's a turning point.  Lesson learned, train BEFORE you go, not hitting the ground cold. 

The word of the day was WINDY. The wind blew across the Downs and didn't stop. The skies were grey and low with drizzle threatening. In my opinion, it was the best day yet. Mileage, pace and scenery were all just what I like. It was a laid back, flowing kind of energy. And no surprizes. Though the route was unexciting there was plenty to see and think about.

An easy ascent out of Steyning with panorama's and a distant Iron Age Hill Fort brought me to the memorial to a couple of local farmers.  The Downs were desirable to all civilizations throughout history. There was a considerable amount of Roman activity as well as the Iron Age settlements, 6^th to 5^th centuries BC. Excavations found the discovery of Neolithic flintwork (polished flint axes, arrowheads and scrapers) and a small amount of Bronze Age pottery . 

Walter and Thelma Langmead's Memorial

Hill Fort, See the Earthwork Wall Ramparts?

 And speaking of Hill Forts, of which there are many on the Downs, Chanctonbury Ring is a famous one for it's pagan draw and the subject of many paintings, postcards and photographs. It's a place of spirits and time.

Its fame is less due to the ring of earthworks and more for its crown of Beech trees planted on top in 1760 by a young man named Charles Goring . Goring lived to be 85 and saw his trees grow to maturity. At the time of planting, the locals were upset  but the trees were later seen as a thing of beauty, before most of them were blown down during the hurricane of 1987. The trees have been replanted but the Ring won't look the same for many years. Early this century the trees were suffering at the hands of the elements and some 30-40 of them were replanted by John Goring, a descendant of Charles.

An intense man came upon us and wanted to know where the Ring was. He strode on ahead. When we got there he was studiously walking around the Ring. Then he disappeared! 

There are many tales of lore connected with the Ring, the most famous being of the  common type where the earthworks are walked or run around. In the case of the Ring, if you walk (or run) seven times (sometimes running backwards or anti-clockwise) around it on a dark or moonless night (one account says Midsummer Eve at 7pm, another May Day Eve, another at midnight, during the time it takes a clock to strike midnight) without stopping, the Devil will appear and offer you a bowl of milk, soup or porridge . If you accept, he will take your soul, or grant you your dearest wish. 

The Ring is said to be a fairy haunt, a gathering place for UFOs.

 Apart from the presence of the Devil, Caesar and his armies can be raised by counting the trees of the Ring, which are supposed to be uncountable. The thudding hooves of invisible horses can sometimes be heard and the ghost of a man on a horse who gallops past without stopping has been seen. A lady on a white horse can been seen if you run around the Ring only three times rather than the seven required to raise the Devil and last but not least, a white bearded old man has been seen, reputedly either a druid looking for treasure or a Saxon killed at the Battle of Hastings.

All in a Line

I see this often, the farmer with his sheepdogs riding shotgun. And he's barreling! This guy gets the award for multitasking.... chatting on his cell, herding sheep, and driving all without losing one dog. 

A New Tourist Dew Pond

A wonderful local man with his mud covered dog stopped to talk. It gave us both a chance to take a break, but for me he had some charming factoids to tell. Like BOSTAL, a name seen on streets and footpaths, is an old Sussex term for an animal drove road, to bring the sheep, say, from the Downs into the villages below. 
He also said that though there are some dew ponds, that down-land enigma, after the Way became popular the county renovated some and built new ones as a tourist draw. Come see the dew pond! Everyone get your own dew pond! Then the ponds attracted newts and there are now 3 kinds of rare newts in Sussex - smooth newt, palmate newt, great crested newt. I looked it up! 

Mystery Man-Made Caves

The day more or less looked like this, a flint and chalk road of good width, views, and clouds, lots and lots of wind. It was easy to get lost in thought, maybe some homesickness for  my real life, the people I know and miss, my home, my cat. I have bills to pay, whats my garden doing? I was also singing parts of the Marseillaise, which I made myself stop doing, then the Long and Winding road which was too slow and the road wasn't winding. I can get tired of my own head at times but walking in silence allows for deep thoughts and some insanity. 

A diversion to the village of Washington was well worth the stop. The Way detoured to avoid having to run across a highway, and we decided to cheat death and take the diversion. The village dates to at least the 10C when Washington was granted to Ethelwold by King Edred. It was later in royal hands, and was granted by King Harold to his brother Gurth.

Friend; Gurth is that you?

Fall Colors At Last

St Mary's: Holy Ground since 1104 When Bovo Was Rector

Bovo? Don't ask.

Bovo Wouldn't Mind Us Eating Lunch Here

A 4-Sided Quad Stone Bench Memorial

The Chantry Post: You Are Here

Dropping into Amberley I felt I'd been a part of the countryside life of farmers, livestock, villages and history I would never have seen if I wasn't on foot. I could get a strong sense of following old roads again. Harrow Hill, the lost medieval village of Sullington with only its church remaining, hill forts, cross dykes, tumuli, Rackham Banks, earthworks , High Titten, then down into the village, which was welcoming as people stopped into the village store or walked their children home from school. There's nothing like walking right to your door, a door that's a castle!  The landscape had changed from sweeping downs to woods and hedgerows. It's very different down here. 

Amberley

Almost There

Thatched Pheasants

Time For Reading and Journaling in the Garden

Dinner at the Squire and Horse in Bury

The village of Bury intrigued me because its just across the river Arun from Amberley. You can see the castle and the church. A ferry used to take people across the narrow river. The ferry is no longer running and it now takes an hour to walk there taking a circuitous route, though a beautiful one, along the river, or a 20 minute drive.

Following the Norman conquest the parish of Bury was given to the abbey of Fécamp in Normandy. The present church was built under the direction of the abbey.What would life have been like for all of us if Henry hadn't broken government from the Church? The tower and nave are 12C and the south aisle dates from about 1200. The tool marks from the craftsmen who shaped the stones all those centuries ago are still visible. Along with these tool markings  are other curious shapes that may be medieval games. This suggestion is supported by the placement of these ‘games’, on the far side of the pillars, and out of sight.

I'd love to take this walk beside the Arun and see the inside of this church, another time maybe, I know I'll be back to Amberley.