5th February
Stuck in the Middle with You Stealer's
Wheel
Who in their right mind would cycle up onto
the nearby chalky South Downs and gets lost? No prizes for guessing who. The
bridleway I had seen on the OS map had suddenly become a maze of seemingly
endless tracks and I ended up walking alongside fields, pushing the bike
through clinging chalky mud in order to go in the direction, I thought,
Amberley, my next destination, was. The chalky mud turned into a very sticky,
concrete like accretion on the tyres and the pushing was very heavy going. Mind
you they were to receive a good wash a little later on in the day, a contrast
of habitats.
Compensation for all the effort came with the reason I had taken this route. It was not only to get over the South Downs to reach the next RSPB reserves but also to see some new birds for the year. Nineteen Grey Partridge were just that [124] and a good number of Corn Buntings and Red-legged Partridge were up there too; as well as nine Bewick Swans [125] on the way down, feeding in the valley of the River Arun.
Through the beautiful, small village of Amberley, I found Amberley Wildbrooks RSPB reserve , a partnership reserve between Sussex Wildlife Trust and the RSPB, and had another long push of the bike along a very chalky, muddy path and then through a marshy wetland area, with water above my knees in places! At least it washed the tyres even if it was a bit uncomfortable cycling later with water in my boots. A large group of very dark deer seen here turned out to be a strange form of Fallow Deer.
To Pulborough Brooks
RSPB Reserve and a lovely welcome; cake and coffee outside, sitting at a
picnic bench with lovely views over the extensive flood meadows and pools in
the valley to the west. A beautiful visitor's centre with a great shop, had
lovely volunteers. When are they anything else with the RSPB and the WWT? Their
welcome could not have been nicer.
Soon I was off to search the woodland of the heathland trail for Crossbills [126] and I found nine of them in a fenced off area near to the small road from the north of Amberley. A couple of Jays kept disturbing them but after a few minutes away, The Crossbills though, would always return to the same tall pine trees to feed and I could watch them almost at eye level from a great viewpoint high over the heath.
Back at the centre, I met Claire Evans from Lewes, a lovely lady who had, possibly still has, her own business and had emailed me before I arrived. We talked and walked around the wetland trail, visiting each hide and enjoying each beautiful vista. I need to say many thanks for the internet help she gave over the year. Thanks Claire.
Late into the rather chilly afternoon, I cycled to Horsham to stay with my cousin, Honor and her husband Ian. Now Ian is a Brighton fan of some note, with a fabulous collection of football memorabilia and the evening, after a bath, desperately required as Ian and Honor would postulate for years to come, was spent looking through many of his treasured items. Honor had got a lot of incredibly old photos and other artefacts showing our grandfather in WWI and other older relatives from my Dad's side of the family. This all ensured, after a fabulous meal with 'excellent' carrots, that we did not get to sleep until 12:30 a.m. A Fabulous evening enjoyed with a wonderful couple.
Ian and Honor had recently been on BBC TV for the Southeast when super Villa played Brighton in the FA Cup. Honor, as am I, is a Villa fan and this made for an interesting local news item, war of the couple so to speak. As you will all remember, the result was the best one; Aston Villa 3 Brighton 2. Villa went through to the next round of the FA Cup and Brighton were not humiliated by the score. Perfect result!
Up the MIGHTY Villa.
29.66 miles
1217 feet elevation up 1156 feet down
No comments:
Post a Comment