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squiz Member Member#: 6644 Location: Registered: 27-05-2007 Diary Entries: 3071 |
7th May 2018 Mt. Biking: Bignor Hill to Amberly Wind Direction: Wind Stength: Surf / Sea State: Air Temperature: Sea Temperature: Weather: Sunny and hot :) Max Speed: Distance Covered: Monday 7th May – bike **** Bignor Hill to Amberly – sunny and hot. Our third night at Bignor and again woke to yet another crystal clear blue day a record apparently for a May Bank Holiday reaching nearly 29 degrees in London, 24 here on the South Downs:) As usual both do exercises then breakfast, read and relax in the sunshine. We were treated to two Roe Deer appearing right near the van having come out of the hedgerow :) Mag had already made tuna salad so we set off again on the bikes at midday when it was very hot, nuts or what! We head right this time and do the Bignor hill challenge rising to 225m and it was easier than we were expecting not even in the lowest gear! The views from here on The South Downs Way are just stunning but no time to admire the view as we head very steeply down past a field of sheep with loads of Mags favourite black legged lambs:) At the bottom of the valley we turn left leaving the SDW along a bridle way passing a large group of OAP ramblers several with umbrellas up to shade them from the sun. We soon enter another secret world of Pheasant rearing with fenced off enclosures, feeders and large water bowls. The bridle way takes a sharp left down another very deep slope and smells lovely as we are surrounded by wild garlic. Nearing the road at the bottom there is a large area of mud and I get a very muddy foot, Mag was lucky enough to avoid it. Our hands were aching from pulling on the brakes for such a long time!! You came out near Bury school, a lovely old school with raised beds and pots and pans to play with in the mud kitchen :) You then have to cross the very busy A 29 and being a Bank Holiday there are loads of old noisy Bikers suffering a mid-life crisis doing their level best to kill themselves and anyone else who get in their way!!!! We were now in the very picturesque village of Bury with it’s quaint old cottages as we headed down to the River Arun, sadly a sign said that the Ferry is closed, it hasn’t operated for many years we think! We make a small detour to visit the pretty church with its wooden shingle roof, it is unlocked so I have a look inside while Mag talks to a friendly local :) It’s only a short distance to the tidal River Arun not that pleasing on the eye being a muddy brown. We then follow the river downstream and the footpath is not bike friendly as we had to lift our bikes over several styles/kissing gates:( We find a spot just short of Amberly footbridge to have our picnic surrounded by buttercups, gliders thermalling over the Downs and small self-drive hire boats heading up and down. It is very hot to sit in the full sun with no chance of going for a dip because of the mud so we carry onto Amberly Bridge where the pub is busy serving lunch. We cross over and return to the wooden footbridge which is the South Downs Way and will eventually take us back to the van. The biggest downside now is we have to cross two busy roads and it is nearly all up hill:( It is way too hot to even attempt cycling and its exhausting pushing your bike and we were both out of water. You have to go up then down then up the steepest section in the downs to reach the lambs and the top of Bignor hill! I have never been so relieved to get to the top and have a freewheel back to the van! A quick wash down, couple of cool drinks then read in the sun. Mag finds some left-over corn beef and potatoes for a meal and we are now up here all by ourselves as the sun sets behind us. Time to move on tomorrow as we are in need of a shop and Mag has found a Lidl in Chichester on her phone - just down the road:) It is unusual for us to spend four nights in the same spot but this is a wonderful place to spend time especially on a busy/hot bank holiday weekend where we avoided the maddening crowds:) Photo Gallery Here Tuesday 8th May – relax, travel and windsurf (well rig up but don’t sail) Mainly sunny and warm. Our fourth and last night at the National Trust carpark on Bignor Hill and we have loved every minute:) Yet another amazing day sunny and warm and with the Bank Holiday now behind us it was very quiet. We had it all to ourselves last night and only a few walkers this morning:) The usual routine exercises, breakfast and read in the sunshine until midday when we packed the van up and headed off. We go the Amberly way to Chichester where we find a Lidl for a big shop. It’s then mainly dual carriageway and motorway all the way through the New Forest to Poole and we park up at the nice little carpark at Hamworthy which is free after 3 but a bit busy with school pickup Mums. We manage to get a front row space but the sun has actually disappeared behind cloud, we are not used to this! We have a cuppa while I check the weather forecast for the next few days, some wind but all over the place in direction so not sure if it will work down here or not? While drinking my tea the wind definitely picked up so I walked to the beach with the gauge and it’s gusting to 22 mph and it is only 4 o clock so I unpack the windsurfing gear. I nearly rig 7m but went with 7.8 but sadly by the time I had my wetsuit on and the gear on the beach the wind had swung offshore and looked to have dropped:( I sat on the prom wall hoping it would come back but sadly it didn’t so I packed up just as Facebook friend and local slalom sailor Simon Pettifer turned up. After having a chat, he rigged 9m on his big board and wobbled off the beach. He was going really well out in the middle with loads of racing dinghies. It was a bit chilly now for a walk so we decided to look for a place to park up for the night, never easy down this way! We found a nice carpark just along where fishermen launch from a wooden pier, it would have been perfect but for a big sign saying no overnight camping with a £70 fine! We tried Upton Park but had the same problem there. Mag had looked for wild camping in Dorset on her phone and found a couple of lay-bys on the Studland road but we decided on the old Quarry overlooking Kimmeridge Bay where we were last June. There was a tent up in the corner but we parked near the entrance with stunning views down to the bay and with the sun now out again it was pretty as a picture. Lovely yellow haddock fish for tea. There was a nice sunset so I walked up the lane to take some pics and there was a notice on the army range footpath saying it was closed. We found out why when it got dark as we were treated to bursts of gunfire and exploding shells, lets hope it doesn’t go on all night! |
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