Headlines
A Lift to Exton
Butser Hill: high point on the Downs or low point in humour?
More Hills, More Walking
Arriving in South Harting: the walk instructions don't help
Rain Settles In, We Dine Out
Late Addition: orphan lambs keep Deb awake
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Stream of Consciousness
This may be a short entry... it's been a long day !
A Lift to Exton
Breakfast at the b&b, excellent. We say goodbye to the two blokes who are also walking the Way. Then our b&b hostess gives us a lift to the village, back to the South Downs Way. It's part of the b&b deal, to save a walk along a busy road.
We're starting perhaps 45 minutes ahead of the other two. Our walk for today is longer, they are taking an extra day overall.
There's one other person just ahead of us. We call him Mr Red Backpack. He takes a few shortcuts, he pauses, we pause... We occasionally overtake each other, though our paces are about the same. When we stop to eat lunch, he gets ahead and we don't see him again.
We stop for lunch on the edge of Meon Springs (I think that's the name, Meon Something, anyway). Sitting at the edge of the track, sheltered from the wind. The day is pleasantly warm for walking -- but the wind makes it too cold for comfort.
As we eat lunch, Mr Red Backpack passes by. Then a couple of dogs arrive, one barks in surprise at seeing us and won't pass... Till his owner rides up, and apologises for disturbing our peaceful rest. Then a large tractor drives up -- towing a large concrete roller -- and wants to pass. We definitely have to abandon our peaceful rest.
Butser Hill: high point on the Downs or low point in humour?
So we walk along the South Downs Way. It's scenic. It's pleasant. It's 27km that we have to walk today.
We reach Butser Hill. It's said to be the highest point in the South Downs. Also the original starting point of the Way, before it was extended to Winchester. I say, Why didn't we walk it before it was extended?
Great views from near the top... We don't go off the Way to reach the actual top. Then a long grass slope down to the A3, a busy, noisy road that we have to go under.
Mt Butser, we read, is a Marilyn-type hill. Which means that it drops at least 500ft (I think) on every side. So a Marilyn hill stands out clearly from the rest. Named with reference to the similar Munros, apparently...
More Hills, More Walking
We walk past various named points, various unidentified points, several geocaches. We find a few geocaches but walk past -- without noticing -- quite a few others.
It's rolling countryside. Lots of farms, quite a few woods. Plenty of good views. The weather is good for views. We see all the way to Portsmouth... again. Today, we recognise what we are seeing.
After Butser there's the Queen Elizabeth Country Park. Forests and trails for hikers and mountain bikers. We stop at the cafe for coffee. And there are the two from this morning -- caught up with us. They will be picked up from the QE Park, once they can get someone to answer their phone calls. We have another eight km to walk. Starting through the Park.
We meet a woman walking the other way. She asks, can she drink a bit of her water? She set off for a quick walk -- but kept meeting people and talking to them. And is now exceedingly thirsty. We give her one of our small water bottles. We had filled up at the Park cafe. Our good deed for the day :-)
Arriving in South Harting: the walk instructions don't help
We pass a school. Soon, we have to turn off for the Copper Beeches b&b. The company's instructions say to "Head along the farm track past Sunwood Farm". There are no farm names. We come to a road that is shown -- in the guide book, supplied by the company -- as "to Copper Beeches b&b". We follow the road...
Did we miss Sunwood Farm? Should we have gone past the road in the guide book?? Who knows... [Later: We did reach Sunwood Farm. We should have kept on walking.]
We walk quite a long way along a winding road. Constantly being passed by cars, carrying children home from the school that we passed earlier. Then we are passed by school buses. Unpleasant, on a one lane road. Then we turn onto a two lane road. And are passed by high speed traffic. Not pleasant. [Later: It didn't add much to the distance. Just took us along busy roads instead of through fields.]
Rain is just starting to spit down.
We find the b&b. But only because I have it as a waypoint in the GPS.
Rain Settles In, We Dine Out
The rain comes and goes. It looks as though it could come again. The forecast says that it will be raining all tomorrow.
We have arranged to be taken to the village for dinner, at six o'clock. It's now 5:30 -- time to get ready. That is, time for me to get ready. Deb is already ready.
Later: We eat at the White Hart Inn. Very flash. My guinea fowl is okay but too much flavour. I order plain bread to go with it -- that works. For dessert I have something fancy based on banana and popcorn. Very -- as Deb says -- very Master Chef. It actually works! Delicious :-)
The b&b people pick us up after dinner, after they have been out checking the lambing ewes. We arrange for them to drop us off tomorrow, on the Way just past the village. That will save us a couple of kilometres on a very loooong day... Every little helps !
Late Addition: orphan lambs keep Deb awake
We hear bleating from ... somewhere. We go downstairs to talk with the b&b hostess. We find the lambs: two orphan lambs in a small pen in the kitchen.
The b&b owners run small number of sheep on (as I understand it) other people's properties. On small bits of land that are too much bother for a large-scale farmer. It's now lambing season. There are regular checks on each sheep paddock. And occasional lambs to be brought home for TLC. One of the current home lambs is a bleater... Deb kept hearing it, all night... she says.
In the back garden we see some ducks. There are hens and a turkey, though they are out of sight, sheltering from the rain. The turkey, we're told, has just hatched five chicks :-) As they grow larger the chicks will, we are told, be a real nuisance. Until Christmas...
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Dr Nick Lethbridge / Agamedes Consulting
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"The greatest hazard in life is to risk nothing." — William Arthur Ward.
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