Headlines
We Set Off in the Rain: chocolate first... then it's all uphill
Pub Lunch in Washington: damp and cool -- but that's just us
We Walk in the Mist: and almost see a circle of trees
Pig Farm! Brilliant! I'd Pay to See it All Again!
Dinner -- and its Consequences
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Stream of Consciousness
We Set Off in the Rain: chocolate first... then it's all uphill
It rained last night. Heavy enough to notice. Though not from our room -- the old stone walls block out any sound of rain. But the rain could be heard through the toilet window. If we get rain like that, we'll go from damp to soaked! (Later note: Not to worry, all we get while walking is drizzle and spitting. Rain, that is.)
First stop, the village shop. We buy chocolates for morning tea. And various headache tablets for Deb. As we step back out into the drizzle I mutter to the shopkeeper, The things we do for fun...
Today's walk starts with a long, steep climb out of the river valley. Oh well.
We reach the top of the Downs. There are good views from this stretch, to the hills (or plains?!) to the north and the sea to the south. So the guide book tells us. We see mist. We also see sheep and lambs and cows and calves. Good enough views for anyone :-)
And I discover my favourite views on this Downs walk...
We're walking through an area which has less fences. Perhaps a fence on one side of the track. Or no fences at alll... Just downland, sweeping away as far as the eye can see. Which, today, is just a few hundred metres.
We're looking across an almost flat, thick lawn of solid green. Covered with spots of bright yellow dandelions and white dandelion clocks. Or yellow cowslips. No visible sheep, no visible people, just a swathe of green with yellow and white highlights. A place to go walking, preferably with a dog. It is abolutely beautiful ! Deb is not so excited. To me, it is the most beautiful view of the walk :-)
Speaking of dogs... We do pass a few people, other walkers, some cyclists. Lots of the walkers have dogs. Dogs are welcome everywhere in England. This area seems to be an ideal place for dogs.
Pub Lunch in Washington: damp and cool -- but that's just us
We take the minor detour to the village of Washington. It's half way along today's walk, almost on our track, last night's b&b does not provide a packed lunch. It all adds up to, pub lunch today :-) A good day for it, too. It's not a good day for sitting on wet grass to eat sandwiches.
The track down to the village is steep and wet and muddy. A bit slippery, we walk carefully. I can feel my shoes getting heavier with mud... But the mud is not clingy and soon comes off.
We reach Washington. The pub is on the far side of the village, we ask for directions.
We eat lunch in the Frankland Arms. Jacket potatoes with cheese, I also have beans. It comes with enough butter even for me. I wanted a reasonably hearty lunch so we are not too hungry at the end of the day. ie To give us a warm food boost in the middle of the day.
We are damp, all our clothes are damp. My shirt could be classed as "wet". It's nice to be sitting inside but English pubs do run cool... Ah well... It's especially nice to eat lunch inside and sitting on proper chairs! The food is good. I have extra sugar in my tea. (I've gone back to sugar -- in varying amounts -- in my tea and coffee. It helps me survive the cold.)
Back to the Way. Feeling satisfied after lunch.
We're walking about as fast as ever. (Which is not particularly fast. Though we did actually overtake one hiker today.) We're tired but no more tired than on previous days. It's a steady pace so we don't wear ourselves out.
We Walk in the Mist: and almost see a circle of trees
It's not really raining though the mist is sometimes quite damp. As the afternoon goes on the mist gets thicker. We never see any of the advertised views. Visibiliity ranges from 20 metres to a few hundred metres... Except for three or four minutes when we can see for several kilometres -- to the cloud coming closer.
It's a very pleasant walk but not for the views :-)
We pass a circle of trees, on a raised earth circle. It's misty, it's almost raining, there are trees... Okay, the circle is prehistoric, the trees were significant. The main interest to us is that the established trees were knocked down by the storms of 1993 (or 83? or 87??)... Must look up the record of those storms!
There are two people sitting at the edge of the trees. Almost hidden in the mist. Eating their lunch. English, I guess :-)
Five minutes past the circle, the clouds clear and the sun shines! We can see distant valley views! We can see the clouds returning... Five minutes later and we are again walking in mist. Which seems to grow thicker as the afternoon goes on.
Not that we're complaining! It's all part of the English walking experience :-)
Pig Farm! Brilliant! I'd Pay to See it All Again!
Today, all my Royal Shows come at once!
Each year I try to go to the Royal Agricultural Society Spring Show... It's a fun fair. With animal and other attractions. My favourite exhibit is the pigs. Hulking great sows with a dozen or more piglets hanging off each of the sows. So huge, so not very cute, so uncaring of human attention... so different from every other animal on display :-)
Today we pass an entire farm of free range pigs... Hundreds of pigs! Brilliant !!
First there is the sign: Do not feed the pigs. Okay, there must be pigs. We walk on.
There are ten or twenty smallish pigs behind an electric wire. Will that keep them in? Then we notice a second wire, almost at ground level. Okay, they will feel that -- on their noses -- when they root around, that'll keep them in. And yes, they are rooting around in the mud. And the signs of rooting stop at the electric wire.
So there is a pen of pigs.
And beyond that, another pen. And another... and... There must be 50 to a hundred pig pens! At least! Many are empty. Most are occupied by pigs, of varying sizes. Perhaps each pen has a single litter? Ten to twenty pigs with plenty of room to roam.
And all the pigs are doing what pigs do: digging in the earth, turning earth to mud, sleeping in the mud. Poking their head -- and half their body -- into the feed bins, eating whatever has been provided. It's brilliant ! Even Deb is impressed: we are both glad that we are seeing the pig farm!
And on the other side of the track... the boars. There's a heavy mist. So what we see is an enormous creature. Scary, piggy. Half seen through the mist. Ten? Twenty? Who knows! Boars looming through the dark mist, looking like monsters from a fairy tale. Each boar in it's separate pen. And sows... even bigger... enormous! Also looming like monsters in the mist...
And further down: rows of a hundred or more small sheds. Farrowing pens? Each with a sow and a few visible piglets. And a single pen -- that we can see -- of angry young boars. Boars which have recently become troublesome teenagers. And who have just heard that their next trip is to the sausage factory...
It's amazing! Real free range pigs. Hundreds of them! Absolutely fascinating! All my Royal Shows have come at once :-) I would happily pay to see it all again :-)
The rest of the day's walk is okay...
Dinner -- and its Consequences
The accommodation at Upper Beeding is very nice. More spacious (in our room) than most. All sorts of little unexpected extras. I would say, a very professional establishment -- and I mean that is a positive sense.
For dinner we go to the Kings Head. I'm getting a bit tired of "fancy" food so I order Cumberland sausages. Very nice. Just a little bit fancy -- no mash, no onion gravy :-(
We're going to share a dessert so Deb stays seated while I read the blackboard menu. I'm staring past four diners. One says, The treacle pudding is good. I say, As I stood up my wife said, as long as it's not treacle pudding again! We all chuckle. I go off and order the treacle pudding. Deb does ask, what else was there? I just didn't notice... And of course the pudding -- with real custard -- is good :-) Even Deb says so.
Do not read any further!
At least, those who would like to think of us as sensible, polite adults, may wish to not read the rest of this post. Those who are easily offended by bodily functions may also wish to stop reading...
We are walking home. I think, no use saving "this" for inside our b&b. I say to Deb, I'm afraid I'm going to fart. And I do... Deb's response is to laugh. Louder laughing, as I fart again. Deb laughing starts me laughing... and, with my cold, that makes me cough and choke...
Stop laughing, I gasp at Deb, I can't breathe!
Deb tries to stop laughing. Until we reach the b&b and I realise, it's no use taking all this inside... and say, sorry... and fart again... Deb laughs, I laugh, I choke...
Ah well. We survive... :-)
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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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