Leith Hill, Surrey Hills and The Greensand Way

Its been a busy week to meet the deadline from the publishers for editing my next book, the fourth due out in the autumn called 'Yellow School Bus. Adventures on a Yellow School Bus from Anchorage in Alaska to Panama'. But not so busy that I couldn't take a day out walking. 

I parked the car in the Landslip Car Park...so named as a few years ago it had been raining for weeks and the ground became saturated. It could no longer support itself and it caused a landslide. The trees were carries down the slope and were left standing at crazy angles. There was a great slash of exposed earth  and below it a jumble of slumped earth and trees at crazy angles. Now a days there is little to suggest that there was a slip here except the name.

I needed some practice at climbing hills and walking at altitude ready for my next adventure going up Mt Elbrus, which at 5,642m is the highest mountain in both Russia and Europe. In comparison Leith Hill is the second highest hill in the south east of England at 294m so it doesn't have altitude but it does have hills. (Highest hill in the south east is Walbury hill in Berkshire at 297m).

At the top of several hills are man made dips in the ground. These were holes dug to get at teh stone for building or dig out the iron stone for the local metal works. Horsham used to be a centre for metal working having plenty of iron stone and charcoal from the surrounding forests. Henry VIII flag ship, The Mary Rose on display in Portsmouth had cannons aboard that were made in Horsham.

The dips are also good fun for mountain bking.

And there are several dedicated mountain bike routes through the forest.

Although some of the dips are blocked by fallen trees. But not all the dips are from mining. During the Second World War, fires were lit at teh top of hills as decoys to lure German bombers to drop their boms on unpopulated hillsides rather than on cities. It was a good idea but not very effective as  only a few planes were deceived as their navigation skills and directional radio beacons were quite sophidticated.

There are a few carvings around the top of the hill such as this one with a view in the back ground...not very good as the day I chose to go walking was cloudy with showers. It allowed me to test both my boots and my water proofs and I discovered that the zip was broken on my jacket so I need a new one.

On the summit is The Tower. There has been a tower hill since 1765 but the current version is a replacement dating from 1796 which is seven metres higher than the original. It can be seen from the coast on a good day. It is part of the Leith Hill Estate with connections to the Wedgwood family, Charles Darwin was a frequent visitor and Vaughan Williams lived here until his death and he bequeathed it to the national Trust.

It is a popular meeting place especially as it has a small cafe for tea and cakes.

It is popular for both mountain bikers and walkers as it is also on the long distance Greensand Way

The views from the top weren't their best but it gives an indication of the views looking south.

An overview of the path from the Starevall car park looking west.

The views looking north towards London and again on a good day you can see St Pauls and The Eye.

In addition to the carvings, there are also natural forms such as these tree roots...

or this dead tree which I suspect will be made into another carving in due course.

There are some ancient tracks through the trees such as this one which is lined with beech trees planted at regular intervals along both sides, a typical indicator that this is an ancient track.

In a clearing above Coldharbour village with its pub and riding stables is Coldharbour Common, a flat piece of grass with a pavillion where cricket is played at the weekends during the summer.

There are several different habitats such as this heathland although bracken and bramble encroachment are a constant problem.

And look closely in the undergrowth and you can find wild bilberries.

A view northwards past Snakes Hill and at the bottom of the valley in the trees is Braodmoor.

It is just as well that I didn't chose to go on Sunday as there was a cyclng event with fencing put up everywhere and notices advising of road closures which meant that when I went out with the cycling club we had to change our route in view of the closed roads.

Ride to Beachy Head over looking Eastbourne in the South Downs National Park

I had another day in the national park but this time is was going to be a 176kms long ride from Horsham to Beachy Head then back .We had a group photo at the start.

 We hadn't gone very far when we reached a junction and notices that Phil wasn't with us. We cycled back a couple of kilometres to find him. He had got a puncture and had nearly finished repairing it by the tie we caught up with him.

 We collected Geoff and John en route who were waiting for us at a junction with coffees in hand.

We stopped in Ripe for a mid morning break at a tea room and community shop.

 We locked our bikes up in the centre of the crossroads in the village.

 There was a pub opposite the shop and nothing remarkable about it called the Lamb Inn but what caught my eye was not teh pub sign but the life size statue of a lamb hanging from the front of the pub.

 Then it was a steep and long climb up through Jevington and then down to reach the coast and The Seven Sisters Country Park, now part of the South Downs National Park. On the hillside is Tout Belle Lighthouse. The light house was built in 1832 but replaced with another light house at the base of the cliff and this one was decommissioned in 1902. It was not originally located here but nearer the edge of the cliff. Erosion of the chalk cliffs endangered the light house so it was physically moved in one piece 17m back from the edge to its current location. It is now a hotel.

 Nearby is Birling Gap which is a valley that reaches the sea between two of the Seven Sisters. The row of terraced houses used to be longer but the sea has eroded the cliff and the first few house fell into the sea. This is all that remains.

 A view along the beach looking westwards.

A view looking eastwards of the houses and showing how close the houses are to the retreating cliff edge.

From Birling Gap it is a long climb up to the top. Finally the purpose of the ride, Beachy Head which is the name of the tallest of the Seven Sisters and the name of the pub where we would have lunch.

 A couple of pictures of the group waiting for lunch to be served.

 Then it was a long ride back home. The wind had picked up and changed direction so it would be in our faces all the way back. And the top of Beachy Head is very exposed, witness the wind blowing a jacket off. It was gusting up to 30kms. It was strange that we were pedalling downhill but if you stopped pedalling you slowed down significantly.

 But the sun was out and the views are great and are worth the effort.

 On the way back at the side of a country road i a sign noting the Meridian line that divides the world into east and west hemispheres. It was significant to me as I had recently been to three visitor centres in Ecuador to mark the equator (plus one in Brazil) and in contrast we make do with a carved wooden sign.

South Downs National Park and the South Downs Way

I took a day off from writing to go for a walk along the Downs in our newest national park covering 1,600sqkms with great views across the chalk landscape.

 A beautiful scene of a house tucked away under the Downs.

 On the hill opposite us was a view of the Jill windmill at Clayton. There are two windmills here, Jack and Jill. Jill is operational and sells wheat milled at the windmill from locally grown wheat. Jack is under going maintenance and the very top of the windmill can just be seen above the trees on the far right hand side. There has been a windmill on this site since 1765.

 A view along the north facing scarp slope of the South Downs looking across Devil's Dyke, Truleigh Hill with the radio and TV antennae with an altitude of 218m and Bramber in the distance.

 A donkey wheel at the farm in Saddlecomb. The donkey stands inside the wheel and walks forward to turn the wheel, A rope tied around the shaft can raise and lower a bucket into a well.

We were walking a circular route but taking in a section of the South Downs Way, a 160kms long distance path stretching the length of the national park between Winchester and Eastbourne along the top of the ridge.  The highest hill along the route is Butser Hill near Petersfield at 270m. A view down a dry valley.

 One of two churches that we visited.

A detail of the church.

 A detail showing the roof. This is made from slabs of stone and appear throughout the area and are known as Horsham stone roofs.

Quito and Madrid

It was my intention to only post blogs when I was travelling but so many of you have asked for more that I will post when I am at home as well as abroad. I flew from the Galapagos via Guayaquil to Quito and stayed in the same hotel as before.

I hired a bicycle to cycle along El Chaquiñán. Last time I cycled towards Cumbaya but this time I planned to cycle in the opposite direction towards Puembra.  This section is not as scenic as the trail to Cumbaya and has not been adopted by the municipality. The portals exist but they are less grandiose. The trail runs parallel to a main road and it is much less scenic.
               
You have to be careful as some of the rails are still in position and if you try to cross them at an angle they will throw you off the bike.

A small bridge across a stream.

A view of the stream that the bridge crosses.

 A view across the bridge.

 And then I flew from Quito to Madrid en route to London. I had time to look around Madrid and look up old haunts. I revisited a restaurant just a hundred metres from Sol metro in the centre of Madrid, El Cathedral and I thoroughly recommend it.

The ambience is great...low level lighting behind the bottles on the wall...

 cosy and intimate seating areas....

a detail of the ceiling decorations...

 and my starter...although I was too hungry to remember to take photos of the main course.

 Then I had to go back to visit another familiar sight. Those who worked with me in Madrid will recognise these photos. The local Metro station is Parque de las Agendas and the it was a walk across the motorway.

Parque de Las AvenidasParque de Las AvenidasParque de Las Avenidas

 We all stayed in the Novotel and visiting staff also stayed here. I stayed here until I got a flat nearer the centre of the city. This was a convenient hotel as the office was just a short walk around the corner.

And then it was a flight to London and finally home after nine months of travelling.