Chanctonbury Ring and via South Downs Way and Monarch's Way to Cissbury Ring

My next walk was on the Downs starting near Washington and climbing up to 238m elevation past a farm nestling in a sheltered valley.

 And across the Weald to the north was Leith Hill but I would need a pair of binoculars to be able to see it clearly.

There were some interesting cloud formations and those of you who have read The Cloudspotter's Guide by Gavin Pertor-Pinney will be able to name them.

It was a short but steep climb to reach the top and then across the cattle grid to get to the open pastures on top of the Downs.

Chanctonbury Ring is a prehistoric fort built around the end of the Bronze age or the beginning of the Iron Age. The trees were planted by the local landowner in the 18th century but were extensively damaged by the Great Storm in the night of 15th-16th October 1987 and had to be replanted.

 One of teh trees standing in the sitch that surrounds the mound.

 A view from Chanctonbury to Cissbiry Ring in the distance.

 Part of teh SOuth Downs Way that runs 100 miles from Winchester to Eastbourne through the National Park.

 Another view.

 Shoreham power station and...

 ,,, the quarry beyond Annington Hill.

I followed a section of the Monarch's Way. This is a 615 mile long path that follows the route that King Charles II took after losing the Battle of Worcester in 1651 via the West Country and ends at Shoreham where he caught a boat for France.

Cissbury Ring, another fort that is a little later than Chanctonbury but is the second largest in England enclosing 60 acres. There was also Neolithis flint mine here.

 A view along one of the ditches...

 ...and a view in the opposite direction.

 A view back to Chanctonbury.

 A triangulation point on the top of the hill set up by the Ordnance Survey which started a national military mapping project of the whole country in 1790, starting on the South coast in response to the threat from France.

 A detail of the top of the pillar.

I took a few photos of the flora..such as these two nushrooms.

 More views of the ditches...

 and a cut through the slope of the inner face of the ditch.

 There were few people although the weather was beautiful. But I wasn't alone as there were horses grazing on the hill...

 plus a few sheep.

 And then it was time to retrace my steps back to the car.