This was a big old walk, starting out from the mills at Clayton, taking the first mile on the Beacon path before heading down to the Chattri.
As is the way from the last fortnight, I’ve been struggling with the breathing during these walks so this one was planned to be a bit more gentle in the beginning – best part of a mile up hill, then 1 1/2 miles down to the Chattri. I was surprised by how out of breath I was doing the climb, clearly I have a congestion issue at present.
Reached the Chattri, and had a sit down before the walk back to the Beacon path with a pause to wonder what was going on as a Land Rover Discovery stopped in the field and the sheep were positively running to get there !!!! (I’ll resist the temptation to say that the driver had ‘animal magnetism’:-)
Back at the Beacon path spotted new signpost which indicated Eastbourne and Winchester (there is NO way that I would wander to either of them from there!)
Set off for the Beacon but deviated off to the left to see the other path looking down on Westmeston, but eventually rejoined the main path, and continued on the Trig Point for the Beacon, and the awaiting ice cream van in the car park 🙂 (yep I partook of a cone)
Crossed the Beacon road and set off for Plumpton Plain to discover that the batteries for the GPS were dying, so turned it off to preserve what little life was left – I had plans to record odd points on my way.
Carried on past Street and Plumpton Bostalls (these are lanes) and eventually reached the Trig Point at Black Cap, where I rested for a few minutes, temporarily waking up the GPS to record the farthest reach of this walk.
Set back gently strolling, and resting eventually stopping for a sit down just before crossing the Beacon Road, where I discovered that ruddy Mountain Dew over here is fizzy and I had a fountain not a bottle !
After a good rest, the road was crossed, and the walk was completed, but not before 1 last surprise.
As I descended towards Mill Lane and the car park I could hear a skylark singing, I turned and for the first time ever could see one at rest not 6 foot away.
I quietly continued back to the car firing off the GPS to record the finish before driving home.
