Archive for June, 2011

26/06/2011 – Clayton to Wolstonbury, the Chattri, to Ditchling Beacon, and back to Clayton

Sunday, June 26th, 2011

Decided as the weather had picked up to do a big walk to get my weight loss back on track, 3 weeks out has shown an adverse reading on the scales 🙁

I looked into doing Wolstonbury Hill, the Chattri, Ditchling Beacon and Black Cap before returning to Clayton.

I set off with mist covering the hill tops however once I reached the top of Wolstonbury that was burned off.

The amount of rain we had over the last week or so was evident on the walk up to Wolstonbury with  the path churned up by the horses and very muddy.

Once I had reached Wolstonbury the raise in temperature was very evident and began revising plans for the walk.

Was surprised by the amount of folk doing the South Downs Way, that’s way too far for fatso here.

There were also some school kids doing the Duke of Edinburgh award, they looked like they needed to learn their map reading !

The walk down to the Chattri was pleasant but the hoof back took it’s toll and I decided to drop Black Cap as that was a stage too far.

Once I reached the Beacon I was certain that I would be going back rather than going for Black Cap.

I managed the haul back to Clayton without drama, but those 3 weeks out of walking and the high temperatures were felt.

I won’t comment on the temperature in the car, but I know I how a sunday roast now feels !!!

Today’s trek

The Trig Point on Wolstonbury Hill

What a view

Poppies near the Chattri,

The Chattri

The trig point at the Beacon

06/06/2011 – Ditchling Beacon to Black Cap, with better visibility for Teresa

Tuesday, June 7th, 2011

This was a repeat of the walk from the 30th May going from Ditchling Beacon to Black Cap, this time though it was just myself and Teresa.

Although misty visibility was far better than the 30th, so we could see far further. due to the conditions and the fact that this was a working day the route was far less populated.

I let Teresa set the pace as she is far behind me as regards fitness and stamina for walking, she set off at a reasonable pace which she was comfortable with. Teresa felt that her fitness hadn’t improved since the walk on the 30th, this was to be proved very wrong.

We walked along and the usual mental checkpoints  were soon passed and we seemed to be at Black Cap Down very quickly, we ascended to the top of the hill reaching the trig point, then we deviated from the previous route by heading for a bush on the way to Mount Harry.

This bush is a monument to John Arnold with flowers and momentos from his family as you can see on the attached photograph.

Whilst we were looking at at the bush I received a call, and as a consequence we were a couple of minutes there.

When we awalked back Teresa suprised me by ascending the slope from the Street Bostall (heading back to the Beacon) without stopping for a rest and she continued on to the end again without stopping.

When we reached the car Teresa was sure that she was slower than the 30th, as you will see the evidence says otherwise.

On the 30th we walked 5.41 miles, at an average speed of 2.26 mph in a time of 2:23

today we walked 5.71 miles at an average speed of 2.49 mph in a time of 2:19, yep an extra 0.3 miles was covered and we finished 4 minutes earlier,  this looks even better when you remember we spent a couple of minutes at the bush. suffice to say Teresa is proud of her efforts, as well as being acheing and being tired!

the walk from the 6th June 2011 The Memorial bush