Jiggery-pokery, jumbo jets and fighter pilots..

Oh - and a 15.3 mile walk as well...

Julia and I headed off to walk from Berwick to Eastbourne on Saturday. My usual faultless train organising slipped a bit however, so for the first time had to get in a taxi to get to the start of the walk... Most unlike me!

The first half of the walk was a bit underwhelming - some nice bits, but nothing too amazing. Although it was interesting to walk past the Arlington Reservoir at the start and see that it looked quite full - couldn't help but wonder what its level had been last year - drought vs the wet summer we've had... It picked up once we'd sighted The Long Man of Wilmington however, and we did get to walk through a corn field that was very remniscent of The X-Files! We had lunch in Jevington at the Eight Bells pub - whose innkeeper in the 1780s was a well known smuggler, James Pettit - known as 'Jevington Jigg' who used to store the contraband in the pub (and the rectory....). Very nice it was too! Also the first time we saw signs about Foot & Mouth as well - including buckets of disinfectant by fields to scrub your shoes with before going across it...

Walking along the South Downs Way after lunch we missed the turn off so decided to do the long version of the walk and stretch it out to Beachy Head (which I'd never been to). As we walked towards it we were a bit suprised at how many people there were (and also why there were so many helicopters flying around...) and then realised it was the Eastbourne Airbourne show on... We'd missed the bulk of it, but did get to see the Jumbo fly past - and it is something to see a Jumbo fly low over cliffs and then fly at a 45 deg angle to skim the cliffs. Very very cool. But what was as good was the fighter plane that did fab fast things and then finished by spiralling in a corkscrew up into the clouds. Very very stylish - is it possible to have a crush on an unseen pilot??

A very long day, but a very good one! More photos on Flickr as well...

View from the South Downs

View from the South Downs
Originally uploaded by Megan Shields.

The water you can see in the distance here is the Arlington Reservoir which we passed at the start of the walk..

Foot & Mouth precautions

Foot & Mouth precautions
Originally uploaded by Megan Shields.

Lighthouse at Beachy Head (1)

Lighthouse at Beachy Head (1)
Originally uploaded by Megan Shields.

Jumbo getting ready to hug the cliffs

Jumbo getting ready to hug the cliffs
Originally uploaded by Megan Shields.

Walking again...

So for the first time in ages Julia and I went out for a walk. This one was Petersfield to Liss - 11.1m. It is one I'd done a couple of years ago when training for Trailwalker, but Julia had never done it.

The walk was famous with the Trailwalker group as the pub had had such fine food, and again it didn't disappoint. Although I was pleased that the huge hill I remembered happening just after lunch was actually before it! The Shoulder of Mutton hill is not a very nice one to walk up!

Everything seemed very lush, and there were loads of butterflies around - I'm sure that is unusual for July and was a reflection of the enormous amount of rain we've been having over the last 6 weeks. This time last year the ground would have been parched and rock hard... summer?

A couple of photos below, but more on my Flickr account so check them out :-)

The view from almost at the top!

The view from almost at the top!
Originally uploaded by Megan Shields.

Gave us a chance to rest as I took the photo!

Trying to get a decent shot of the Shoulder of Mutton hill - steep!

Trying to get a decent shot of the Shoulder of Mutton hill - steep!
Originally uploaded by Megan Shields.

This was taken trying to show how steep the hill is!

Walking in sunny East Sussex

On Saturday Julia and I headed off to East Sussex/Kent to go walking. We did a walk known as the Robertsbridge Circular (11.5 miles) and it was fantastic! It was a gorgeous day, the bluebells were out in the woods, we had a fantastic lunch at The White Horse Inn, the apple trees were just starting to blossom (we went through an orchard at one point), we saw the fantastic Bodiam Castle and got to have a delish National Trust icecream, plus had time for a pint at the end as we waited for our train back to London! One of the best walks we've done for a while - there are a few photos on Flickr, so check them out!

Bodiam Castle - way cool!

Bodiam Castle - way cool!
Originally uploaded by Megan Shields.

This really was a perfect castle to sit and admire in the sun!

Bluebell woods...

Bluebell woods...
Originally uploaded by Megan Shields.

So pretty!!