Woke up on the sofa, with Sarah and Fraser and the two bairns upstairs. The idea of setting off on another major cross country yomp was an altogether appalling one after feeling so exhausted recently. But I set off to meet Anton in the station after morning cups of tea with Sarah and Frase and was ultimately glad I did.
Anton had naturally made a careful plan about the walk but this was screwed up by train delays and a bridge being closed, but we managed about 10 miles (as the Nazgul flies) around the Arun river starting and ending at Arundel, which looks very impressive with its castle.
Very pleasant walk again, different landscape this time in the river valley, and the surrounding hills. Enjoyed the rolling fields and stretches of woodland and the swanned river. Yellow primroses out everywhere. Very nice walking, and we found ourselves talking about Tolkien quite a bit. It's almost inevitable as so much of the book has the characters walking in English-seeming landscapes writ large.
Stopped for a short while in the churchyard of a village called South Stoke, which was very pretty. Loving the big grey splotches of lichen on the graves. Anton had left the gate open and we were soon joined by half a dozen bouncing sheep, and later by a young shepherd. Ended up helping to guide the sheep out again, which made me feel quite rustic.
Saw lots of sparrows and pheasants on this walk. Sparrow numbers in the UK have declined massively since I was a child. However it was good to see lots of them, particularly noisy around South Stoke church. Making me think of that line from Yeats's poem The Sorrow of Love which starts "The brawling of a sparrow in the eaves..."
Back on the train and changed at Ford. As we had to wait there was little around other than a big shop full of Model Railway paraphernalia peopled with dozens of men and boys. I suppose I am horrible, but there is something sad about grown men being obsessed with train sets.
Earlier I gave Anton a good deal of pleasure when my £5 rucksack broke, validating at a stroke all his accessories.
Back to Brighton and straight to the Battle of Trafalgar for a pint of Harveys. Then home and I fell asleep for a while before zooming back to Anna and Anton's place for a roast chicken supper.
No name for the baby that is going to burst out from Anna at any point. Klaudia has two baby dolls which she calls Baby, and More Baby, so the idea is being floated of calling the baby More Klaudia.
Below... two shots of Arundel. More tomorrow...
Anton had naturally made a careful plan about the walk but this was screwed up by train delays and a bridge being closed, but we managed about 10 miles (as the Nazgul flies) around the Arun river starting and ending at Arundel, which looks very impressive with its castle.
Very pleasant walk again, different landscape this time in the river valley, and the surrounding hills. Enjoyed the rolling fields and stretches of woodland and the swanned river. Yellow primroses out everywhere. Very nice walking, and we found ourselves talking about Tolkien quite a bit. It's almost inevitable as so much of the book has the characters walking in English-seeming landscapes writ large.
Stopped for a short while in the churchyard of a village called South Stoke, which was very pretty. Loving the big grey splotches of lichen on the graves. Anton had left the gate open and we were soon joined by half a dozen bouncing sheep, and later by a young shepherd. Ended up helping to guide the sheep out again, which made me feel quite rustic.
Saw lots of sparrows and pheasants on this walk. Sparrow numbers in the UK have declined massively since I was a child. However it was good to see lots of them, particularly noisy around South Stoke church. Making me think of that line from Yeats's poem The Sorrow of Love which starts "The brawling of a sparrow in the eaves..."
Back on the train and changed at Ford. As we had to wait there was little around other than a big shop full of Model Railway paraphernalia peopled with dozens of men and boys. I suppose I am horrible, but there is something sad about grown men being obsessed with train sets.
Earlier I gave Anton a good deal of pleasure when my £5 rucksack broke, validating at a stroke all his accessories.
Back to Brighton and straight to the Battle of Trafalgar for a pint of Harveys. Then home and I fell asleep for a while before zooming back to Anna and Anton's place for a roast chicken supper.
No name for the baby that is going to burst out from Anna at any point. Klaudia has two baby dolls which she calls Baby, and More Baby, so the idea is being floated of calling the baby More Klaudia.
Below... two shots of Arundel. More tomorrow...
Comments