Washington to Amberley

First walk on the Downs of the year today, in crisp winter weather. The wind was cold, but the route I took from Washington to Amberley wasn't too exposed so it wasn't a huge problem. Unlike the sticky mud after last night's storm, which made going slippery in places and slidey in others. The chalk here turns to a sticky soup when saturated and can be hard work to tramp through.

The first part of the route was steep but the views behind made the stops worthwhile, with Chanctonbury ring in the hazy distance, the low winter sun giving it a ghostly silhouette, so different from my last visit in August.

The walk along this section is straightforward and no map is required, so with hands tucked firmly in pockets I slithered along in good time to emerge on Rackham Hill with the best views of the day over the flooded Pulborough Brooks and Amberley Swamp down to Amberley castle, and south to another silhouette, this time Arundel Castle.

A short wait was required to negotiate a logging truck loading up on the top of the hill just west of the Chantry Post. Something I hadn't ever seen on the Downs, but the wait gave chance to watch a chattering Magpie going from branch to branch in the leafless copse. I thought an early Skylark rose from the field when I eventually passed, but it was too far away to see clearly, the flight pattern certainly seemed similar. The song drowned out by the crane of the truck.

I recalled, sadly, how Bernie and I had managed to get lost in the swamp last September, negotiating drainage ditches and a herd of angry cows (Bernie took the unusual step of throwing her rucksack at one in an effort to scare it off after it stamped and snorted, and left me to fetch the same from the herd...) - now it would actually have been easier as everything except the path is under water and teeming with birdlife. It put me in mind of Welney wash back home in east Anglia.

The descent to Amberley is steep and must be hard work in reverse on a bike, as it was when we climbed it on foot in August for a chilly late evening picnic. I remembered this and walked past the spot where we had sat and discussed the merits of getting married at Amberley Castle, and a meloncholy mood descended on me.

I was a few minutes late for the hourly train back from Amberley, I saw it leave the station, but with sandwiches to eat and a flask of hot coffee it was a pleasant hour. In contrast to the girl who missed the hourly nothbound service who shouted profanities at it as it left. The driver cannot have heard her as he didn't stop.

Another half hour wait at Ford for the connection to Worthing, but I was still home by 3. The walk of six miles was comfortably covered in 3 hours.