Pace Yourself
I'd not been 100% this week and so I sought to forgo the hills again and the mileage. The slower pace proved just enough time to make the long and brainless coast section beautified by a sun we've not experienced in a few weeks. I'm grateful for that, particularly as I'd spent sunny Wednesday in bed. It was actually quite long enough and I'd paced myself to enjoy my time along the river and to have lunch in relative civilisation. The signs of Spring are everywhere and I promise to plan ahead sufficiently next week to feel the maximum benefit.
Amberley is not brilliantly economical but easy enough with two or three trains via Brighton in an hour and a half. Littlehampton is on the same route and so you can get a return ticket. You can also travel via Three Bridges.
From Amberley station, join the main road and go left under the railway bridge to carefully follow the road and cross the grade II listed Houghton Bridge with the morning traffic. A stiff breeze spritzered my face with drizzle. Fully refreshed, the wind dropped in around ten minutes. Go immediately left and cross another footbridge to take to the east bank of the Arun. Leave the bank and head down the muddy footpath as it steers south. At this point I wondered whether I might've been better off sticking with the Stoke Road. The rain sympathised with my slippery, brambly-hedged predicament and eased. You join the road, soon enough. At the junction and information telephone box, follow the signs to the North Stoke's St Mary the Virgin's Church. No longer with a sufficiently large enough supporting population, the Churches Conservation Trust looks after this place, largely unaltered since medieval times. Mentioned in the Domesday Book, the church was known for a long time simply as North Stoke Church. Only in 2007 did it reclaim its dedication to St Mary, after a letter from the bishop to Edward I was found.
I enjoyed my misty visit to this ancient place. It was the only church I got to see the inside of and it lies on a long distance pilgrimage route derived from the 500 year old Gough map, the only route marked from Southampton to Canterbury. Return to the junction and go a little further east to take the footpath south again. Go down now to the 2009 Gurkha footbridge. From redundant churches to redundant river loops, the sapper rebuilt bridge spans an old loop of the Arun. The new cut was made in 1839 and ever since, there has been a suspension bridge. Continue to the bank of the now river. Cross the white bridge to visit 'frilly' St Leonards, another 11th century church, this time gutted by a 19th century restoration. Despite its insistence, the church was not open and I couldn't take a look.
Return now to the far bank and go south to use the level crossing. Follow another loop of the river to take you to Burpham. Retreat a little away from the river to avoid the water. I imagine this place can be submerged at times. Eventually, the path climbs away and you can head between some fences and into the village. Go left at the junction to visit this church. A bird cherry was in blossom and not my first. Another was on the river bank. There are some seats just outside the church, under the Scots Pine with watery views north and west.
Burpham derives its name from the Saxon name for fort and villiage and the place is one of the sites of the 'Burghal Hidage', a defensive site for protection against the Danes. The site is unusual as st Mary's is outside the fortification but its situation may have had to do with much earlier origins as that of a Roman temple. What I remember from a walk of a few weeks back is that there is Lepers window from which the Lee Farm residents could come and listen to the service via the Leper Lane. The church was shut because there had been a roof collapse. Leave via the front path and cross The Street to the front of the village hall. Head to the kids playground and the west side of what would have been Burpham Camp. Now traverse its waist and descend the steps to Wepham.
Immediately south is Splash Farm. The name evokes leisure centres but The Splash is the road going east or rather the water that crosses it. You can stop at the Farm for milk, meat pies, eggs, vending machine milk, milkshakes and coffee. The coffee machine was out of action and so I did as you should and recognised the cows with a banana milkshake. I had a nice chat with the farmer lady. Continue via the road, or rather the verge, because the footpath that parallels it behind the houses, ends abruptly with no way through. Go south a little and then left onto the bridleway going up.
Another familiar and orienting sight is the Norfolk Clump and a reminder that we are on the Duke's Angmering Park Estate. Continue down the hill and bear left up on to the Monarch's Way, through the trees. In a couple of months, these woods will be anemones and bluebells but, for now, consider that this was the grisly resting place of the Highwayman Jack Upperton at Gibbet Piece. Leave the Monarch's Way and take the footpath southeast. At the end of this drive, turn right onto the bridleway and continue south past the car park to the main road.
Cross the A27 and turn right. I thought I might be able to use Decoy Lane opposite but its seems they like it private. Instead, take the footpath south, further to the west. Beyond the one-time of author A.A. Milne, the path runs along the side of the lake before bending east. Keep following the signs to the edge of Angmering.
You can follow the footpath at the back of the houses going south but, towards the corner, head in to join the main Arundel Road and the centre of old Angmering. I can recommend Juna's Home and Garden for lunch. Take the High Street east and then the footpath south called Honey Lane. This joins Pound Lane and crosses Bramley Green Park. Rowan Way will take you further south to Mayflower Park and the Roundstone Bypass. Crossing Downs Way, you can cut through to Ashurst Way but I discovered there is no footbridge across the railtrack as the leftover footpath suggests. Instead, simply follow the Downs Way and cross via the road, going west on to Worthing Road. You are in East Preston.
Take the footpath on the left that goes south over Roundstone Crescent and Drive and then past Lashmar Recreation Ground. North Lane becomes the Sea Road, past the Village Green and, naturally, a boardwalk to the sea.
After quite a long but direct stretch through the urban environment, it was a rather satisfying entrance to the coastline. The tide was out and I was able to walk straight to the sand beyond the groynes. The rain had subsided. My easy amble south had allowed just enough time for the sun to try and break the clouds.
Head west. I walked with the scurrying sanderling, the increasing brightness and a smile spreading across my face. Take yourself back up the beach to the Sea Road and England Coast Path at Rustington and continue. I stopped at The Beach for a hot chocolate. Take the Littlehampton Promenade to round the corner at the Arun. Follow Pier Road, The High Street, Terminus Road and the signs to the station. No ice-cream.
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