Saturday 19th
July 2008
Christ's Hospital - Itchingfield - Slinfold - Christ's Hospital.
8 miles
This morning I took the
newly fixed bike to
Beaky's to try and get an MOT. He was fully booked, so I made an appointment
for Tuesday instead. By the time I got home and we had had some lunch it was
early afternoon, so we made the decision to go to nearby Christ's Hospital by
train and just do
a short walk. For the second week in a row I have left the navigation up to
Gill. She is learning fast and hopefully soon I can be permanently relieved of
this work!
The last time we walked in this area was in
April
when the streams were all full of water and the woods were flooded with light
and thickly carpeted in bluebells. This time the streams were either dry or very
low and the woods were darker because of the fully grown canopy.
As usual the weather forecast was all wrong and the day turned out to be a
complete stunner. We were permanently surrounded by butterflies, swallows, and
at one point kestrels!
At a place where in April we
had come across two very friendly Southdown sheep,
we were suddenly surrounded by about 20 of them. It's a very nice experience to be
welcomed by animals that normally turn and flee on your approach.
A green man on the font at Itchingfield Church
Parasol mushroom
The footpath took us straight through a field of broad beans
Slinfold church
Very plump rosehips
The woods were filled with dappled light instead of bluebells
These sheep were just so friendly and
inquisitive, vastly different from most sheep we encounter