Sussex Scrapbook
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Nature walks throughout the year
Saturday 24th July 2010
Amberley - Arundel - Burpham - The Burgh - Rackham Hill - Amberley.
11.5 miles
I didn't seem to have a
moment to myself this week, what with working a late shift, so when it came to
planning a walk we just reverted to default setting and decided on Amberley. You
can't go wrong from Amberley: every direction takes you on a brilliant Sussex
walk. Today we thought it would be good to make our way south along the river, through
the Duke's land and over the Downs to Arundel and then back to Amberley via the
little village of Burpham, the conservation area called the Burgh and one of our
favourite beauty spots - Rackham Hill.
Even though this longish walk is quite strenuous, it's also very relaxing. Maybe
it's the lazy river, the bank of which is strewn with intoxicating Meadow Sweet,
or maybe it's the pattern of the land: rising and falling like a sleeping
giant's belly. It could be the feeling of old-worldiness that takes over you
when you can see fields of sheep, a castle and a cathedral all in one
unencumbered view. We
don't know, and quite frankly we don't care. All we know is that by the time we
got to the Burgh we were in seventh heaven. That's when things started to get
exciting - a Marsh Harrier and a Red Kite within ten minutes of each other and
footpaths heaving with leverets (well, a few anyway).
We've added a simple Guide to this walk so that you can do it for yourself. For further help & advice see our Hiking Tips and Links pages.
Climbing up into Arundel Park gives a superb view of Houghton (centre), North
Stoke (right) and Amberley Mount above it.
The fields in the foreground are all on the Arun floodplain and can be inundated
in the winter. The view then can be very different, but just as impressive.
Arundel Castle. For much of the walk the castle can be seen surrounded only by
trees, as if no other modern buildings were in the area.
Gill's favourite furry things were everywhere at The Burgh. The leverets were
having lots of fun in the sun.
Golden sheep on Rackham Hill. The walk downhill back to Amberley while the sun
was setting was just the icing on the cake.