L2L Day 11 Brighton to Bramber - 10 miles
Having heard the weather forecast with the prospects of strong winds and getting stronger in the afternoon, this shop sign seemed most appropriate.
As with every other day, we always seem to start with a steep climb.
with very young calves to rejoin the South Downs Way
at Saddlescombe.
I've long realised that I must have a soft spot for Unimogs....and they always turn up just when you'd like to see one. On this one, I particularly like the ivy growing up the tires. Ashes to ashes!!!
From there we climbed a further 300 feet to the top of the Devil's Dyke. By now we were well and truly in the misty cloud and the wind was gusting up to 35 knots and quite cold.
Like yesterday, there was poor visibility so we pressed on.
This was turning into one of those days when you don't know whether to wear all your waterproofs or hedge your bets.
We eventually found shelter from the wind in the lee of Perching Hill where we hid behind some gorse bushes and had our thermos of coffee and some croissants we'd snaffled at breakfast. Over 'lunch', the cloud seemed to blow over and though the breeze was still blowing strongly everything brightened.
Walking on we caught up with a woman walking her wire-haired Viszla which seemed to want to adopt us! It might have had something to do with our preparedness to play throw and fetch but eventually its owner warned us that "Viszlas always remain in touch with their inner puppy" and apart from that, she had a long way to get home. We thought we'd better let her walk on - so with the lovely Viszla on a short leash we waited until they'd gone safely over the horizon.
At the top of the hill we met Scott who was out for a ride on his new electric bike.
Scott has clearly done a lot of research into the various strengths of all the different manufacturers and was very pleased with his selected Canyon on which he'd cycled from Brighton this morning and was already on his way back.
We reckoned Virginia Woolf must have been here on one of the clear days!
As we descended from the radio station on Truleigh Hill, we met Sally and Tina.
They'd started this morning from Amberley and were run/walking along the South Downs Way on their way to Hassocks near Brighton - a distance of 23 miles!! Tina is in training for for the South Downs Way 100 on 14th June. This would involve her running from Winchester to Eastbourne - 100 miles - in 24 hrs. Sally will be running in support. As Tina said ...there'll only be 7 hours of darkness at that time of the year!
Aren't humans an amazing machine!!?
At a junction with the Monarchs Way we dropped down steeply
Aren't humans an amazing machine!!?
At a junction with the Monarchs Way we dropped down steeply
to Upper Beeding and could see Bramber Castle in the distance.
Bramber had been one of the trophies given by William the Conqueror to his favoured few. Arundel being another. Apparently the Sussex coastline and hinterland had been divided into manageable chunks called 'rapes' and Bramber at a crossing point of the River Adur was considered one of the plums.
The Castle remained the seat of the de Broase family for the next 200 years until in the 1200s, William de Braose, was suspected of disloyalty to King John. The king demanded William’s two sons as hostages. Lady de Braose refused. The castle was confiscated by the king and the family captured. Lady de Braose and her two sons died of starvation at Windsor Castle.
The Pizza Express at Woking can't have been opened by that time.
By 1660, Bramber was a 'Rotten Borough' - the town had only 30 people entitled to vote but returned two MPs. Apparently in 1725, Daniel Defoe described the place 'scandalously mercenary'
In 1812, William Wilberforce - the abolitionist, became MP for Bramber and remained for the next 13 years.
In St. Nicholas's church
we noticed a plaque commemoration Anne Michael born 1678, who'd survived three husbands and died at the age of 84.
Quite a place!
Quite a place!
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