May I see in your bag please?

I think, had you seen us, a middle aged couple out for an amble last weekend with our rucksacks on our backs, you might have assumed that we were carrying our lunch, maybe a Thermos of tea or even supplies of Kendal Mint Cake in case we got peckish. What you might not have expected is that each of us was carrying a box of Kelloggs cereal....

Truly we hadn't lost our marbles [well not on this particular occasion anyway!], but my plundering of the reduced shelves in the supermarket the day before had led to me hauling home lots of goodies. Unfortunately the reduction on the cereal hadn't gone through, so, determined not to lose my hard earned £2.46, we popped back [the shop is within easy reach of GBT] to get our refund and use this as a starting point to explore a new local footpath. Lots of new discoveries made around Highwood Hill....

It will come as no surprise that this sculpture is called "Mare & Foal" and is the work of Marcus Cornish. It's been plonked in the middle of one of the many new housing estates being built around us. It doesn't overly excite me if the truth be told.

A decrepit old Sussex barn ripe for development, which, as you can see is exactly what's happened to another huddle of old farm buildings which have now been transformed into rather exclusive dwellings.

I sneaked a peek over a fence and was met with this....a most archetypal of Sussex views.

However, World War II relics were our quarry. This hulking piece of concrete is the remains of a broken tank trap which now sits quietly on one side of the river with its other half on the other bank.

I've cycled past the tank trap before, but was unaware that we lived so close to a pillbox [although I now know there are several more in the vicinity waiting for me to go and find them for myself]. It must have been very frightening holed up inside it for hours on end. During peace times I think it's been reinvented as a party venue if the empties and the choice of graffiti is anything to go by!

Back across the fields, under the "decorated" railway bridge  we were nearing home....

With no snacks on board bar dry cornflakes it was nearing lunchtime. Judging by my final picture of this tree devouring the metal gate bars I was not the only one with hunger pangs!

Another splendid Sussex stroll under our belts.

Arilx