After work....

My friend J and I have been trying to organise a walk together for a few weeks now, but Murphy's Law dictated that if one was free the other had a prior engagement and so it continued back and forth. Finally we managed it last Friday after I'd finished work and despite showers throughout the day the skies had cleared by the time we'd met. Boots on and off for an early evening saunter....

We kept our jaunt fairly short and sweet to make the most of the light levels. It was a new route for both of us just on the outskirts of a village called Pulborough around an area called Wiggonholt Heath. It sits next door to an RSPB reserve hence the huge bird's foot below in the first shot.

After a potter through the woods and winding our way up round the hill we were treated to some rather stunning open vistas once we'd scrambled up the final slope.......

Now our ancestors knew a thing or two about making an impression and it came as no great surprise to me to find that they'd plonked their bowl barrow right at the pinnacle of the hill. Nowadays this scheduled monument is covered in an incredibly thick layer of mulch so you'll need to take my word for it that it really is one! There are various ones near by and it's estimated that this example dates to 1500BC.

Dotted all around the route are these charming handpainted signs.....afraid we didn't spot anything exotic. The antics of the friendly robin and grey squirrel were appreciated though. We did come across this sculpture though. I scratched my head, but couldn't work out what it was meant to be [my silly noggin suggested a flea which I knew couldn't be right!]. Looking later online it's a field cricket which are very rare. There is now a breeding programme on the heathland and they've been releasing the crickets since 2017 to repopulate the area.

With our amble over J had got the bit between her teeth for a bit more snooping and wasn't quite ready to go home. After a poke around the local church and admiring its mass dials we decided to see if we could find the nearby Toat Folly. This four sided brick tower sits on private land so you can only get a glimpse of it in the far off distance, but it was built in memory of a London tea merchant Samuel Drinkald who died in July 1822 from falling from his horse on this very spot. If the rumours are to be believed not only is he buried astride his favourite horse, but he's upside down. Now that's what I call showing off😆 As ever the truth is a little less thrilling, as he's actually buried in London and the whereabouts of the remains of his infamous equine are unknown.

I could get rather used to starting the weekend earlier in this style!

Arilx