15 Jun
Day seven - Pycombe bridge to Devil's Dyke
”Gategate”
I crossed over the road by a bridge and then immediately got lost! I walked down the side of the A23 instead of turning off and went up a different bridleway to see whether that was the South Downs Way before asking a man on his bike for directions, to save me retracing my steps unnecessarily.
On my way back, I noticed the sign I'd missed hidden behind vegetation, which explained everything. At this turn was what seemed to be a racing pigeon farm, although it could have just been a flock of pigeons on someone's roof. Every few seconds around half of them would take off in flight and circle before landing, only for the same to happen again.
Walking up Newtimber hill is quite a slog. If you turn around to take a breather, you will see Jack the black windmill and Jill the white working windmill in the distance.
On the way down I met a woman coming up and wondered if this side of the hill was steeper than the side I came up. I had thought this once before, just prior to the A27 crossing, wondering whether walking east to west or west to east is harder. At the moment, my opinion is west to east might be harder, but it's hard to judge the incline of a hill from the different perspectives of climbing or descending.
At the bottom there was a very laid back tree. It was almost horizontal in its recline. Almost a tease to all those attempting the steep hill.
Frustratingly, I would next encounter an immovable gate, just past the Saddlescombe National Trust cafe. Try as I did, even getting another woman involved, it would not budge, so I had to loop round the cafe to get to the other side.
Over the road from the cafe is the area of Devil's Dyke. As I climbed, I watched a tractor navigating a neighbouring hill, just as steep, in true hill farming style, while a spaniel to my left flushed out what appeared to be some type of water bird.
There was hot and a shady path into some shrubbery which was tempting, but I kept to the South Downs Way.
| A little abit Epidermyolsis Bullosa (EB): Blisters must be popped to prevent their expansion, but this process and the open sores which remain are very painful. The fluid lost through large blisters can cause dehydration. |