For the Love of Sheep - The South Downs Way Walk
I really noticed the sheep on the fifth stage of our South Downs Way walk. I don’t think
there were more sheep than on any of the other stages, but I came home with quite a few photos of sheep this time. I won’t bore you with them all here, but I will put together a slideshow of photos from the South Downs Way, once we have completed it. I might even consider a special section dedicated to sheep.
The walk took us from Amberley to Upper Beeding and was supposed to be 12 miles, but we added a bit by detouring to Washington for lunch.
Still smarting from Amberley break-in
We were a bit worried about leaving the car at Amberley, because of the break-in on our last walk (see: The Walk of Changes). But Amberley Museum had a very kind man (who turned out to be from Steyning) directing cars to their car park until 17:00 that afternoon, so 
we felt that our car parked in front of the station would be relatively safe.
So we set out from Amberley in perfect walking weather, not too cold, not too hot and most importantly not raining. After an initial climb, we were soon rewarded with a beautiful view of the ocean, which stayed with us most of the way to Washington. Behind us I caught sight of “my” little tree (see: The Walk of Changes).
The way was quite busy, possibly because the kids are still off school and definitely because after days of rain the sun had finally come out to play again.
Don’t walk straight after lunch
Just before the A24 crossing we decided to take the alternative route, which leads to Washington Village. This way we could cross the busy A24 via a footbridge, but more importantly we could stop for a pub lunch at the Frankland Arms.
Content, but a bit drowsy from the food and beer we were punished with a tiring climb straight after lunch. Some people were spending their Sunday afternoon rather more leisurely picking the ripe berries along the South Downs Way.
After about half an hour’s walk Chanctonbury Ring came in to view. Chanctonbury Ring is famous for being the site of a sixth-century-BC fort, but also for the beech trees planted there by Charles Goring in 1760. The trees are looking very weathered (literally) today, as they were severely damaged by a storm in 1987.
Children and horses put to the test
We met many cyclists on this stretch including a brave, little boy, who couldn’t have been
more than 3 or 4 years old, struggling to keep up with his family. Soon we were welcomed by the sight of the river Adur, with views of Lancing College in the distance.
Just before we crossed the river we stopped to watch a very stressed pair of horses, who were displaying their dismay at losing sight of another horse. The other horse had been taken out of the paddock for a ride, and the other two were racing up and down the paddock kicking and screaming.
The kind man from Amberley Museum had recommended a visit to Steyning, so we decided to go for a quick drink at the Star Inn in Steyning. I have been in better pubs, but Steyning itself is most definitely worth a visit for its beautiful, quirky architecture alone.
Next stage
You can read about our next walk from Upper Beeding to Pyecombe here: Devil’s Work? - The South Downs Way Walk.
Related articles
You can read about all the stages of our South Downs Way walk in these articles:
Sweltering South Downs Way Walks
Crossing the Greenwich Meridian
Eastbourne never looked sweeter
Technorati Tags: South Downs, South Downs Way, England, Amberley, Upper Beeding, Steyning, hiking, walking
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