Around Britain

My 10 o'clock train at London Victoria didn't appear on the departure board. At the information desk I was told I had six minutes to catch the 10.05 for Chichester. An official standing at the end of the train told me that the train split at Horsham so I had to be in the front four coaches. I boarded the train and walked along the aisle until I reached a locked door. I could go no further so I sat down. Later the ticket inspector confirmed that I was OK for Chichester.

The station in Chichester is on the southern side of the town so I soon reached the canal basin. The Chichester Canal gained Parliamentary approval in 1817 and was constructed by 1822. It provided a route from Chichester Channel to the south west into Chichester itself. Funded by private investors led by Lord Egremont, they all lost money on the venture. Commercial use of the canal had ceased by 1906.

I followed the towpath for so long as the canal headed south. A few runners, walkers and cyclists were using it and there were half a dozen or so rowing boats and canoes on the water. At Hunston the canal turned sharply westwards so I had to leave it. Wanting to avoid the B2145 (the main road to Selsey), I turned towards North Mundham on an asphalted footpath which tracked the B2166. I passed North Mundham Church and walked south through an area of glass houses and nurseries.

I could see South Mundham across fields but followed a No Through road through Fisher, a scattering of homes and farms untroubled by any traffic except their own. On a narrow road beyond Fisher a labrador type dog approached, barking and frothing at the mouth. Having announced himself thus, he lost interest in me and proceeded on his way heading north.

I was now on Cycle Route 288 of the National Cycle Route Network. I was passed only by a silent cyclist and a post van. The post man waved excitedly at me as he drove by. Perhaps he was not used to seeing any walkers around here.

I expected to emerge on the B2145 north of Sidlesham but the cycle route took me to a pub called the Crab & Lobster on the edge of Pagham Harbour. I noted that the England Coast Path passed through here which was useful information for tomorrow. The rain had started some time before I reached the pub, having already threatened for a while. I'd already donned my waterproofs. It continued relentlessly until the evening. The road took me to the B2145.

There was heavy traffic on the Selsey Road, remarkably so for a dead end destination. The vehicles headed for Selsey were only inching forward. The reason for this was unclear as there were no road works nor accident. However, cars leaving a business premises just off to one side were trying to get out onto the road. Occasionally someone charitable might stop to allow them to do so.

The pavement was intermittent until I got beyond Norton when a roadside path began. It later turned into an asphalted pavement. It was a relief to reach my hotel on Selsey's outskirts and change out of my dripping clothes. This was my first visit to Selsey for about 70 years. I have dim memories of a caravan holiday here with my parents and sister. It rained most of the time. I was fascinated by eels in a water filled ditch that crossed the caravan park. We were treated to a Charlie Chaplin film projected onto the inside wall of the village hall. I was almost sick with laughter.

Mileage today 10.08; total 3922.65.

I enjoyed an excellent breakfast at the Coast Yard and the weather was set fair. The enterprising owner had built six small ensuite units in his back garden to accommodate guests. The main building looked like a converted house with a restaurant and further guest rooms. The man in charge confused me with another man to whom he'd spoken on the phone. That man was walking in a clockwise direction around the coastline of the UK mainland with his dog and had booked to stay in the hotel. The man in charge took down details of my website.

I retraced my steps of yesterday up the B2145 to reach the RSPB Visitor Centre where I turned off the road. A finger post indicated the 88 cycle route towards Chichester which I'd seen when I passed Pagham Harbour yesterday. If I'd been sensible I'd have taken this route then but I wanted more certainty about how to get to my destination as the rain poured down.

Pagham Harbour is more a tidal inlet than an estuary as no significant water course feeds into it. The Romans used it as a harbour as did the Saxons. A tidal water mill here was first recorded in 1275. This operated through a mill pond which filled up when the tide came in. As the tide ebbed the pond water flowed out through sluices that turned as many as three water wheels to grind the grain. There's little to see of the mill now but its importance iis commemorated by Mill Road which goes past the Crab & Lobster pub.

I'd joined the England Coast Path in the nature reserve and it now took me past Halsey's Farm to the edge of the harbour. The path was now elevated on an embankment reinforced by boulders across the edge of the harbour. I looked out over a huge expanse of vegetation split by channels of mud of all consistencies from dry to liquid. Locals and birders wandered about. The birders looked intense as they experienced this unparalleled opportunity to spot and record rarity with their expensive equipment.

The path followed the edge of the harbour for quite some time but I was then jolted back into modern life. A mass assembly of holiday chalets suddenly appeared and forced the path onto the shingle beach. Suddenly I was in the resort of Pagham. I walked for a while along Harbour Road. The houses were modest and most of the gardens neglected. I then came to an area of cafes, amusement arcades and souvenir shops before rejoining England Coast Path on a gravelly track behind houses fronting the sea. In Aldwick the track expired on a pebbly beach so I turned inland to find a road.

I was now on land controlled by the Aldwick Bay Company. Notices informed me that the district was reserved to the property owners and their guests. Parking of anyone else's vehicles anywhere on the road or verges was strictly forbidden. The Aldwick Bay Company owned the area apart from the individual properties. Presumably this company was controlled by the residents. The place was certainly well maintained and exuded prosperity I noticed a Porsche parked by one of the grander houses. A man with a motor mower keeping the verges trim deigned a “Morning” to a tramp like figure passing through this paradise.

The road took me to the sea front and a first sighting of the pier. That was my marker for Bognor Regis Station which I reached at about 1 o'clock. The ticket office was closed, a forlorn relic of a different world. I grappled successfully with the ticket machine, even securing the reduction to which my Senior Railcard entitled me. There was just time to buy a drinking chocolate before boarding the 1.26 to London Victoria.

Mileage today 9.22; total 3931.87.