South Downs: Jack and Jill in the Snow
Posting slightly out of order here! This is a shorter walk I did with Chie and Erika in tow for a change, just before I completed the last leg of the South Downs Way. It was a beautiful winter's day, with blue skies but a dusting of snow still on the hilltops, and for that reason deserves recording here.
From here, we joined the South Downs Way, and walked along for a while until we were nearly at Ditchling Beacon, where we left the South Downs Way again and headed down the hill.
The descent was quite a characterful path, and we were treated to glorious views of the countryside laid down before us.
When we got to the bottom of the hill, we crossed Underhill Lane, and headed towards Ditchling. Looking back up towards the ridge of the South Downs from here it looked particularly picturesque with the dusting of now.
On our way into Dicthling we passed through what appeared to be a newly established vineyard at Park Barn Farm. This section was quite muddy though! Poor Erika just had trainers on, which were absolutely caked in mud and wet through. I think she was starting to get a bit tired by this point as well - we had done a good 6 or 7 miles at this point, which is not bad going for a 6 year old!
This was a circular walk, starting and ending at Hassocks, chosen at least in part because of the ease of accessibility from London. Erika had wanted to see some snow, and I'd seen from pictures on the internet that suggested although we'd only had a tiny flurry of it earlier in the week in London, down on the South Downs they'd had a more generous helping, and some still remained on the hilltops.
We started with the mile or so walk from Hassocks station to the village of Clayton, on the path which mostly follows along side the railway line which had brought us from London. At Clayton we stopped for lunch at the Jack and Jill pub, where after a bit of negotiation they managed to squeeze us in for Sunday lunch.
After our hearty lunch, we set off from Clayton to climb the hill up to the Jack and Jill windmills, and enjoyed the wintry scene with the dusting of snow which still remained on top of the ridge.
From here, we joined the South Downs Way, and walked along for a while until we were nearly at Ditchling Beacon, where we left the South Downs Way again and headed down the hill.
The descent was quite a characterful path, and we were treated to glorious views of the countryside laid down before us.
When we got to the bottom of the hill, we crossed Underhill Lane, and headed towards Ditchling. Looking back up towards the ridge of the South Downs from here it looked particularly picturesque with the dusting of now.
On our way into Dicthling we passed through what appeared to be a newly established vineyard at Park Barn Farm. This section was quite muddy though! Poor Erika just had trainers on, which were absolutely caked in mud and wet through. I think she was starting to get a bit tired by this point as well - we had done a good 6 or 7 miles at this point, which is not bad going for a 6 year old!
It would have been a good point to call it a day here if we'd had some easy means of getting home from there, but alas we still had to get back to Hassocks from Ditchling. So I carried Erika on my shoulders the last couple of miles - a bit of a boring stretch along the road as we wanted to just get back as quickly as possible, and having rushed for it we just made the train back to London at around 5:15. It was quite a relief when we got on the nice warm train, and Erika could take her shoes off and let her feet dry out a bit!
Later that evening when we got back home, after Erika went to bed I spent a good half an hour cleaning the mud off her shoes as best I could. I hope long term she remembers the beautiful views and the snow, and not the cold, wet muddy feet!
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