This had been a favourite short walk from last summer, and with a day to myself today, in the absence of any better ideas, I decided just to repeat it.
I still haven't quite finished my walk along the Wessex Ridgeway - another two days of walking to go. I had briefly considered that this weekend, but the trains heading in the direction of Dorset looked a bit disrupted, plus my new walking boots wouldn't arrive in time, so I decided a shorter walk closer to home would be more appropriate.
Actually the trains heading down to Hassocks were also a bit of a mess today, this journey ought to only take 90 minutes, but in both directions ended up being more like two hours. Anyway, I got there in the end.
Rather than the usual exit from Hassocks - following the footpath alongside the railway to Clayton - I decided to head in a more direct line towards Ditchling Beacon. So I walked through Hassocks, following Dale Avenue and then Lodge Lane, which eventually joins Underhill Lane.
Lodge Lane is actually quite a pleasant country road to walk along, and I had tantalising glimpses of the downs looming ahead of me through the mist, looking rather brooding and atmospheric today.
Then onto Underhill Lane, already a favourite lane of mine, which, as the name suggests, runs just under the hill, and sounds like something from The Shire in The Hobbit.
Does this spot just off Underhill Lane look familiar? It's the footpath sign used in the banner image for
John Goes For a Walk, albeit that that image was taken in February (
on this walk), with a dusting of snow on the hill and a bit less of the hedge obscuring the view. Not nearly as satisfying an image today, but I suppose that makes a case for repeating previous walks at different times of year. Something unremarkable one day can be rather magical another day - just given a change in the weather. Oh and possibly a hedge trimmer.
Next, it was time to climb Ditchling Beacon. Or, as I believe cyclists on the London to Brighton ride have nicknamed it, Bitchling Deacon; for it is a rather gruelling ascent. Perhaps a bit easier on foot than on a bike though. The apparent grey weather didn't seem to help much with keeping me cool on the climb, it was rather muggy, and I was soon red faced and sweating in a rather unseemly fashion.
I paused part way up to admire a patch of what I think was devil's bit scabious, as opposed to the field scabious I had mostly been seeing along the Wessex Ridgeway over the summer. This one seemed to have a more spherical head to it, whereas field scabious is a bit flatter - although maybe this is just down to the time of year?
A bit more of a slog up the hill after that, up through the mist, and I made it to the top. Gratifying as always to reach a trig point, as you know there's no more climbing to do.
Once atop Ditchling Beacon, I headed along to the car park, as I remembered from a previous visit there's sometimes a van selling coffee there, and I thought that might be quite nice at this point. Alas today it wasn't there, just an ice cream van instead, and having not yet had lunch that didn't quite seem appropriate. Quite pleased with the photo above though, taken close to the car park. Although the usually spectacular views from the top of Ditchling Beacon were a bit subdued at this point, I think the grey gave it atmosphere, and it also turned out I wouldn't have to wait long for the skies to clear.
So my thoughts turned to lunch, and I went to try and find the spot where I'd sat last year, which was a nice compromise of still having a lovely view, but being just a little bit off the path so I wouldn't be disturbed by passers by. I had brought along my camp stove, one of those dehydrated camping meals I had left over, and a bottle of Gevrey Chambertin, as one does when cooking on top of a hill. The "vegetable chipotle chilli with rice" from Summit to Eat was perhaps not the pinnacle of al fresco dining (their macaroni cheese remains my favourite), but it was OK, and I enjoyed the ritual of the whole thing. There's something very satisfying about being able to produce a hot meal when in the great outdoors like this.
I was also pleased with my practical solution to the age old problem of knocking over wine glasses when having a dejeuner sur l'herbe. As I was in the process of buying new walking boots, this would likely be the final outing for this pair, and it felt like a fitting send off.
After lunch, the skies started to clear, so I popped back to the car park and had an ice cream. Which I instantly regretted - I seemed to have briefly taken leave of my senses, and had forgotten just how awful Mr Whippy is. Anyway, if nothing else it gave me a reason to pause a little while longer and take in the views, suddenly transformed as they were by the passing of the clouds.
I then set off at rather a pace, back in the direction of Hassocks. It had just gone 2pm at this point, and there was a train back to London leaving Hassocks just after 3pm which should get me back to London in good time to cook dinner for the girls. It's about 3.5 miles from Ditchling Beacon to Hassocks station, so this did seem a bit ambitious, but I thought I'd give it a go. Despite this mission I did still pause briefly en route to take in the sights - a glimpse of the sea and the Rampion wind farm, and a rather picturesque looking dew pond, a lone tree on its banks reflected in the water in amongst the silvery clouds.
I passed Gurkhas on what I believe was some sort of charity run, and was happy to be reunited with the chalky tracks of the South Downs Way, even if only for a short section of it today.
Before long I was at the Jack and Jill windmills, then heading down the hill to Clayton.
Beyond Clayton, the now very familiar footpath running alongside the railway tracks, which offered one final glimpse of the downs. I was practically running towards the end, and, thanks in part to finding a different entrance to Hassocks station, just made the 3:02 train with less than a minute to spare.
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