Yesterday I ran and Steve rode his old bike through our nearest stretch of woodland which is Angmering Park Estate, two miles, as the crow flies, from our home. He took some photos and a couple of video bits, making sure to keep them under the one minute mark or they cannot be loaded onto Instagram; or at least I don’t know how to do that, and I have tried and failed to load them onto this; my ‘Daf’s Diary’ page, but then I am not a computer whiz to the level of most six year olds. Still I think I have got to grips with quite a bit of the modern tech-know-how, enough for my needs anyway.
One of the photos he wanted to catch was including a background of the amazing burnished bronze colour that the fern has changed to in autumn. He thought he had caught it quite well. That was until we saw a photo that my professional photographer daughter Jacqueline posted on her page which made our best efforts look pretty weak. www.jacquelinerackhamphotography.com
After seeing Jakki’s post, I contacted her to ask where it was taken, how you get there, and where do you park. She kindly came straight back and offered to take us on a conducted tour of one of her favourite dog walking and photography spots; Eartham Woods between Arundel and Chichester.
We jumped at the chance to be shown a new spot where we could go for a run in the future sometime just for a change, although it is still Sussex Woodland it is a bit different, in that it is hilly, whereas where we usually go on our training jaunts, it comes out onto downland anywhere hilly and the woody areas are less lumpy. There was also a much larger and prettier parking place right in the woods, where a spectacular carpet of autumn leaves leads the walker up into deeper woodland parts.
When I saw Steve getting out his cycling shorts, I questioned his choice of get up, but he quickly responded that he would take his bike because his hamstring is still not completely better and as he said, “ I won’t be able to keep up with you two at walking pace, you both walk faster than I do”!
That is a family trait. My mother walked very fast and walked everywhere. She was always in a hurry, and grumbling at me to keep up when I was a child. Jacqueline in turn has had to keep up with me since she was little and is as strong of stride as I have always been. Jeffrey the Cocker Spaniel has no problem at all keeping up with anybody of course.
We had a wonderful time and quickly lost track of where we were. In Angmering Park Estate, it doesn’t matter if you take a narrow path through the middle of the woods and lose your way a little because at any point there if you keep going onward, you will eventually come to a path that you know from all the years of wandering through there. Not that it mattered much, when you are just out to enjoy nature and give the doggie a good run. Still though, Stephen, who is a slave to his Garmin Forerunner, found where we were and where we had left our cars very easily, which was as well since he had places to go, and people to see, and things to do later that earned our bread and butter or at least a crust.
We hope to get together again soon and explore more of Eartham Woods and up onto the downs where we would I think sooner or later slip onto the South Downs Way at some point.
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