A view from Doug's bedroom, notice the book
Diane awaits the bill
Morning ducks
Diane breaks into a trot
I wish I was on a horse
A national treasure
A view of South Harting, I think
Which way?
Peacock padDay 3 - Friday 21st April 2006, Buriton to Cocking
Mist, then hazy sunshine, then sun, warm.
Mist, then hazy sunshine, then sun, warm.
We again woke early and were ready for our breakfast at 8am. We ate in a fine dining room with many naval pictures, as in other rooms in the house. We asked the B&B owner about these and were informed that her husband, who passed away the previous year, had been a Naval Officer. More than a decade ago he was the Commander of the Royal Yacht Britannia, and after that worked for a Naval Charity. As we were treated to the most amazing breakfast of the walk, the B&B owner told us a little about life on the Royal Yacht for her husband.
We had to rejoin the SDW from Buriton but decided on a footpath up through the woods rather than retracing our steps on the road we had come down the previous day. This footpath brought us out some ¼ mile further along the way from where we left yesterday, so Doug demanded we walk back to that exit point to ensure we did not miss any of the way. Diane was less than convinced, but when Doug threatened to withhold her SDW certificate she relented.
It was a lovely day for walking with some fine views to the north of the downs over the Rother Valley. We went through some beautiful forests before reaching Beacon Hill. We had our lunch stop at the trig point just off the SDW on the top of Beacon Hill, and again Doug enforced a few yards of backtracking from the trig point to ensure we did every part of the route. Our trail guide told us to listen out for Peacocks on Monkton Estate, and not only did we hear them we saw them behind the fenced estate.
It was a fine day, and we had excellent views from Cocking Down to the Isle of Wight and the coastline around Portsmouth. We dropped down through Warren Bottom and were rather disappointed at the “huge chalk ball” marked in our guide. We crossed the A268 and took advantage of the water tap before leaving the SDW on the track to Cocking Church and our B&B.
Our B&B was the Moonlight Cottage Tearooms which is conveniently placed on the A268 to attract passing motorists but does make it a little bit noisy. We had pre-booked a “Chalet” adjacent to the main cottage, and we referred to this wooden building as our “Nissan Hut”. The hut was roomy and advertised as being able to sleep 4 to 6 people. There was a vanity curtain down the middle, so we could separate the hut into two areas and was really quite comfortable except for the short trek to an outside loo on the main cottage building. We had shared use of the bathroom in the cottage and breakfast was served in the tearoom.
The B&B owners were very helpful, even offering to drive us to the pub in the evening, but we decided to walk. There was the Blue Bell pub in Cocking, but we were strongly recommended by the B&B owners to go to the Greyhound Inn which was about 1.25 miles along the main road towards Midhurst. This was excellent advice as the Greyhound received our “Pub Food of the Walk” accolade. The pub was cosy, the beer well kept, and the food was outstanding; organic produce, fresh vegetables, superb puds.
The walk home in darkness was no problem, although Doug did make use of the bushes at one stage. We retired to our hut and with the sound of passing lorries and cars drifted into a well-earned sleep. Another fine day's walking.
Statistics:
We had to rejoin the SDW from Buriton but decided on a footpath up through the woods rather than retracing our steps on the road we had come down the previous day. This footpath brought us out some ¼ mile further along the way from where we left yesterday, so Doug demanded we walk back to that exit point to ensure we did not miss any of the way. Diane was less than convinced, but when Doug threatened to withhold her SDW certificate she relented.
It was a lovely day for walking with some fine views to the north of the downs over the Rother Valley. We went through some beautiful forests before reaching Beacon Hill. We had our lunch stop at the trig point just off the SDW on the top of Beacon Hill, and again Doug enforced a few yards of backtracking from the trig point to ensure we did every part of the route. Our trail guide told us to listen out for Peacocks on Monkton Estate, and not only did we hear them we saw them behind the fenced estate.
It was a fine day, and we had excellent views from Cocking Down to the Isle of Wight and the coastline around Portsmouth. We dropped down through Warren Bottom and were rather disappointed at the “huge chalk ball” marked in our guide. We crossed the A268 and took advantage of the water tap before leaving the SDW on the track to Cocking Church and our B&B.
Our B&B was the Moonlight Cottage Tearooms which is conveniently placed on the A268 to attract passing motorists but does make it a little bit noisy. We had pre-booked a “Chalet” adjacent to the main cottage, and we referred to this wooden building as our “Nissan Hut”. The hut was roomy and advertised as being able to sleep 4 to 6 people. There was a vanity curtain down the middle, so we could separate the hut into two areas and was really quite comfortable except for the short trek to an outside loo on the main cottage building. We had shared use of the bathroom in the cottage and breakfast was served in the tearoom.
The B&B owners were very helpful, even offering to drive us to the pub in the evening, but we decided to walk. There was the Blue Bell pub in Cocking, but we were strongly recommended by the B&B owners to go to the Greyhound Inn which was about 1.25 miles along the main road towards Midhurst. This was excellent advice as the Greyhound received our “Pub Food of the Walk” accolade. The pub was cosy, the beer well kept, and the food was outstanding; organic produce, fresh vegetables, superb puds.
The walk home in darkness was no problem, although Doug did make use of the bushes at one stage. We retired to our hut and with the sound of passing lorries and cars drifted into a well-earned sleep. Another fine day's walking.
Statistics:
|
Day 3 |
Total |
To SDW |
SDW |
From SDW |
Evening |
|
Miles |
15.50 |
1.25 |
11.00 |
0.75 |
2.50 |
|
Hours |
6.92 |
0.50 |
5.25 |
0.33 |
0.84 |
|
MPH |
2.24 |
2.50 |
2.10 |
2.27 |
2.98 |
06:45 Awoke
08:00 Breakfast
08:55 Start day's walk from Buriton
09:25 Rejoin SDW
11:45 Lunch on Beacon Hill
12:05 Resume walk
13:05 Water Stop
13:10 Resume walk
15:05 Leave SDW for Cocking
15:25 Arrive at tearooms B&B, end of day's walk
18:30 Walk to Greyhound Inn, Cocking Causeway, nr Midhurst
18:55 Greyhound Inn
22:00 Bed
Nature: Yellowhammers, peacocks, pheasants, robins, doves, lots of little birds
Primroses, cowslips, daffodils, lots of small flowers, horses, cows, sheep, lamas
Breakfast – B&B; fruit juice, melon, sausage, bacon, egg, mushroom, kidney, black pudding, toast, coffee, tea
Lunch - Beacon Hill; fruit and flapjacks
Evening Meal - Greyhound Inn, Cocking Causeway, near Midhurst. Organic produce, fresh vegs, good beer and service. Pub food of walk. Outstanding main courses and puds. £35.60 for two. Welcome to the Greyhound Pub, Midhurst, West Sussex
B&B - Moonlight Cottage Tearooms; One room wooden hut. Two singles, outside loo, bathroom in tearooms. Pre-booked £25pp. Adequate but near a main road. Bed And Breakfast And Cafe In Cocking Midhurst (moonlightcottage.co.uk)
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