Sussex Coastal Walk - Stage Eleven - I Breath In The Fragrance Of Love And Moist Sand
We have all heard people say that sometimes, it’s good to save the best until last. And in the case of our challenge, I would almost agree.
Almost.
Because whilst this stage may not have quite been the best, it was also not quite the last. But on both counts it was pretty close and that’s good enough for me right now.
So we started this stage with what felt like an extra long journey. An early morning, one and a half hour, drive to Chichester and then a fifty minute bus ride down to the coast at Selsey.
It felt just like some of those trips we made back at the start of our challenge at the end of June.
We jumped off the bus and walked down a lane to reach the beach at Selsey and got another one of our early morning views, the beginning of a glorious day with the sun shimmering off a beautifully calm sea.
We had, deliberately, missed out a relatively longish walk on the shingle from the opposite side of Pagham Harbour to our starting point, and, with hindsight, it felt like a very sensible decision. We started our day walking on a lovely, firm surface, along the sea defense wall, which was keeping a lot of very lovely houses safe from the ever encroaching sea of stones. We passed plenty of friendly locals, most of them taking in the morning sunshine with either dog lead or paper in hand, The path took us down to the famous Selsey Bill (well, at least I had heard of it before), a headland into the English Channel and the southern most point in Sussex.
It has to be said that apart from a beach, and yet more shingle, there really was nothing to write home about in terms of commemorating or even just informing visitors where they were.
Which was a shame to be honest.
The general feel of the place changed as we turned westwards and we picked up more of a wind. The walking here was mostly on the shingle and we meandered our way along this part of the journey reasonably comfortably, moving inland for a while as we approached the large holiday camp on the outskirts of the town. We wandered through the caravans, avoiding the crowds where we could, and made our way along the front until we couldn’t go any further.
Which answered one of my questions rather nicely because, in the planning for this walk, it was unclear as to whether we would be able to just continue walking from Selsey to Bracklesham or not. I had read a number of blogs where people had done the two to three miles along the shingle at this stage, but judging by the massive pile of rocks and the signs telling us not to go any further, this was no longer an option.
So plan B was required and we did the sensible thing.
We called a cab.
Once we had found our driver (getting lost in a caravan site was not one of our finest moments) he took us through the countryside to Bracklesham very quickly. When he told us that the distance was nine miles it made me feel just a little better at taking the decision we did.
So, having avoided the rivers, marshes and generally unnavigable part of the country just outside of Selsey, we were dropped at Billy’s On The Beach in Bracklesham in bright, warm sunshine.
The beach here was busy with families and we took the opportunity to grab some lunch and enjoy the scene before our long afternoon walk.
Rather than challenge the shingle again, we started the next stage walking along a pleasant residential street running alongside the beach. Sadly, this reached a natural end rather too soon and we were forced back onto the shingle after no more than a few minutes. But imagine our delight, and I do mean very delighted, when we realised that here, on the edge of Bracklesham, we actually had some sand on the beach to walk on. With both the sun and the tide out, we grabbed the opportunity and enjoyed one of the best parts of our challenge, walking along the damp sand in the sunshine.
Bracklesham soon became East Wittering and the beach seemed to grow as we walked. Full of families, with dogs and windsurfers also in abundance, the sand was a joy to walk along and we continued for some miles, reaching West Wittering before too long. This was my first visit to the Witterings and I can understand why they are so popular in the summer months. There were similarities with Camber Sands, where we had walked on our very first morning, and it really was enjoyable to find such beautiful beaches being enjoyed by so many.
And because the tide was out and the beach really did seem to go on for miles, the packed car parks did not cause any challenge to responsible social distancing.
Just in case anyone was wondering.
Busy but safe.
We turned away from the beach just before we reached East Head, a spit of sand, now owned and managed by the National Trust, which forms one side of the entrance to the Chichester Channel. We immediately lost the crowds and found ourselves on a long path, winding along the edge of the Channel and up to West Itchenor. It was such a beautiful walk, with views out over the water with yachts of all kinds being sailed in the afternoon sunshine.
It reminded me of a similar walk we enjoyed a couple of years ago from Beaulieu to Bucklers Hard in the New Forest.
It is quite difficult to do this part of the walk justice in words, as it was three or four miles of unexpected peace and beauty in an area that neither of us had previously visited. As with so many places we have visited, this footpath is highly recommended if you have an afternoon to kill, and we will definitely be making another trip.
When researching this part of the walk, I had noted that West Itchenor was where we were expecting to require, once again, a little outside help. To find our way across the channel we jumped onto the Itchenor ferry, a service dating back to the 17th century that allows travelers to avoid a thirteen mile walk around the water. Officially calling itself a “water taxi and footpath ferry”, we picked the small boat up on the pier at the end of Smugglers Lane and it deposited us, just a couple of minutes later, on the beach at the other side of the channel. With no official place to land it literally just drove up to whatever part of the beach was not under water, which no doubt changes frequently along with the tide, and we jumped out.
What is probably part of every day life in this area was a real novelty for us.
And the novelty continued as we checked out which path to take up towards Bosham, the wet or the dry. A helpful sign indicated that the wet path was much shorter and involved walking along the beach, tide permitting. It would not be a good idea, so we were told by some helpful locals, to start out and find yourself trapped by the incoming water. Thankfully, having already checked the tide timetable in preparation, we were fine for the thirty or so minute walk around to the conclusion of our walk.
It was still a strange sight to see people, many of them clearly locals, walking along the beach on the way to pick up the ferry to no doubt do some shopping or to meet friends. It was peculiar but beautiful and as we turned the corner we caught our first view of Bosham and the hundreds of boats moored up in the channels surrounding this little village.
There is little doubt that Bosham could easily become one of our favourite places. Not only pretty but also historic, it dates back to Roman times and is associated with the legend of King Canute. In fact, history would have you believe that his daughter was sadly drowned in the local mill stream and is buried in the local church.
The walk along the beach gradually allowed us a better view and, for a small place that, once again, we had not heard of, it was stunning and a very popular place for visitors. The beach footpath passed many large houses and, as we got closer to the village, the houses became even more impressive. As did the prices. It also became apparent that it was not just the beach that was covered when the tide came in. We moved up onto a coastal road which meandered around the edge of the channels and then round into the village. All of these roads, and many in the heart of the village itself, flooded with every high tide. It was fascinating to see how the various properties were protected from this regular occurrence, from steps and boat moorings being built into garden walls to permanent flood barriers in front of the majority of doors.
We walked into the village whilst the tide was out and this added to the spectacle as the channels in this area were all covered in a dark green algae. Truly a spectacular sight.
We concluded our slightly unexpectedly lovely walk with an ice cream whilst waiting for the bus to take us back into Chichester. We left the tourists and the flood warning signs behind but took with us memories of this really beautiful part of West Sussex.
We will definitely be returning.
Stage 11 – Selsey to Bosham
Date of walk - 12th September 2020
Distance walked 12.86 miles / 20.53 km
Floors climbed (using Apple Health app.) 1 floor
Ongoing totals 105.78 miles / 170.06 km / 293 floors
