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squiz Member Member#: 6644 Location: Registered: 27-05-2007 Diary Entries: 2878 |
19th April 2019 Mt. Biking: Bignor Hill to the Bluebells Wind Direction: Wind Stength: Surf / Sea State: Air Temperature: Sea Temperature: Weather: Sunny and hot :) Max Speed: 23.11 (knots - unless stated otherwise) Distance Covered: 7.50 miles (Nautical Miles - unless stated otherwise) Friday 19th April – bike ***** Bignor Hill to the Bluebells – sunny and hot :) Another top night in the National Trust car park on the top of Bignor Hill and despite it being Good Friday not many people were about early so we had a relaxing start, Mag in bed reading while I watched the pheasants playing peak a boo poking their heads up in the wheat field. Then breakfast with the warm sunshine full on the side of the van, definitely 20 degrees today:) We were not in any hurry as we were enjoying the view, watching the world go by with old boys on electric mountain bikes (that’s the future) horse riders, dog walkers and hikers all making the most of the Bank Holiday. It was great to be in a beautiful spot far away from the holiday traffic jams! Mag had packed a salad and I took the bikes off the rack and we left at 12.20 in the full heat of the day but we were going to take it easy as Mags not a 100% fit with pulled/torn muscles which she did skiing, well on a T-bar lift actually! This is the third year in a row we have biked to the most amazing bluebell wood at Slindon but it is a great route. We start off by riding along Stane Street, the Roman Road from Chichester to London, a route we never tire of. It is a long embankment surrounded by stunning South Downs scenery with hundreds of sheep with lamb, mainly in the shade of the few trees and bushes. We see our first deer, a one antlered male making light work of jumping over a fence right in front of us. Then we come to the pretty 7 ways cross roads and as usual take the wrong forest track which actually takes us away from the bluebells! Still it is downhill and very lovely with the beech trees - stunning reddy/brown in the Autumn - are now a vibrant green:) Now way past our destination, nearly at Slindon we turn right past the Folly as we head slowly uphill to one of the most impressive bluebell woods in the whole of England! The whole forest floor is just ablaze with bluey/purple and a subtle fragrance is filling the air, a stunning picture to be taken every few metres:) We find a fantastic spot by a pile of freshly cut logs for our picnic salad but being a Bank Holiday, several are also visiting, there must be a car park close by! Luckily, they were mainly on a path to our right and only two or three came onto our path :) Rested after lunch we set off again slowly through the forest trails leading back to 7 ways but taking a different route to Gumber Farm up through the sheep fields to the Roman Road and back to the van. We had only done 7.50 miles but it was some serious up and down in the hot sun and we had been out for three hours so were in much need of a cuppa. We started with cheese and biscuits followed by reading/dozing, then had a scone and after all the chocolate we had with Arlo the diet can wait until next week! The pheasants were still foraging in the wheat field and with the sun getting low we went for a lovely walk with my big lens looking for birds. Tea was finishing off last night’s Lidl lasagne but not before we were treated to the most amazing pink full moon which apparently you only get in April. I think we are going to have Bignor Hill all to ourselves tonight as the few cars here are hikers off camping for the night. We are not sure what to do now, our original plan was to head up Oxford way in search of a canal to bike but I don’t know if we can be bothered in the middle of a Bank Holiday weekend when we can enjoy it at a quieter later date??? Photo Gallery here |
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