Arundel and beyond

It's been glorious on the South Downs today. After my breakfast of rice pudding I set off walking to Arundel. It's a lovely walk along the river bank, it takes about half an hour. The castle comes into view from across the fields.

What a magnificent castle it is. I said I would give you the low down on the admission charges so here goes. Gold Plus gets you into everything and it costs £17 for an adult, £14.50 for a senior, £8 for a child. Then there is Gold at £15 for an adult, you can see everything except the castle bedrooms. Next is Silver at £10 for an adult, but there is no access to the bedrooms or the main Castle rooms. The cheapest is £8, and for this you can go in the coffee shop and restaurant, Fitzalan Chapel, the Collector Earls Garden, and the gardens and grounds. You cannot go in the Castle bedrooms, the main castle rooms, or the castle keep. No concession for pensioners for the £8 and the £10 tickets.
www.arundelcastle.org

Here are a few shots of the town.

There are small courtyards and cobbled streets with small specialist shops. Several antique shops and collectors shops. Also lots of crafty type shops.

Lots of white buildings with black beams.

After an hour of looking round the town I headed off up the same track that Sarina took me on yesterday, past the tower in the field which is called Hiorne Tower. The walk through Arundel Park was lovely. I found a nice place to sit while waiting for the phone call from Radio Humberside. The signal was good and the sun was shining. I haven't spoken to that particular presenter before. It went well, but I am now thinking that a few minutes isn't long enough to get my point across, I think they should give me a longer slot.

I went to Amberley Station, then picked up the South Downs Way. Part of it goes along a minor road, but the traffic was very heavy and fast. Nobody took any notice of this sign. I wanted to cross the road but it was like the M1 motorway, I had to dash across. I didn't have much food with me so when I saw a sign for a village shop in Amberley, ten minutes walk away, I thought great, just what I need.

The road into Amberley took me past the entrance to The Casle Hotel, it looked very grand. For some reason I found myself in a dead end and asked a man where the shop was. He said I had come the wrong way, but he could unlock a gate and let me go round the back of the hotel.

After getting my supplies, a lovely fresh sandwich and various other bits and pieces, I had a walk around this beautiful little village.I met two ladies who were chimney sweeps, they had a fascinating story to tell. There were quite a few very old cottage style houses, many with thatched roofs.

It was time to start making my way back, I headed towards Wepham along the Down. Hello Mr Moo Cow. Beautiful views up here.

This is looking across at Burpham as I am getting near Wepham
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I arrived back at the hostel at 7pm, I must have done about 12 miles today. This was supposed to be my last night here, but I have booked an extra one. Tomorrow I'm off on the bus to Chichester. I may as well go and see it while I am here. I haven't forgotten the rest of the Portsmouth pics, and the Blenheim ones, they will be posted when I get back.

I have three other room mates tonight, they are reading in bed while I am doing this. I'd better pack up now in case they want to go to sleep. I've booked a breakfast for in the morning, so I'll start the day on a full tum. Catch you tomorrow. Toodle pip.