Oh I do like to be beside the seaside. Tra la la.

Good morning. It's Monday morning and it's raining. I think we are promised a heatwave, or so I read somewhere. I've just got a few piccies today from my recent seaside trip. Alas Cedric was not able to accompany me on this walk, he aint got no legs you see. 

This is St Andrews-by-the-Ford church, somewhere in West Sussex, at a village called Ford actually. As I was wandering around the churchyard a man on a bicycle turned up looking all official with his yellow vest on. Ooooh goody, he is opening up, I might get a look inside. And so I did, he had come to do some maintenance on the door. It's a quaint little church inside. I have a thing about churches, especially small ones, I want to live in one. 

It's in a very pretty setting at the end of a lane which has a footpath down to the river. 

I like looking around villages. An interesting gatehouse to a big old house. 

I got onto the footpath at the back of the church and followed the river bank . Across the fields I could see a large model aircraft, and with a bit of zoom I could see it was on a stalk. According to the map there is an airfield there. 

I followed the twists and turns of the River Arun. I much prefer walking along a river, rather than a long straight canal. Just before I got to the Marina at Littlehampton I came across a dog walker. I stepped aside to let him pass, making a fuss of the two little dogs. Can't help doing that, dogs are a great excuse to say hello and a exchange a few pleasantries. I don't know how it happened but we stood talking for about twenty minutes. Probably my fault because I can ramble on a bit, you might have noticed. Anyway, a chat provides a nice break. A little bit of interaction with another human being is a pleasant interlude during a walk in the countryside. 

There is a footbridge which crosses the river at the Marina. I walked across and took a few photo's.

I had the option of crossing over at this point, but looking at the map it shows the seasidey part, and the town, which would probably be full of people having a day out. If I crossed I would also have to cross back again over the same bridge, so I decided to stay on the quiet side, and continue along the path on the right hand side of the river. You can see the newer buildings on the other side of the water. 

Of course as we all know, the river goes down to the sea. The beach is mainly shingle. There is a big car park with a few cars parked up, their occupants presumably have gone for a walk on the quiet side. 

There is the funfair over there, no thanks. A little bit of background info, I worked on Blackpool Pleasure Beach for three years in the late sixties, I have been to some of the biggest theme parks in the USA, so small funfairs are not an attraction for me. 

At this point you can follow the seashore along the coast, even though it is not an official path on the OS map, but it is hard going on the shingle. I opted to backtrack a bit and take the path marked on the map, which took me along edges of fields, and through wooded areas. Much more pleasant. Eventually it came out a bit further along the coast, joining the beach at Atherington. 

Coming off the beach at Midddleton on Sea, I followed the road through Felpham, passing through some very swish houses which looked like they had been featured in some of George Clarks TV programmes. Lots of glass verandas and block paving. 

It was time to turn right and head back. 

I came across this converted church as I passed through a village. How pretty and lovely that they have kept a lot of the original features. My kind of house. 

All in all a good days walk. A bit of allsorts. No hills mind you, but that's fine for me, lots of interesting features to discover. 12 miles added to my total. 

Back home now, and I'm off to Crafty Club, so I'll cut you loose. Thanks for popping in. Toodle pip.  ilona