Essex Man Does Walking

 The night was quite cold but warmed up when it started to rain! I managed to get some sleep and headed out of the tent to the farm shop at about 8am to pick up a warm bacon butty for breakfast and a Ploughman’s Sandwich for the
journey. The bacon butty was very welcome considering my lack of food the day before. The rain started to die down a bit and I chatted with the Scottish couple who had also camped in the field. They were heading the same way and seemed to have had a good time so far. I packed the tent up when the rain stopped got  myself ready for the days trek and headed off straight up the first hill of the day!

Today would be relatively flat and short, the check in at the bunkhouse was at 4pm but I was likely to arrive earlier at my

usual walking speed so tried to take it more steadily. I past an older couple up the hill, who I had past the day before, they were also doing the walk. The rain started to come down again so I put on my pack as I headed over Graffham Downs and down towards the A285 where I past another couple walking down the hill. I spied another Cadence Cafe just before the main road so stopped to get a cup of tea, some carrot cake and another

sausage roll (you can never have too many). The couple I just passed had stopped as well so we got chatting and I found out they would be staying in the same place tonight. The older couple past us and then the Scottish couple called in as well and they also knew the two I had been chatting to. 

When the rain eased off a bit I headed up Sutton Down and along a hard flint (probably Roman Road) road which past the village of Bignor where there is a Roman Villa. That would be the highest point of the day so it was flat and downhill over the rest of the trek. The trail continued fairly

flat before heading steeply down into Houghton. Not before running across a very busy A29! As I was very early to the bunkhouse I dropped my rucksack off in the quad and headed off to Amberley covering some of tomorrows trail. It was a bit longer than I thought it would be but I reached the village store, grabbed some food and a couple of ales and headed back to the Bunkhouse. I arrived at 4pm to find people already there and ended up in a room on my own. Other people were arriving over the next hour and soon we were chatting about our exploits and deciding what to eat. I was quite tired so headed to bed fairly early. However, something I had eaten or drunk didn’t quite agree so I spent a few hours that night up and down to the toilet which is a pity considering I had a proper bed !