Vole Explosion

Sunday 3^rd September 2023

LITTLEHAMPTON TO ALDWICK BAY

   By the time I arrive on the south coast of England it’s almost midday. I’m continuing my years-long hike/pub crawl around the coast of Great Britain from where I left off last November: Littlehampton in the county of Sussex. The weather is forecast to be hot and sunny, in one of those early Autumn heatwaves that are becoming more frequent.

   From Littlehampton station I cross a bridge over the River Arun and walk down the western shore until I reach the coast at Climping Beach. It’s a sunny Sunday and a lot of people are out on Littlehampton seafront across the river. This early part of the walk is mostly on shingle along the beach until I reach Middleton-on-Sea, where I walk through a residential area of posh houses.

I see a couple of Hummingbird Hawk-moths flying around some flowers and manage to photograph one, but its colours are hidden away when it lands, and it looks fairly drab.

   Middleton turns into Felpham, which turns into Bognor Regis, with no obvious dividing lines between them. I come to a promenade for the walk into Bognor Regis and it becomes progressively busier as I reach the centre. I buy some chips and eat them on the pier, which has to be the most disappointing pier so far (not counting the ones that have burned down). The entrance building looks ok, with an arcade and bar, but behind it there is only a very short boardwalk with nothing happening except a few guys fishing and some young lads jumping off into the sea.

“Bugger Bognor!”

King George V , 1936 (apocryphal)

Bognor seafront has a handful of pubs and I’m glad of the opportunity to spend much of the afternoon in the shade enjoying some refreshment. All the pubs are busy today and a couple of them are loud and raucous, with a somewhat ‘traditional’ clientele – lots of big, tattooed middle-aged men, two or three with long hair and all the rest with no hair at all. As is usually the case in this type of pub, contrary to expectations, everyone is unfailingly polite and friendly, even to the out-of-town weirdo with the backpack and binoculars. A slightly incongruous detail in one pub is Duran Duran’s greatest hits on the stereo.

   Continuing west of the pier the town becomes more sedate, and the atmosphere is much more peaceful and relaxed. It may also be because it’s now evening and most of the families have gone home and left only couples strolling on the beach and retirees walking their dogs.

   In one of the last pubs I get talking to a guy who turns out to have graduated from the same university as me in the same year. He was even in the same college, but I don’t recognise him – possibly because I was an undergraduate and he was doing a PhD. We end up drinking and chatting for way too long but eventually I have to move on. I’m intending to wild camp once I get clear of the town but by the time I leave there is less than an hour of daylight left and I don’t walk as far as I had planned.

   I continue west along the shingle beach, enjoying a spectacular sunset, until it is dark and there are no more people around. It is very peaceful here and the evening is so warm that I don’t need my tent. I spread my sleeping bag on the shingle and sleep very comfortably.

9 miles;   14.5 km;   9 hours

Wild Camp – Aldwick Bay (free)