Wandering: Arundel to Littlehampton (Part Two)

Although Ford was the midway point of our walk we didn’t feel compelled to stop. That’s not to say it wouldn’t be worth stopping, as there are several interesting things to see.

Train crossing Ford railway bridge

I have already mentioned the busy railway bridge, just beyond this is a jetty with moorings for variety of small craft, and a little bit further down the river is a small flotilla of house boats.

Boats on the River Arun

To be honest there wasn’t a lot of activity on the river, we were passed by four or five small boats, but clearly the boating season hasn’t got into full swing yet. Since leaving Arundel it was obvious however that we were getting nearer the sea, by the widening of the river, something that we hadn’t noticed north of Arundel.

Ford church

Ford itself is perhaps best known for it’s prison and it’s market, but for those with an interest in family history there is the small parish church, just a short distance from the river. Those with an interest in aviation should be aware of the Hawker Hunter which stands guard over the former airfield (too distant for my little camera to do it justice).

Don't get your feet wet!

None of these “attractions” were on our itinerary (but I may well be back another day to take closer look at the church and plane) as we were pressing on to Littlehampton, anxious to get there before it rained or before the river level got any higher and we found ourselves paddling.

The approach to Littlehampton was a little disappointing to be honest. There was an amusing attempt to beautify a sewage works with some paint and daffodils, which made me smile, but still failed to disguise the fact that it was a sewage treatment works.

Sewage works and daffodils

Before long we were within earshot of another busy road and much traffic. The approach to the road bridge was the least picturesque part of the walk, the bank was littered with rubbish, everyday rubbish like bottles and cans, but also heaps of rubble. Such a shame after such a lovely walk up to then.

Littlehampton's gas holder

Beyond the road bridge things picked up somewhat. Immediately beyond the bridge was Littlehampton Marina, which may sound quite pleasant, but it sits opposite an industrial area and the gas holder that we had observed from the start of our walk at Arundel.

Littlehampton has seen a lot of redevelopment over the past couple of decades, and although we didn’t spend a lot of time in the town (long enough for chips and ice cream though) what I saw of it was very nice, another place I really ought to get to know better.

Littlehampton Harbour

Copyright © 2012 John Gasson.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

Wandering: Arundel to Littlehampton (Part One)

Last Saturday the conditions were very similar to the previous Saturday (when my wife and I walked from Amberley to Arundel) when we returned to Arundel to continue our walk along the River Arun to Littlehampton on the West Sussex coast.

It was mostly overcast again, but there were probably a few more breaks in the cloud and it didn’t seem quite so cold as last week. There had been a little rain during the previous week but this had seemingly had little effect on the ground conditions, and the only wet patches were where the river was overflowing (this stretch of the river is tidal and it was high tide).

Technically our walk began at the railway station, but there is little of interest on the short walk into town, apart from the Arundel Lido, which proudly boasts the best value car park in Arundel.

Arundel Castle and Post Office

The real starting point was the bridge crossing the river into the centre of the town and although we were following the river we had to leave its banks almost immediately and make our way through residential streets. It has to be said that they were surprisingly nice streets with some lovely old buildings.

After about ten minutes we were out under the road bridge and back on the western bank of the river and heading out into open country. Ahead of us the countryside was mainly flat as we were heading away from the hills of the South Downs towards the sea.

The River Arun (heading south to Littlehampton)

For a long time the only real landmark ahead was the gas holder at Littlehampton, little more than a rectangle on the horizon. Behind us however was still Arundel with its rows of houses, church, cathedral and castle layered upon the side of the hill.

As we were walking away from Arundel we had to keep turning around to witness the town shrinking and disappearing into the greyness. The wonderful thing about the meandering course of the river is that every time we turned round Arundel was in a slightly different place.

Arundel and the River Arun

Occasionally the sun broke through the cloud, but these sunny spells were short-lived, although one break in the cloud did allow the sun to spotlight a row of houses in the town. Perhaps it would have been more spectacular if it had spotlighted the church or cathedral, but it was nevertheless an inspiring sight to witness.

Ford railway bridge

The midway point of our walk was the railway bridge at Ford, about 2¾ miles from Arundel. After a couple of miles of near solitude on the banks of the river Ford brought with it a flurry of activity. Although Ford does not have a particularly large railway station it is on the busy coastway line, with trains coming from the north (Arundel), south (Littlehampton), east (Brighton) and west (Chichester) and beyond.

Copyright © 2012 John Gasson.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.