Photostoryette of our Wiggonholt Walk - Part 1

I like to walk the 3.5 miles from my house, over the water meadows, across the RSPB Wiggonholt Reserve and back along the A283 with Charlie the Hound. Doing it at least once a week is a brilliant way to follow the seasonal changes and changing wildlife patterns.

Here is a record of our walk yesterday. It was the first sunny day after days of showers and grey skies. In the winter months this walk can be impassable because the water meadows flood.

The walk starts from my back gate, over the little "Northside Brook' mentioned in old records as being in the possession of Fécamp Abbey and across Fowl Mead, an unimproved water meadow which is noted for its diverse flora.

This stone is 'planted' in the middle of the otherwise featureless 30 acre meadow. There is some speculation by the 'locals' as to it's origin. Hugh is firmly of the belief that it is a meteorite.The mystery was solved the other day. On a faded hand drawn map hanging on the wall in the 'Oddfellows Arms' it is shown as a boundary marker for allotments which were given to the poor of Pulborough by the Church. My thoughts are that the land was worked by the inmates of the Pulborough Poor House (where Alfrey's Platt is now) and is at the top

of old footpaths which come down to the meadow.

The River Stor rises at the the foot of Chantry Hill, Storrington by Waterfall Cottage. It was no more than an open sewer for the whole of Storrington until the 20th Century when the sewage works at Wickford Bridge were built. (in the distance) Now it is a forgotten little tributary of the River Arun.

Much of the RSPB is grazed by the very docile British White Cattle. The dung from the grazing herds makes a wonderful breeding ground for insects. On a summer evening the water meadows are clouded in a 'soup' of flying insects, beloved by the many bird species who are migrant visitors or resident on the Reserve.

This is the River Arun, just below the old crossing point called 'Stoney Crossing', possibly a'clapper bridge' constructed of large slabs of Fittleworth stone raised up above the water level on stone blocks. This can be dated back to Roman times when there was a direct link from the Mansio at Hardham to the Roman Bath House (excavated by Winbolt in the 1920's) behind Banks Cottage. The line of the Roman causeway still stands proud of the flood waters in winter.