Bluebell Loop

Bluebell by name and bluebell by nature
the walk was the best in a while
Seven miles wandering the countryside pure
in Sussex to bring us a smile

Five of us this time, numbers have swelled
the family out here together
with mud underfoot and grey of the sky
determined whatever the weather

We took in the woods with the blue and the green
passing paddocks and ponds on the way
before walking the tracks yesteryear provides still
the proud Sussex Bluebell Railway

And our pleasure was crowned with a glory right there
as a train puffered by with a song
the rhythm of steam and the clatter of wheels
it passed us as we walked along

So to the Green Man at Hosted Keynes where
footsore we raised glasses with cheer
A walk we'll remember as special indeed
which long in our hearts we'll hold dear

©Jemverse

Photo – Jempics

[The Bluebell Railway is an 11-mile heritage steam railway line in Sussex which operates between Sheffield Park and East Grinstead (on the mainline) with intermediate stations at Horsted Keynes and Kingscote. It boasts over 30 steam locomotives and 150 carriages and wagons, most of them pre-1939].

 

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Worthing high

And from high above Worthing
Victorian houses reaching down to the sea
with the tower of the Dome just catching the sun
crying out for a picture from me

But the image itself needed more to explain
the 'je ne sais quoi' of that time
looking down on the vista so often seen
and from up here looking so fine

So I added some words that seemed about right
to capture the essence right there
of a view I don't think I've seen before once
so obliged in these lines to now share

©Jemverse

Photo – Worthing from the top floor of the car park above the Guildborne Centre – Jempics

Rodmell loop

From Rodmell via Southease, a loop of three miles
as the warmth returned once again
Us four with our boots
'neath the blue of a sky
walking to keep ourselves sane

There were sheep in the rape munching blithely away
and cows lowing there in the field
as the Ouse on the ebb
flowed out to the sea
in the heart of the Sussex Weald

This circuital wander, just enough for us four
to brush all the cobwebs away
and see us all well
for a marvellous time
on this lovely warm late April day

©Jemverse

Photo – looking east towards the Ouse valley from Rodmell, East Sussex – Jempics

Ancient yet familiar

No. 17 in the ‘Past to Present’ series

From the Saltings 'cross old oyster beds
the town of Shoreham lay
steeped in ancient history
and yet familiar today

The Norfolk (then suspension) bridge
to fore of course long gone
and the brewery chimneys now replaced
by newer builds upon

The High Street of the new town
with St Mary's to the rear
a town that lives in history
which we all hold so dear

©Jemverse

[Photo – from a postcard in the author’s collection – circa. 1912. Shoreham-by-Sea viewed from ‘The Saltings’ bank of what is now the new Mackley’s sea defence wall adjacent to the Houseboat community on the river Adur; Shoreham Beach side]

Climping Beach

Walked a five mile loop in a landscape
aliens seemed to have sculpted
strange tall structures there on the beach
descriptive words here prompted
The sun shone bright in April warmth
on slow receding tide
as we four wandered on the sand
and those tall structures spied

Erosion with the mighty hand
of nature's winter force
slamming tidal waves into
the old wood there of course
And yet on crystal days
like today at Climping here
this sculpting of a beachfront
brought to us four joy and cheer

©Jemverse

Photo – Climping beach, West Sussex – Jempics

Good Friday Wanders

The sun shone on Good Friday morn
as we went walking for some fun
Two sisters, father and a dog
as this good day has just begun
Started in fair Arundel
then through the castle ground
up through the South Stoke country park
where marvellous things were found

Views that took our breath away
with skies of deepest blue
this was a time to revel in
which we all four there knew
As it happened the eight miles we planned
turned into something more
though none of us we minded
with the wondrous things we saw

But the Black Rabbit pub it was
a welcome thing to see
as down the river path we came
footsore and thirsty we
Some fourteen miles of Sussex
for a walk which was the best
though when back home for buns and tea
we welcomed then the rest

©Jemverse

Photo – Jempics

Et Voila!

Dog walkers walking with plenty of dogs
some running free some on leads
the river meandering down to the sea
with ducks hiding there in the reeds

A grey sky above but the chill is now gone
and there's no wind at all here today
There's even a hint of blue through the cloud
out there in the spread of the bay

The fishermen's cottages so often filmed
are prominent there on the cliff
as we with best foot forward walk
with legs from winter, stiff

And this is a day of the magical kind
the ones with a 'je ne sais quoi'
for joie de vivre, for zest and much more
the one's to shout loud 'et voila!'

©Jemverse

Photo – the Ouse valley at Cuckmere Haven, East Sussex – Jempics

Berwick to Charleston

We walked from Berwick Station
hardy throng against the wind
forging through the countryside
no need here for chagrin
For this was long awaited
a walk for birthday treat
in a February Sussex
with the snowdrops looking sweet
A few miles along the Pilgrim Path
to Charleston House near Firle
with smiles of cheer on all our minds
and on our lips a curl

©Jemverse

Photo – Jempics

Blue Brighton

Brighton pier was glowing blue
as the waves fell to the shore
as we all six up on the prom
watched it and asked for more
And that we got in spades
as we always do right here
in Brighton on the Sussex coast
beside its famous pier
Even precipitation didn't
much get in the way
as the beauty was so evident
at the evening of this day

©Jemverse

Photo – Jempics

Back to a fall from grace III

3 of 12 in the ‘About Brighton’ series

I found it on the high tide line
after a night of fire
the grand old lady of the sea
destroyed by spite and ire
Never proved but always known
her final hours presumed
the work of arsonists with flame
the pier now lost, consumed

Yet carried on an ebbing tide
along the coast to me
a memory of those boards I trod
now rescued from the sea
And though her grandeur now has gone
complete her fall from grace
Brighton’s West Pier always will
in history have a place

©Jemverse

Series photo is from the front cover of a First Edition of a book by Antony Dale from 1951

On 28 March 2003 the pavilion at the end of the derelict West Pier in Brighton caught fire. Always presumed to have been the work of arsonists, yet never proven, it was still the final death knell for the grand old lady. Opened back in 1866 and surviving two world wars, the pier was sadly closed to the public in 1975. However, I still have fond memories of walking its promenade decks back in the 60s and early 70s. Who knows, I could have trodden the very board fragment I rescued and which now has pride of place in my back garden.

['A fall from grace III' was first published in October 2016]