Arundel

Arundel must be one of my favourite places around here. It has everything: a castle (with a Duke and his family still living in it), a cathedral, a lake and lots of little quirky things to see. In fact, I have so much to share about Arundel that I will probably not be able to do it all in one blog! The castle warrants it's own blog, as does the cathedral!

Town Centre

The town centre
Long ago there was a well from which the owner sold drinking water to the citizens and made himself a pretty penny.

The buildings show their medieval heritage.
The checker pattern told illiterate peasants that a butcher worked there. One has an anvil at the top to indicate a blacksmith's shop.

The road from town centre towards the castle. One of the steepest main streets in the south of England!

Looking back from the top, down towards the town centre

View of the castle from outside the grounds

Other buildings near the town centre. Just some of them...

The Post Office. Not an original halftimber but a fairly modern one built in a style to fit in.

Our favourite tea room. Earlier in its history it was a stable.

The most interesting shop as it contains everything from a flea to an elephant!
Also, one of the few &Daughters shops I've ever seen (it usually is &Sons)

Ruins of Black Friar Priory by the river Arun, at the foot of the castle.

Walking to the lake from the castle

To walk from the castle to the lake behind it, you can pick one of two options - the short walk and the long walk.

The short walk

The short walk is following the road between the castle and the lake. I am rubbish at guessing distances, but it is not very far. It is a beautiful walk with lots to see on the way there.

The entrance into the castle, at the bottom of the hill (Retha)

The path next to the road, with a canal on the side of it.

A glimpse of the castle from the path

Arriving at Swanbourne Lake

The long walk

Taking the road up the hill, past the cathedral, you cut across the park, past the folly, cross the tracks where the racehorses are exercised, climb over the style, walk along the gravel road (slightly longer) or slip-slide down the slope (slightly shorter) to get to the other end of the lake. Definitely the choice for the fitter amongst us, but also offers beautiful views and a bit of exercise to boot!

A misterious wooden 'castle' that peeks over the wall (Retha)

View down one of the streets towards the sea

View of the cathedral as you walk past (Marianna)

Hmmm... I thought I had a photo of the lych gate, the folly and the style, but no. So here we are almost at the lake!

I like trees! Another lovely one!

Some sheep taking shelter from the sun (ok, this doesn't happen a lot but it happened to be a warm day when this photo was taken!)

There are lots of birds on and around the lake. We often go there to feed the birds. The Bird and Wetlands Sanctuary is just next door.

Bosham

This little village is one of the prettiest villages just around the corner from us! With loads of interesting places and stories, too.
Just for clarification (because I always got it wrong in the beginning and the locals are fairly pernicular about the pronunciation of the name): it is pronounced like Bozzum and not like Bosh-ham!

Bosham Church

You can read a bit about the history of the church on the church's website.

(Ian and Elna)

View of church from harbour (Retha)

The 12th Century font (Retha)

Gravestones in churchyard (Retha)

It is said that the knights of the old days, when they returned from the Holy Wars, landed at Bosham and their first stop would be at Bosham Church. It would be unheard of to bring a sharp sword into the church but equally unheard of to leave the swords outside. So they would blunt their swords on the doorposts of the church door. The crosses carved in the stone can still be clearly seen.

(Ian and Elna)

The Green

One of the most beautiful trees grows on the green in Bosham. The green overlooks the harbour (or I guess if you want to be technical it is a 'hoe' or another technical marine term. It is not quite the open sea and has lots of sail boats in it, so to me it is a harbour!) and makes for some lovely views and photos.

The beautiful tree

View towards the harbour from beneath the tree

Some boats... pretty.

A different view of the harbour

Canal between the church and the green

An interesting thing about Bosham is that it has a road that floods each high tide. Yes, the water rises deep over the road and if you left your car there and forgot about the tide, you will find it floating in the Bosham Hoe! If you don't believe me, watch this video.

The warning sign, on dry land during low tide

The same sign under water at high(er) tide (Ian and Elna)

Sometimes the high tide goes up high enough to flood the second road too. The houses have flood protection to the doors. Here I am standing by the door of one of the houses where you can see the flood wall.

(Devirani)

Along this same road there is walkway (for when it is high tide) with houses facing the sea. I do believe you pay through your nose for one of these (or for one anywhere in Bosham!). But they have lovelyy gardens.

Odds and ends

My dad was very amused to find this sign in a rural village car park!
And in pretty Bosham of all places...

Thatched roof with pretty edging.

The old Mill (now Yachting Club House)

Chichester

It has been ages since I've 'blogged'... I thought this might be a chance to reminisce a bit about the lovely area that we live in. So I am slightly changing tack on my previous (and fortunately long forgotten) blogs.

What is on offer in our lovely city of Chichester? Well, plenty!

The Cross

The main meeting point in Chi is The Cross. As Chi has 4 main roads (North, South, East and West) that cross each other more or less in the middle of Chi, it makes sense to meet there!

Chichester Market Cross 2006

The Cross was built around 1501. Bishop Story paid £10 for the land it is built on. I have heard that he was fed up with the women of the city trading in the cathedral or on the grounds and built the cross to give them their own place to trade from.

Chichester Cathredral

Read more about the Cathedral in the blog 'Chichester Cathedral'.

Every 'tour' of Chi I've taken friends and family on, have included the Cathedral!

View of the cathedral from city walls (Ian and Elna)

Over the fields from Hunston

Building work on the cathedral started in 1076 and it was only in 1108 that Bishop Luffa was able to dedicate the building.
One thing that I find fascinating is that the spire had collapsed in 1861 and had to be rebuilt (completed in 1866).

The cathedral is a real treasure trove. Many pieces of art have been commissioned over the years. Here are some...

Miserichords (choir stalls)
As the choir members rest their bum on these, they often depict
monsters and demons or things that deserve disrespect!

The famous Chagall window

John Piper tapestry

'Do not touch me' painting
Apparently a lady objected to a painting of Mary Magdeline in the  church
and stuck her umbrella through the painting (the brown dot at the
bottom of the stairs, left)

The Bishop's Garden is beautiful and enclosed by the original walls around the city.

The walls

It is possible to walk around the city mostly on the original walls that were built in the Roman times.

Walls by Priory Park (Retha)

(Ian and Elna)

Priory Park

Another favourite place to visit,

View of cathedral, Guildhall and old castle (motte & bailey) from the walls

A spot of cricket, featuring DS and walls in background

A Medieval Festival in Priory Park with reenactments...

Heavy chain mail!

Other stuff

A few of the other interesting things Chi has to offer.

The original Shippams sign (Retha)

Old Cross Pub (Retha)

Used to be the MacciD's. Now Next. (Retha)

The Swallow Bakery has the best cupcakes in the world! (Retha)

Clarks shop sign (Retha)

Memorial Garden (Retha)

(Retha)