As we arrived at Cocking the heavens opened and we began to wonder if we had made the right decision. After 5 minutes wait to let the shower pass, we set off up the hill towards a rather black sky. Fortunately the black cloud moved well ahead of us and the sun came out.
We soon arrived at the Cowdray Estate famed for its game birds (we kept seeing them fly as we startled them) and the yellow paint they use on the woodwork of the estate cottages.
We walked in woods and meadows and when we could see the views they were fantastic.
As we reached Slindon and Bignor Hill we saw this rather modern 'Roman' signpost, where we joined Stane Street. The old Roman road follows the ridge and gave us great views along the Downs.
Roman road surface - Stane Street
We stopped for lunch close to this monument, taking in the views.
As the weather was still good, we stopped to do a spot of blackberrying. Having filled our bag we set off on the final couple of miles to Amberley Station. Even though we could see black rain clouds to the south over Chichester and to the north over the Weald for most of the walk, we had stayed mostly dry for almost 5 hours. We got all dressed up in our waterproofs once for just a couple of minutes of rain half way through, but luckily it didn't last. About a mile before the we left the South Downs Way for the short walk back to the station, the rain started, but fortunately it was fairly light.
After tea and cake in the café by the river we set off back to Cocking to collect the other car. Driving home through torrential rain showed us just how lucky we had been with the weather.
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