Berwick to Eastbourne - 11.6 miles

It was a rather shaky start to the walk as with the Jubilee line being cut off for engineering works, Phil and I had to make a detour to get to Victoria. As I had not slept the night before, I managed to somehow travel up and down the same line before I noticed I was on the wrong train. On top of that, it was fairly overcast when we began our walk.

After a little faffing when we got to Berwick, we finally got started on the walk when we hit the reservoir. It was very still, apart for a lone angler who was flyfishing and a train of ducks who swam by languidly.





Me (musingly): Isn't it funny they just swim in a row? Like they're in school?

Dr Phil (scientific explanation at hand): I think it's something to do with minimal wind draft and water resistance.

Me (eyes glazed over):.....

Exiting the reservoir, we began a rather difficult and if I might say so, unpleasant part of the walk. We had to wade past grass that came up to our hips while trying to follow a barely distinct path. The only way to get through it was to knee-lift all the way, which was hard work.



Not long after, we came across the first of many tricky stiles. The stiles along this route were either broken and therefore unstable, had jagged edges, or were flanked closely by live electric wires or barbed wire. How could they allow this? The Singaporean part of me was aghast. Someone could slip and fry themselves quite easily.



Some poor cow was left behind.



But there were moments, where we caught a glimpse of something delicate and pretty.





After that, it was still over another stile with electric fences and across a railway track with live rails. We constantly seemed one step away from an electrocuted exit.



We caught our first glimpse of the Long Man, a male outline with a staff in each hand. This hill figure of English chalk is an iconic image of ancient landscape, with a mysterious origin. At 69 m tall, he is the second largest ancient human figure in the world, after the Giant of Attacama, Chile (120 m).



"Many dates have been suggested for the Long Man. Some argued for the Neolithic because there is a large long barrow on the hill above, and what were thought to be flint mines (although these now seem more likely to be later chalk or flint pits). Others have been tempted by an Iron Age ‘Celtic’ attribution, although on no more secure basis than a rather general similarity to other hill figures, particularly the White Horse of Uffington, the form of which closely resembles horses on Late Iron Age coins."

Read more about it here.



It did feel like we went through quite a trial and emerged in time for the last order of lunch at the Giant's Rest.



The Giant's Rest was a delightful pub. I ordered the Mediterranean Fish Stew, which was creamy and delicious and came with two large slices of crusty cheesy toast. Johnny and Phil had the Ploughman's Lunch. It was an unanimous verdict that this was the best lunch we've had on all our walks so far.

Well done to the staff of the Giant's Rest!



A quick ciggie break is well deserved.



After lunch, all looked much brighter. The walk became far more pleasant with pretty, quaint cottages with thatched roofs and colourful blooms.







Soon we reached fields of corn and the rolling plains of the South Downs.









If you scrutinise the poster, you'd see that what is missing is a falcon. This region is known for its appreciation for aviary.

Dr. J : Haha, bet you need an eagle eye to find him.



We even managed to spot a few cottontails. These bunnies are so adorable. They're mostly brown, but when they start hopping, they flash their white butts at you like a can-can dancer showing her bloomers. I've yet to snap a bunny in de flagrante though.

We continued to climb up towards the ridge.





And these were rather unexpected! Lamas! For some reason, lamas are just funny creatures.



We also came across a rather lovely pony, but it was still plain we were in Tory land, as these fields were crisscrossed with live wires.



It would also be an area where terrier racing and hunting are much loved.





We nipped into the village of Jevington, oddly civilised for its notorious smuggler's past.



After a slow climb up to the ridge, the winds blew hard. There were still many people out walking their dogs. The English love walks, their dogs and wellies.



Finally, over the ridge, we can see the shorelines of Eastbourne.



We were definitely dragging our feet around the town of Eastbourne to the station. I was snoozing on the way on the train.

Ground Level: Project Enlighten in Myanmar

Sometimes the problems seem so huge, the obstacles so insurmountable. It's all you can do to strap on your boots.

So it gives me great hope and joy to see this. Project Enlighten has managed to get past the military junta to bring aid directly to the people who need it.

With $ US 12, 000, they managed to bring supplies of clothing, food, medicine, plastic covers for shelter, family tents, two large pumps and engines to clean village wells. That small amount of money helped 13,622 people!

















Photos provided by Project Enlighten


Read Lisa's Blog here and this article for a more detailed account.



All I can say is EVERY LITTLE BIT COUNTS!

Ducks, docks and the Dickens with it - 8 miles

As the usual suspects were scattered hither and yonder, I was left to my devices this weekend. Thankfully, I managed to coerce a new walker, Cara (aka Tom to civilised folks) to join the ranks. We met at Tower Hill station, and with a nod to the section of the London Wall, a single, mighty fortification that once surrounded the Roman and medieval cities, we started on our way.

As cheesy as it is, I love this part of London. I remember coming back on the bus from Stansted Airport recently, and watching all the half-asleep tourists who were so far unimpressed by London, suddenly jerk upright in excitement at the sight of the Tower Bridge's gaudy follies and the brutal immensity of the Tower of London. I thought rather smugly to myself, "You will be impressed, damn you!"





Near the modern urbanity of London's financial centre, these monuments are a vivid reminder of London's colourful past. History is not so much covered over in this city, but laid layer atop layer. On one's wanders, it's possible to catch a surprising glimpse of a previous time, and lest we keep moving, it's possible to lose oneself in the past.

The path led us into St Katherine's Docks which were opened in 1828. This area consists an interconnected route of docks, bridges and wharves built in the Georgian era by Thomas Telford, in order to service the smaller ships and vessels which transfered goods from larger ships at West India and East India docks further east. With my penchant for boats, I started to get quite excited.







Apart from the basins and bridges themselves, the streets, buildings and even layout are very much steeped in the history of the development of the river and its relationship to the city's inhabitants. As we headed towards Wapping, we walked past former warehouses turned into pubs, old bases for Port of London Authority and wharf warehouses with their old cranes intact turned into chi-chi residential flats or offices.





But despite the clean up and makeover, this area's salacious and scandalous past was still evident. We walked past pubs with famous ghostly patrons such as Captain Bligh and Fletcher Christian before the mutiny on the Bounty, Captain Blood who stole the crown of Charles II and flattened it with a hammer to make it easier to hide, and Captain Kidd, naval officer turned pirate.

Yo ho ho.. The idea of sailing on the open sea is terribly attractive.

Along this little street, every now and then, there would be a little tiny alley that allowed entry to the water's edge. Many of these, such as Old and New Wapping Steps would lead to Execution spots where crowds in the 17th and 18th century could watch public executions of mutineers and pirates, including aforesaid Captain Kidd.



The Prospect of Whitby, which claims to be London's oldest riverside pub, not only had famous patrons such as Charles Dickens and Samuel Pepys, but still kept the old gallows of its colourful past. Ironically, it swings in parallel to the famous Canary Wharf building. I'm sure many fortunes were hung there too.



After passing the old London Docks, we turned into Shadwell Basin. Shadwell's location determined its place in early history with Roman fortifications built here against Saxon pirates. Currently, it's been prettied up a bit, and even feature the "Gherkin" in its backdrop.



It existed mostly as a fishing village until the 17th and 18th century. The explorer and seafarer Captain James Cook lived here in the 1760s. It was a pleasant surprise to see these young uns keeping up the tradition.



The walk looped back towards St Katherine's docks alongside a rather dingy canal, past some urban blocks, an old Tobacco factory and the Hermitage Basin, an old disused pool of water.



Cara, who refused to hold the book for more than a minute, was however quite useful at pointing out ducks.

"Ducks!" he pointed. "Ducks!"

I started to worry he might be making fun of my previous excitement over pheasants.

"Baby ducks!" he pointed, gleefully.

Oh wow, now who wouldn't get excited over that!?



Back at St Katherine's Docks, we were ravenous and nipped into the Dickens pub for some grub. This pub has three sections of restaurants split over its multi-storey warehouse capacity. We ended up in the Sunday roast section where we had a large yorkshire pudding, roast chicken, roast potatoes and cauliflower and cheese. It was a huge portion. It must have been 4 times the size of a human stomach.



After lunch, we retraced (waddled) part of the way to Wapping and onto the riverside walk. Much of this area still bears the marks of the the 200 years monopoly of the East India Company's trade from the Far East. Along this area, the company built wharfs, warehouses and housing for its employees, as well as shipbuilding and repair yards.



As we enter the Isle of Dogs, so named for when Henry VIII kept his hunting dogs in this area, we came across this rather pretty pub.



But be not fooled by its innocuous appearance, this pub was frequented by Dickens and was even described in Our Mutual Friend (as the Six Jolly Fellowship Porters). The pub has a narrow riverside balcony which at high tide was like being afloat in the water. At one point in time, a ladder led from the balcony to thirsty watermen in their wherries and provided discreet transfer of stolen or smuggled goods. The pub also had a reputation for getting clients drunk and then rowing them out to the river and throwing them over board. The next day, their bodies would be collected and sold for anatomical experiments.

Hmm, you'd be truly wasted there.

Across the street, a large iron sculpture of a herring gull stands on a coil of rope.



It was back to the waterside. Apartment buildings have appeared in recently years with their gleaming aluminum features, dramatic lines and inflated prices.







We paused at the benches by the riverside Sir John McDougall Gardens. There's something about those benches, they're ergonomically curved to support your neck when you slide down on them. In the sunshine, Cara and I sat quite dozily for a while before reluctantly peeling ourselves up.

As we entered the Docklands, recently reclaimed and refurbished into London's new financial centre, the aspirational assertions of 20th century capitalism are evident.





New buildings are still being erected while technologies attempt to scale the heights.





Far from being a cold, financial centre, the Docklands were buzzing on a Sunday with London's young urban crowd out for a drink and a meal.





This is where we see most vividly in contrast the past and the present. The SS Robin, a surviving example of a dirty British coaster from the 1900s, is moored beneath beneath the metallic sail of a futuristic architectural feat.



The old wharfs are transformed into the new audio-visual museum of the Docklands.



Even the old barbed defences of the old Wall are speared with the taste of the present.