Photos:
0800 It’s August Bank Holiday Monday and I am off again. Destination Arundel. I’m stretching my 50@fifty rules because I’ve been to the town before but have never visited the cathedral or the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust reserve.
0830. Rather than take the train East to Basingstoke and doubling back to Winchester I try a different tactic by cycling the dozen or so miles to Winchester and ‘cut off the corner’. The roads are very quiet at this time though I do not expect the return journey to be so.
0951. The ride took about 80 minutes - too many dead straight roads – blame the Romans for that.
0958. The morning sun hasn’t warmed platform 2 at Winchester station and consequently it is rather chilly. I’m carrying a load of camera equipment in a large backpack in the hope that there will be some wildfowl to photograph. It’s rather bulky and pulling it up and down the hills has made me wish for one of those electric bikes.
1015. On the train. As we pass through the various stops it strikes me that all South West Train stations look the same, being blue, orange and cream colour scheme, metal benches and platform canopies with ‘dogtoothed’ wooden edging. Rather characterless compared with some of the stations I have seen on my travels.
1037. The train slides to a halt at Botley. I change at the next station – Fareham.
1043 Looking from the carriage, most of the fields seem to have been harvested leaving bales at evenly spaced intervals – cuboid or the squat cylinder shape.
1105. Switched to Southern Railway liveried train. The seats are not as comfortable as the SW Trains seats but the reason is hard to put my finger on, no pun intended!
1119 Sharing a seat with a group of teenagers who sit around talking enthusiatically about the merits of different rollerblade wheels. One chap whose arms are more tattoo than skin is overhauling the wheels on his – meticulously unscrewing the roller with an Allen key. Two girls squat cross-legged on the floor not talking and looking rather miserable, being ignored by the boys.
1217 Jump off the train with my trusty bike at Arundel and find it heaving - with two live bands, and market stalls. Somehow I don’t think this is put on for my benefit! There is something going on. I try to find some quieter back streets to photograph.
1221 The River Arun flowing through the town is a lovely river: deep, green and surprisingly fast flowing. I would like to walk along the bank someday but not today.
1250 After photographing some of the architecture in the town, which includes a giant pineapple (I kid you not), I make my way up to the top of the hill whereupon sits the Roman Catholic cathedral. This was built by the 15th Duke of Norfolk in the 1800’s in the neo-gothic style. Being younger than the average there is not as much to see as the older cathedrals, but it does have some interesting carved stone panels and an exhibition about the current restoration /repair of something called a ‘fleche’ which is a sort of mini-spire. Letting my eye wander over the description I see that the fleche has been rebuilt in Shepton Mallet – I did not expect that!
The other main claim to fame is an annual ‘carpet of flowers’ down the middle isle usually on some typically catholic theme like the Pope’s visit or some saint or other – I’m too late for this year's but there are photographs.
Exiting the cathedral and with time to spare I pop into St Nicolas’s C of E where there is an art exhibition. I like a penguin and a chameleon made out of cardboard!
Behind the altar is a wrought iron screen which divides the church in two and has played a part in the history of the church during the reformation. One half is inside the grounds of Arundel castle so by standing on the public side of the screen you can peer through to see the visitors circulating around the tombs of Dukes and Duchesses like fish in a goldfish bowl.
1315. Take lunch outside in the sun on a bench in the churchyard before making my way to the Wetlands centre.
1400. The place is understandably busy with families. I trail round a series of lakes and different habitats, snapping away at everything with a beak. They have packed in lots of species including several that are not native but seem perfectly happy and used to humans of course. I wonder what keeps them from flying away but then realise they have masses of food thrown at them by willing children...nuff said.
1717 I finally establish that all the goings-on today is part of the Arundel festival which reaches it’s climax today with a talent contest. I um and ah whether to stay or not but after two appallingly bad acts decide to take an earlier train home.
1855 Groan! Forgot about the ride back from Winchester! It’s dark now but at least the traffic is still light. Nearly kill myself on the pull up the hill through a village called Wherwell. Only the thought of bacon sandwiches for supper when I get home spurs me on.
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