Day 9 - Back on the GMT Line
It’s a rest day on Tour De Sussex’ 2024. A four hours drive from Long Eaton back to Lewes, followed by a relaxing lie down in front of the tele and re-energising the inner gut with loads of veggie pasta and garlic bread pretty much sums up the report. See you then after the earth completes its rotation for the day!
Day 10 - Back in the old Home Town
Back in Burgess hill this morning. Again. Yes! I know I am the only one to be excited about this place but you would be too if you had all the weird and wonderful things happening to you in this town. But what was more exciting than being back here, was to be back on the rolling hills on the way to this town.
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| Way to Wolstonbury |
Tracing the old path again, I walked up to the top of the Wolstonbury hill. The same old hill, the same old path, the same old valley view and the same old excitement every time! At the top of Wolstonbury, we sat down and shared some Sainsbury donuts, bought the day before. We fought a little as I complained I didn’t get an equal share of donuts and also the garlic bread the night before! Innocence was pleaded and I demanded compensation. So that was settled! An organised walking group climbed up and once the crowd passed, we said goodbye to the wolfy (the tree, in case you didn’t read the post or the book where the history behind the name is well documented !) made our way into the rabbit valley. Again, there is no such thing called the rabbit valley but that’s what I call this particular valley since my encounter with a large number of frolicking rabbits years ago! It has the most distinct curvy bowl shape, nicely nestled between the Wolstonbury hill on one side and a wild garlic forestry land on the other.
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| Rabbit Valley |
A nice walk results in a nice appetite. We walked back to my old apartment, examined my old balcony from a distance for a bit too long which might have appeared slightly suspicious. That is precisely when we walked up to the main street along the railway station, into the town and barged into my old friend - Susan’s house, exactly at lunch time, demanding lunch, obviously! It was a nice little reunion as a few other old faces joined in along with a couple of new ones i.e. my friends’ kids!
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| Pyramidal orchid on the hill |
After a lovely lunch (bagara rice and butter paneer, courtesy my fancy chef friends!) and a good laugh, we walked into my second most frequented (first, being the farm) place in Burgess hill i.e. the church ! My interest has never been in Virgin Mary though, it was in one of the headstones that belonged to a certain Mr. Walter Waterfall ! There is something about his lyrical name that never fails to amuse us ! And he was still there ! Unlike our Mr. Careless in Bramber who had simply disappeared ! What a relief and a joy !
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| Near the duck pond at the back of my old flat |
The old sycamore tree was there too, with its funny old moss growing in the helicopter seeds. The cemetery looked quite unkempt though, perhaps because of the sudden summer growth spurt. I have had many office lunches in the cosy bushes of blackberry here but now it looked way too bushy to be comfortable !
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| Dandelions and Daisies everywhere! |
Burgess hill has a nice green park, right beside the Amex office. We crossed the church and walked into this park. Local clubs were playing a cricket match. The other end of the park used to have a little cafe which if I remember correctly (the probability of which is pretty low!) was called, cafe by the park. They used to make lovely cakes, but my regular order here was scrambled eggs on toast and a pot of tea. There was something very simple and comforting about it ! That cafe was gone now, replaced by some other shop.
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| In front of the Bachelor's Farm Gate |
My next stop in Burgess hill was none other than the Bachelor’s Farm ! Right behind my old apartment, a narrow trail takes you to this farm. Oh, so many mornings and afternoons and dusks had been spent here! Every day of my week, when I was in the town, I would see at least an hour of me on this farm. I would walk up and down the farm, chat with the horses, check out the Clayton windmills on the distant hill top, sit under the water tower, watch the trains passing underneath the bridge that joins two pieces of the farmland, lie in the grass, read my books, make new dog friends and so much more !
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| Re-living the old days! |
The bachelors farm hasn’t changed. Except for one bit, where it now seemed to have planted some new fruit trees and put a fence around it. I sat there, in the farm for a while. The same old serenity prevailed here. Needless to say, I was overwhelmed with a strange emotion !
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