Firle Beacon

The intention was to head to Pevensey Marshes and then to go up onto the South Downs later.

But 5 minutes into our journey I got a call from the care company who help my mum and dad in the morning. No electricity, no heating. Aaagh !

So we turned into Firle village and its car park, so that I could ring my brother. Explained the position to him, and left it to him to try and sort out. None of us live near, but prior to meeting friends for lunch he would see what he could sort out. 

Change of plan, such a glorious day we decided to go up to the Firle Beacon car park and walk a little of the South Downs Way from there. It was fabulous. Big skies, the rolling Down (with the remains of neolithic barrows), in one direction glorious views of Sussex, and in the other the glinting sea. There were very few people around, and lots of space (extra). These three young ladies on a run counted as the biggest crowd we saw. 

We had a look at Pevensey Marshes in the afternoon. By then clouds had gathered and it was a bit bleak, but interesting nonetheless. Although a triple SSSI there is a real problem with floating pennywort, an invasive species which has found its way into the waterways from North America via discarded pond plants people have tipped in. It can grow 20cm a day and blocks out all other growth so has to be managed (extra)