Country walk: Steep Down
Walking these 3 miles (4.9kms) six years ago in summer took me through poppyland with the crimson flowers stretching far and wide as in Flanders Field.
Of course, they are not there at the moment in those corn fields, but the memory lingers on as we approach another Remembrance Day next month.
The remoteness of these chalky hills also reminded me of the countryside in France and Belgium which I visited a few years ago where my father had fought in the First World War in places such as Vimy Ridge.
Park roadside at TQ162080 along the minor road between Sompting Abbots and Steyning.
Walk east along the track for 500 yards ignoring a turn right, to four crossways under power cables and then turn right, then immediately right fork.
This takes you up over Steep Down with its spot-height of 149 metres.
Here with its view all around one can dwell on the beauty of our landscape which was not invade and churned into deep mud and shellholes as it was in the WWI battlefields.
Very ancient battles may have raged here during Roman and Viking invasions and as the tribes of Neolithic and Bronze and Iron Ages may have quarrelled.
Yet this hilltop like most others in Sussex was once also a sanctuary and holy place for the dead to be remembered.
The poppies I saw in 2014 could have been descendant of those flowers known to our ancestors.
For them poppies were a reminded of rebirth and everlasting life.
Ancient Egyptians placed poppy seed in the pyramid tombs as an icon and practical symbol of fertility for the journey beyond to symbolise how nature was far-reaching in its creation of new blood and new life.
An example of this fertility that became a symbol is the fact that each poppy plant can be capable of making ten thousand seeds.
It can lie in the ground for fifty years at least, waiting to spring into life.
The treasures unearthed on this hill by archaeologists are now in Worthing Museum where you can see for instance the five-gallon cooking pot, hoard of axe heads, and amber beads which were unearthed.
Continue over the hill and southwards to the bottom where you will come to a cross-dyke where turn right along it.
These define the boundaries of religious sites as well as being sued as defensive places during the several thousand years of re-occupation.
My walk follows a right-handed triangle which you can see on my map.
Limestone shrubs include wayfaring trees which have been one of the special natural may-markers of ancient trackways over the South Country for many centuries past.
Thick hedges on the open downs are very attractive to birds passing through on migration as they provide sanctuary for even only a few minutes where they can rest and gather strength again.
As you walk on north around the hill you rejoin your outgoing path.
On the way you will pass the smaller, ancient earthwork on your right and see the seven hectares of downland turf where such species as salad burnet and sheep’s fescue grow.
Turn left at the junction back to your electric car.