Beach

It was too nice to stay in. Though cold, the sun was shining brightly and the winds of the last few days had dropped. The beach beckoned. We hopped in the car, whizzed into Bognor and parked up by the pier (less than 10 mins from home).

The weather was showing the phenomenon that the Gorse Fox has often cited regarding a corridor of good weather between cloudy skies. He is convinced that the prevailing winds drive weather up the channel and the heat effect from the Isle of Wight breaks up the cloud. Some stays in the channel, the rest get trapped over the South Downs. In between we get this corridor of good weather.

Bognor Pier suffered badly in the winter storms back about 15 years ago. What's left is a shadow of its former glory, but it is still a landmark.

The esplanade was almost deserted, and we were able to stroll along at our own pace without dodging other people. The only exception was where the path narrowed and we arrived just as 75 (yes, really) dog walkers came the other way with their (numbered) charges. The Silver Vixen and the Gorse Fox just stood and waited to left them all pass. It wasn't quite clear where such a huge group had come from and why the dogs , of all kinds, were all numbered, but they were no problem.

It was obvious that there were several areas that had been swamped by the shingle in the recent storms. The shingle was quite deep in some places across the path. In the end it was clear that the route was becoming a bit too much of an assault course for the Silver Vixen so we turned round and called in to The Lobster Pot for cup of tea and a lovely seafood salad.

All in all this was a very, very, pleasant way to spend a couple of hours.