The High Lord of Southwick is a sturdy outdoorsy type of nobleman, so the New Year's Day entertainment of strapping on the walking boots and enjoying Millbrook's lovely environs with our honoured guest seemed like a mighty fine idea. As indeed it was.
The first thing we spotted of interest was a small group of tufted ducks paying a winter visit to the lake. (Stop yawning, non-bird watchers at the back). What might the collective noun for tufted ducks be? A back-comb of tufted ducks, perhaps?
We marched purposefully around Hancock's Creek in the barely-above-freezing temperatures and brilliant sunshine that marked the beginning of 2010...
...before stopping to admire the first group of avocets that Mrs The Millbrooker and I have ever spotted on the tidal creek at Lower Anderton (there's often hundreds of them upriver at the estuary end of the Lyhner where you can only see them from a boat).
A right turn just beyond Dexter's Cottages put us on the climb towards Maker church.
A swift descent of Hooe Lake Valley, and the bright blue vista of the Sound and breakwater awaited.
We marched purposefully around Hancock's Creek in the barely-above-freezing temperatures and brilliant sunshine that marked the beginning of 2010......before stopping to admire the first group of avocets that Mrs The Millbrooker and I have ever spotted on the tidal creek at Lower Anderton (there's often hundreds of them upriver at the estuary end of the Lyhner where you can only see them from a boat).A right turn just beyond Dexter's Cottages put us on the climb towards Maker church.A swift descent of Hooe Lake Valley, and the bright blue vista of the Sound and breakwater awaited.
A brief saunter along the Minadew...
...and so to, arguably, the best view of the day.
Ah, yes, Kingsand's own Rising Sun, which was packed to the rafters with New Year's Day hair-of-the-doggers. Including our new friend Snakebite Trace who was demurely occupying a small corner of Mr Moore's fine establishment. Snakebite Trace regaled us with tales of heroic snakebite consumption on the day of England's win in the rugby world cup and revealed her birthplace to have been only a few doors away from Millbrooker Towers. Small world innit?
After a brief sojourn in The Riser, we took our leave and marched over the pathways bypassing Grenville Battery before crossing Maker Camp on the homeward stretch and the obligatory photo opportunity of a house guest at the Maker viewpoint.
After a brief sojourn in The Riser, we took our leave and marched over the pathways bypassing Grenville Battery before crossing Maker Camp on the homeward stretch and the obligatory photo opportunity of a house guest at the Maker viewpoint.There was another treat in store that evening, but I'll save that for another time...
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