After the wet mild weather of late, there has been a change locally. The wind has gone into the North and the little Snowflakes falling on the forum Home Page I feel may soon be appearing for real around this way..
I went up onto the Downland for a wander, it's as beautiful as always but the North wind was cutting like a knife so I chickened out and came down to the nearby small Nature Reserve which adjoins the shoreline.
There was once a Mill here which served the Downland farmers who brought their grain harvests down for milling. The mill was operated by the ebb and flow of the sea tides running through the course of the old river which although no longer used as access to the nearby Port, still flowed strongly enough to turn the mill machinery.
A small thriving village surrounded the mill and a railway halt served both local passengers and goods trains collecting grain from the mill.
This is the remains of the railway 'station' and the Station Master's Cottage.
I'm happy to say there's some excavation going on and items of interest are being found.
The lovely Sussex round flint walls of the village finally suffered at the hands of soldiers when the village was finally evacuated during the war and used for training purposes. A Coastal gun battery was installed nearby.
The adjoining Nature Reserve has benefitted from the heavy rains, the Reed beds are thriving and already the annual punch-ups between the local Drakes sorting out potential mates are beginning..
The Willows stand happily with their feet in the flooded ground
Meanwhile a few hundred metres away the cargo ships arrive and depart and the balance between Man and Nature seems to be working well here..
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. Reminds me of the town of Essex, situated beside the Connecticut River in my state, where the same coexistence lives on by the shores, and in the Canfield Woods as well as Gillette Castle and Selden Neck State Parks that border the river. Full of history, personal watercraft, and wetland/estuary wildlife in a small town all rolled into one 