
Pilgrimage
The purpose of this weblog is to link together all the pictures I have put up that were taken on the walks mentioned in my profile, as well as fieldnotes that relate directly to them.
The walks, dates, distances and sites encountered, were as follows:
(Well known sites not relevant to TMA have been put in brackets, so they are easy to ignore)
DAY ONE Wed 7/4/1999 Eastbourne – Alfriston 7.5 miles

Taken 7th April 1999, looking WNW from the top of the Bowl Barrow directly above the Long Man.
The mound in the immediate foreground is one half of the dug-out top of this barrow, though the picture is deceptive and makes it look like a mound in its own right.
Three bushes in the middle-distance are obscured by the Windover Long Barrow. This is the same length as the Long Man and points to the top of the figure.
Both barrows can be seen in the MM aerial image posted by kgd.
DAY TWO Sat 17/4/99 Alfriston – Southease 7 miles

The view East towards Windover Hill, home of the Long Man of Wilmington, from Long Burgh.
Taken 17/4/99

Long Burgh Long Barrow, with South Down’s Way in the foreground. Easy to miss if you aren’t looking for it!
Taken 17/4/99
Not an impressive Long Barrow, in terms of its definition within the landscape, but it does cover quite an area.
It occupies its own enclosure within scrub growth along the South Downs Way and is easy to miss. Stand upon it and look at the view east and it’s easy to see why it was put here.

The view north west from the Giant’s Grave Long Barrow on Firle Beacon. Lewes and Mount Caburn visible.
Taken 17/4/99

The Giant’s Grave Long Barrow on Firle Beacon, approaching on the South Downs Way from the south east.

The view east from the Giant’s Grave on Firle Beacon, looking towards Windover Hill, home of the Long Man of Wilmington, which is white due to a hail-shower that I had just walked through!
Taken 17/4/99
I’ve been to this place many times. The barrow itself is a little difficult to make out as a long barrow, once you are actually standing on it, but the view will make up for this!
The visit that stands out is when I reached it from the east on my walk of the South Downs Way on 17th April 1999.
I had reached Bo-Peep Bostal car park just as a hail and thunder storm started, and waited there for it to pass. Thinking it had passed, I carried on on my way, only to hear more thunder approaching just as I was approaching the Giant’s Grave. This meant I was in the middle of a thunderstorm and just about to reach the highest point for many miles around.
I stood there nervously, wondering whether or not to throw myself to the ground (This would have been very sensible I have since discovered!).
Eventually the thunder and lightening passed and I carried on. My photo of the Giant’s Grave was taken just as the clouds parted and the sun came out. I had miles of downland all to myself, as the storm had cleared the whole South Downs Way for two miles either way, as walkers legged it back to their cars.
Standing there on top of the barrow, relieved and completely on my own, with melting hail glistening in the surprisingly warm sun, was an incredible time, especially with the views of the Way for miles to the west that had just come into view as I reached the summit.
To the east Windover Hill was white with hail, as the storm had reached it by then.
Truly a memory worth getting wet for…
DAY THREE Sat 1/5/1999 Southease – Newmarket Inn (via Lewes) 10 miles

The view east from Kingston Barrow cemetery.
Kingston lower left. Lewes mid left.
The block of downland across the centre of the picture is the seperate downland massif with Mount Caburn at its southernmost point (far right in this picture)
Taken 1/5/99

One of the round barrows on the South Downs Way above Kingston, near Lewes.
Taken 1/5/99
A small collection of round barrows, of average size for this part of East Sussex, that lie at the junction between the South Down’s Way and the southern spur of the bostal from Kingston to the top of the ridge.
From here the view of Lewes and the surrounding area is beautiful. I can only assume some of the first chieftains of whatever settlement lay where Kingston is now were buried here.
In 1999 it is from this spot, while on my walk to Wiltshire, that I diverted from the South Down’s Way along the path to Kingston, to the grave of my grandfather in Lewes, taking a sprig of gorse to leave there.
DAY FOUR Sat 15/5/1999 Newmarket Inn – Pyecombe 8.5 miles
Ditchling Beacon Hillfort
themodernantiquarian.com/site/4891
DAY FIVE Tue 1/6/1999 Pyecombe – Truleigh Hill 5.5 miles
DAY SIX Wed 2/6/1999 Truleigh Hill – Washington 9 miles

Chanctonbury Ring from the West (In heavy rain!). June 1999
DAY SEVEN Mon 26/7/1999 Washington – Amberley 6 miles

A few miles West of Chanctonbury Ring, and also on the South Downs Way, this prominant ditch and bank straddles the path, and seems to be an Iron Age boundary marker, though I have been able to find little to confirm this.
To reach it head about 2 miles East, on the South Downs Way, from Amberley Train Station. In guides it can be found in the Washington to Amberley section.
DAY EIGHT Mon 2/8/1999 Amberley – Cocking 12 miles
DAY NINE Wed 18/8/1999 Cocking – Buriton 11 miles

Looking North West from the top of one of the Devil’s Jumps. August 1999

Looking South East from the top of one of the Devil’s Jumps. August 1999

The Devil’s Jumps from the South Downs Way. August 1999
An impressively sized Round-Barrow group that meets the South Downs Way at a right angle on the Cocking to Buriton stretch.
This is quite a remote section of the Way, so you have a fairly even choice of routes and can more or less guarantee peace once at the site.
Either walk East along the Way from the Harting Hill car park for about 4 miles, the more picturesque option which also passes Beacon Hill and Pen Hill, or West from Cockinghill car park for about 3 miles, which is probably the less tiring route.
There is an information sign near the barrows.
Beacon Hill Hill-Fort
DAY TEN Fri 20/8/1999 Buriton – Exton 12.5 miles
DAY ELEVEN Mon 23/8/1999 Exton – Winchester 12 miles

When I passed this site on the South Downs Way all I could see was this one mound, which looks like a round barrow. But it is referred to in the plural on the OS map and has a nearby pub named after it, so that’s good enough for me
(Winchester Cathedral)
(https://www.winchester-cathedral.org.uk/)
DAY TWELVE Wed 27/10/1999 Winchester – Broughton 12.5 miles
(Farley Mount)
(https://www.hants.gov.uk/countryside/fmcp/)
DAY THIRTEEN Thu 28/10/1999 Broughton – Salisbury 11 miles
(Salisbury Cathedral)
(https://www.salisburycathedral.org.uk/)
DAY FOURTEEN Wed 22/12/1999 Salisbury – Stonehenge 10 miles

Stonehenge from just north of Normanton Down. Winter Solstice 1999.

Trilithon Two in the rain. Winter Solstice 1999.

The Midsummer Solstice alignment.
Taken 8am, April 2000.

Inner face of Stone 53 (Trilithon Two), showing graffiti. Bronze Age carving of a dagger (left) and an axe-head (right) in lower half.
Taken April 2000.
DAY FIFTEEN Tue 25/4/2000 Stonehenge – Woodborough 16 miles
Stonehenge Cursus
themodernantiquarian.com/site/460
(Larkhill Artillery Range)
Marden Henge
themodernantiquarian.com/site/3967
DAY SIXTEEN Wed 26/4/2000 Woodborough – Avebury 8 miles

The view of the remains from the road between Honeystreet and Alton Barnes.
Taken at SU104618 26/4/00.
These are stuck in the middle of a field south east of Alton Barnes and you wouldn’t look twice at them normally. But the fact remains that these are the southernmost visible traces of this ancient route.
All you can see is some raised ridges in a field.
Just to the north you can actually join the Ridgeway for the first time (unless you feel like hopping into the field!) while walking through Alton Priors, at SU110622, though the official beginning of the Southern Ridgeway is signposted just north of the village, at the start of the climb up to Adam’s Grave (SU110623).


View from Adam’s Grave across the Vale of Pewsey, towards Salisbury Plain. April 2000
The Sanctuary
themodernantiquarian.com/site/3354
Avebury Avenue
themodernantiquarian.com/site/697



Inside West Kennet. April 2000.
Two candles, despite being irresponsibly left, created an eerie effect!
DAY SEVENTEEN Wed 31/5/2000 Avebury – Swindon 15 miles
(County Ground centre-spot, Swindon)
(https://dspace.dial.pipex.com/town/park/yfh45/swindon.htm)
DAY EIGHTEEN Tue 8/8/2000 Swindon – Foxhill (Via Barbury Castle) 15 miles
DAY NINETEEN Mon 14/8/2000 Foxhill – Uffington 5.5 miles
Wayland Smithy
themodernantiquarian.com/site/68
Uffington Castle
themodernantiquarian.com/site/66
Dragon Hill
themodernantiquarian.com/site/304
DAY TWENTY July 2001 Salisbury Cathedral – Teffont Magna
DAY TWENTY-ONE July 2001 Teffont Magna – Mere
(Mere Long Hill)
(https://www.merecastle.freewire.co.uk/index.html)
DAY TWENTY-TWO August 2001 Mere – Ansford
(Stourhead)
(https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/scripts/nthandbook.dll?ACTION=PROPERTY&PropertyId=324)
DAY TWENTY-THREE August 2001 Ansford – Wells
(Wells Cathedral)
(https://www.wellscathedral.org.uk/)
DAY TWENTY-FOUR 22/9/2001 Wells – Glastonbury
Chalice Well
themodernantiquarian.com/site/660
Glastonbury Tor