We’re heading out for the next section of the coastal walk today.. have breakfast and tidy kitchen then hit the road.. it’s becoming a bit of a long way to drive now, won’t be long before we head up to the M25 and back down! The roads are hellish especially from Brighton onwards, but eventually park up in Selsey Bill.

Wander back towards the lifeboat station then start walking in a clockwise direction.. the sun is shining and at there are only a few other people and their dogs wandering along in their new Christmas coats and jumpers!

The sea is out and as much as possible we walk on the pebbles and sand but the sea doesn’t go out quite as far as it does further back towards Bexhill and we struggle to climb the groins.

We make our way further up the beach where there are rather large boulders protecting the coastal houses which are largely just a little too close to the sea for my liking! Several have metal shutters on their windows – I gather there is a bit of a problem with the encroaching sea here!!

The boulders are somewhat green, slimy and slippery and at times we really struggle to scramble across them – would be impossible at high tide. There is no promenade or shops/cafes etc along the seafront which is disappointing.

It opens up at last as we pass by a yacht club, and a caravan park. There is evidence of major coastal works which I have read about and we are unsure whether we will be able to walk through to the Witterings.

On reaching the area recently acquired by the RSPB called Medmerry there is little interpretation to tell us whether we can carry on along the beach. It seems the area was flooded with a man made inlet from the sea as a coastal re-alignment project. The path leads inland with no signage saying how long it is so I call the RSPB nature reserve at Pagham Harbour. A lovely chap explains that the path around the perimeter of the reserve is 7 miles! And please don’t attempt to cross the inlet – thanks!

We wander down to the inlet which looks crossable at first sight but on doing the stone throwing test we realise is very deep. The sun is now low in the sky which is turning a glowing orange colour. Reluctantly we turn around and cut back across ‘The Bill’ to our car, the Witterings will have to be explored another day.