6th November - Sidelsham - Selsey, West Sussex

The last time we had been to the Crab and Lobster at Sidelsham was January 2019, when the world was a very different place.  What happened in between contrived to delay a return, but this weekend saw us return and on Saturday morning set out on the familiar walk that we had not done for nearly three years.

It was an overcast and quite breezy morning, but it was dry and the recent lack of rain contributed to a pleasant walk from Sidelsham Quay when normally the path can be quite muddy.  The tide was rising but there was still quite a bit of mud visible.  The calls of Curlew rang out across the marsh, the curlew remaining out of sight amongst the vegetation that covered the marsh.  Reaching the sluice we were able to find a few along with Redshank and a couple of Little Egret.

We walked through the visitor centre, small changes implemented by the RSPB, more buildings and improved toilets, the feeders were occupied by Great and Blue Tits and many Goldfinches and Greenfinches.

We walked past the new Ferry Hide, which is impressive, but still over looks the Ferry Pool with huge trucks passing all the time.  The water in the ferry was high and the most numerous birds on the pool were Shoveler that occupied the shore line of the pool.  By the sluice a Little Grebe was fishing close in.  I turned back to get a better view of the grebe and noticed a falcon coming low and fast along the long pool.  It was small and as I got on it I could see this was a merlin, lacking the long tail of the Kestrel and probably a male with a blue, slate grey back.  It scattered all the duck and then from the grass, Lapwing.  I watched as it sped through, finally losing it as it crossed the field.  This was the best view I have had of a Merlin for a very long time and already the walk was a success.

We set off alongside the Long Pool, another major change was the improvements to the footpath.  All the large holes that held mud and water have been filled in and the walk that used to be quite treacherous at this time of year was pleasant and you could take in the surroundings which included this little group of Starlings perched on the dead branches.

 With the tide rising the duck were moving, but mostly at distance until this lone Shelduck flew overhead

The path then opens out and you get wide views across the harbour.

Looking at Pagham Harbour today, a normally a vast expanse of mud flats, saltings and reed beds, covered by the sea for only a few hours each day - it is difficult to conceive that this was, back in the 13th Century, England’s ninth biggest port.

However, the recorded history of the harbour precedes this. The Romans landed here in AD46, when the extent of the harbour was much greater than today, on their way to establishing the town of Noviomagus Regnorum - modern day Chichester. The site of a Roman Villa and the remains of a Roman road have both been discovered nearby

The fortunes of Pagham Harbour as a port began to wane after 1341, when some 2700 acres of land had been “over floyed by the sea”, and from 1401 Pagham ceased to be listed as a port. Changes to the shingle bank at the harbour mouth - which changes continue to the present day - probably obstructed much maritime traffic. Nevertheless, the quay at Sidlesham continued to be used by barques bringing corn to Sidlesham Mill.

Earlier visitors included the Vikings, who were raiding the Sussex coast towards the end of the 9th Century.  Following the battle of Hastings in 1066, the Norman conquerors established several settlements along the South Coast, which included a castle at Church Norton, for the protection of Pagham Harbour. The earthwork remains of this are visible today

In its long history, Pagham Harbour has seen many attempts at land reclamation – some successful, some not. The first may have been towards the end of the 13th Century, when a wall was built between Pagham and Sidlesham.  By 1340, however, it appears that the sea wall had been breached, leading to the loss of some 2700 acres back to the sea. By 1755 more land was reclaimed to the Northern and Eastern sides of the harbour. By 1778, maps of the time show the built Pagham Wall at the North end (North Wall) of the harbour. Between 1805 and 1809 Lord Selsey built a strong bank to prevent the flooding of these fields, which provided, for the first time, a mostly dry roadway to Selsey (now the B2145).

Looking north you get great views of the village of Sidelsham and here the old Quay.

There had been a mill at Sidlesham for centuries until about 100 years ago, when the last and greatest mill of all was demolished. It is not known exactly when the first mill was built. The first written account was of a mill at Sidlesham.  A survey was carried out in 1587 “with a View to the Defence against Foreign Invaders” – that is, in anticipation of the Spanish Armada – which resulted in the preparation of a map, this shows a mill on the present site.  It is also known that customs men were stationed at Sidlesham in the 1680s, presumably on account of the sea-borne trade in corn and flour to and from the mill. Smuggling was also rife in the area at the time.

The Granary, the building seen face on in the photograph, which, according to a plaque set in the wall was built in 1723, stood either side of the miller’s house – now, the Old Mill House.  The customs house – now known as Quay House is to the right of the Granary.  Here also stood the village hostelry, the Crown Inn, fronting the harbour. This Inn became so notorious as a rendez-vous of smugglers that its licence was forfeited and transferred to an Inn of the same name in Selsey, and was later demolished.

In 1755 the mill was rebuilt as a tidal mill, this operates on the principle of the incoming tide entering an upstream mill pond through a sluice gate, which is closed at high water. After a period of time on the falling tide, another sluice gate is opened to allow the water to flow out of the mill pond. This flow of water would drive the water wheels, which in turn drove the mill wheels which ground the corn, for several hours. Tide mills had the great advantage over windmills in that the source of power - the tide – was both dependable and predictable. However, a disadvantage was that the hours of operation were constantly changing, as high tide times vary in line with the phases of the moon. Thus the miller had no choice but to work a schedule entirely dictated by the times of the tide.

Around 1850 the then owners, Clark and Kiln doubled the capacity of the mill by the introduction of steam power. The coal for the boilers was stored in what is now the boathouse, at the eastern end of Sidlesham Quay.

Over the remaining years of the 19th Century, it seems that the conversion to steam-driven milling was insufficient to arrest the fall in trade, particularly as the carriage of corn and coal by sea was no longer possible. The mill ended its useful life around 1900 and the buildings fell into decay.

All that remains today are the quayside and the mill’s foundations enclosing a grassy site adorned by two oak seats provided by the Parish Council to commemorate the Queen’s silver and golden jubilees, which afford residents and visitors superb views across the harbour

The tide was rising quite quickly and as we approached Church Norton Curlew were feeding in the deeper water close in.

Another photo for my black & white portfolio.

At Church Norton we could still make it to the bench on the raised shingle bank although the tide was rising.  Waders were looking to occupy any available piece of land, here a long line probably on the old metal work.

While others Dunlin, Ringed Plover and Grey Plover were using the old bank as a refuge.

The view looking south from the shingle bank, the tide beginning to cover all the salt marsh and the moody clouds reflecting in the still calm water.

Close up the water was rising slowly but steadily.

Teal flew across our path into the pools on the other side of the beach.  There were also a few Redshank feeding in the still exposed mud.

Walking up and onto the shingle beach there was a yacht on the shoreline.  It was listing and water was coming through the hull.  As always the stricken boat attracted several photographers, so of course I had to take a photograph.

A little further along another moody sky created by the sun shining brightly through the thinner could.

While the sea was not rough the high tide was sending quite forceful waves along the beach, dragging the shingle as the waves rolled along the beach.

We walked along the beach and then on to the sea wall heading for Selsey.  On the beach there were several Turnstones either roosting or attempting to feed at the edge of the tide.  I took these to use the different backgrounds of the shingle beach and the sea.

We made our way to the Lifeboat pub, had a drink then set off back again.  There was pretty much the same stuff we had seen walking down on the way back.  A Kestrel was hovering over the Severals, where a couple of Tufted Duck were at the back of the pool.

On reaching Church Norton it was clear that the tide had been very high, but fortunately now falling.  If we had been 30 minutes earlier it would not have been possible to walk back along the beach.  As it was we had to walk through the churchyard of St Winfred's Chapel, the site of the first Chichester cathedral.

Up on the main path looking out across the harbour it was all water and this brought some of the birds in close.  Here a Great Crested Grebe diving in amongst the submerged grasses.

There was also quite a few Brent Geese, this party was accompanied by a pair of Wigeon.

On reaching the Sluice at the Ferry Pool, the Little Grebe had been replaced by a Great Crested Grebe, this time an immature in winter plumage.

As the tide was falling there was a lot of movement on the salt marsh, Little Egrets appearing along with Curlew and Teal and Wigeon.

On the old Mill Pond there was a battle going on amongst the Mallard drakes as they fought over a couple of females.  There was also a lovely drake Wigeon in amongst the dark green water.

We kept going and headed out to Halsey's Farm with the intention of walking to the North Wall, the field was dry and it was an easy crossing, with more Wigeon in the Rife that leads to the harbour sluice.

Walking onto the wall footpath it was clear there had not been any repair to the pot holes here.  As we walked on I could feel the drizzle coming in and quickly the drizzle became harder and soon was a very heavy rain shower.  We decided to turn back, realising that there was not going to be much about.

As we reached the sluice the rain eased and almost immediately the sun came out, turning to look across the harbour we were presented with a fantastic rainbow, with a view of where the pot of gold would be!

Not only were there two rainbows, but gradually we had a full rainbow, stretching across the water and the surrounding fields.

As the rain shower moved away to the north east, the rainbow shifted its position, the pot of gold now being located somewhere around the Salt House on the North Wall.

Then the rainbow colours were vibrant above Pagham village

And as the rainbows faded away the low sunshine picked out the distant Poplars.

A day that was not up there as the most successful for photographs, but it was lovely to get back here and enjoy the scenery and wildlife.  The one takeaway was the Merlin from this morning.