“I’m not ashamed to say that river scared me”.
More on that later…
Dry Easter Sunday, mainly cloudy,
before more rain Easter Monday. Still feeling chilly. Carl went cycling. Expect
the bike got muddy. I went to Arundel, via very slow time consuming train
journeys. Wore wellies, but even in those didn’t get very far all along the
riverbank. Just sketched and watched tidal currents and swans battling them or
toiling fruitlessly against them.
My train was more than half an
hour late getting to Barnham - signalling problems, then crawled behind an even
slower train. We seemed to have had another bad spell on the railways this
winter. Got to Barnham only just ahead of the Arundel train (11.06 left 11.09).
Think that was the train I'd have caught anyway, so did the waiting on the
train instead of on the platform. Not the case on the way back. Don’t think the
train back to Barnham was seriously delayed, but it didn’t connect with the
Southampton train, so had nearly an hour to wait at Barnham. At least I could
use the time to update my notes, via my smartphone; and can keep up to date with what’s going on and
use the time. A small sketch / notebook handy for these waits as well. Tend to
avoid Sunday train travel as not so many trains, but tired of long winter run
of off-putting weather (this long weekend no exception) mud and engineering
work on the railways most weekends since the beginning of the year.
Got to Arundel about 11.20am. As
usual now, walked under A27 near station following newish path there and joined
left bank of river to Arundel bridge just before town centre. That was churned
up and muddy, so very slow going. Guy painting fence on my left, warned me
about wet paint, and mud. Tide rising, already high, still over with two hours
to go before high water. Still the muddy brown sulky wintery colour, though
improved by reflecting the sky which, though cloudy, a hint of brightness
trying to break through. Grey, though more the grey of spring. Hints of that at
least, with daffs and primroses, a few touches of greenery.
Crossed bridge and went into the
Norfolk Centre, small hall next to the Castle entrance. Usually a local art
group exhibition on here over Easter; and they usually serve tea / coffee and a
biscuit for about £1. This time it was Bognor Regis Art Society. A quick look
at the art. Had a cuppa.
High water Littlehampton entrance
13.01BST, 6.1m CD. High tide at Arundel, about 50 minutes later. Spring tide,
coefficient 105% peak of this tidal cycle, but river probably fairly high after
the rain as well. I wondered how high it would go. The tide was rising when I
arrived. Though strong current, the water upstream of the pinch point nearer
the bridge was not turbulent and very reflective.
Began walking along the right
bank, round the bend towards the Black Rabbit. Got as far as the sluice gate at
outflow from Swanbourne Lake. After that, the path along the floodbank was too
muddy even in wellies, so turned round and spent the rest of the afternoon
sketching. First, sat down on a tarpaulin sack, with views both ways along the
river. Views clearer and much more open after winter dieback of reeds and trees
not out yet. Tried drawing swans. A few near where I sat, on the overspill of
the tide onto the berm beneath the bank. Sheltered here from the current. A
fair bit of bird activity, on and above the water. Black headed gulls now black
headed for spring / summer. A few drifting with the current. Swans paddling to
stay still against it. Ducks away from the strongest stream nearer the bank. A constant
stream of straw / reed debris going with the flow. Several big blocks of
polystyrene stuck on the berm, dumped by earlier tides. One near the riverside
car park in Arundel a metre long, though
that had been moved onto the landward side of the floodbank. Probably part of
the detritus accompanying the plastic crate on the berm half way round, with a
Dutch label. Likely off the back of a boat.
BBC1 seem to have revived / are
revisiting The Generation Game,
originally presented by the late Sir Bruce Forsyth in the 1970s. The
contestants had to memorise the items passing them on a conveyor belt. The more
they remembered, and remembered correctly, the more prizes they won. Just
suppose the conveyor belt was the fast running tide on the Arun, with an assortment
of stuff being carried along it. Cuddly
toy, fondue set, three piece suite probably not funny to anyone who’s had
to go through a flood (at home); but today: big branch; cormorant; several
black headed gulls; half a dozen swans, mallards, decaying real Christmas tree;
plastic bottle, polystyrene; straw, more straw; more plastic…Some of this stuff
(like the Xmas tree and polystyrene now on the banks). No secure footing off
the floodbank to safely fish out the block of polystyrene near where I was
sketching while tide in.
The slack of the high tide as I
finished off my first round of sketching (small double spread A6 pad). By the
time I got to the slipway, the tide had turned and, to the confusion of some
passers by, was the flow reversed.
During the middle of the
afternoon, the sky brightened somewhat; even a very brief glimpse of the sun.
They have cut back quite a bit of stuff near the slipway upstream of the car
park / Arundel Boathouse. At least now, before the trees out, clear views of
the Castle and town around St. Nicholas church. A handy, albeit muddy bench,
surrounding by bog / puddles from the high tide. Water now falling and back
within bank. Useable / sittable-on with my underside tarpaulin. Sketched the
view along the river, enjoying the brief brightening of the sky. Worked on
tinted brown paper, loose sheets from the Tiger pad; oil pastel and coloured
pencil. Much easier having the seat to sit on. During the course of my
riverside stroll contemplated my watercolour palette for Higham in five months’
time Higham Hall palette. Today called
for muted colours. As to more “serious” plein air work using pastel, really
need a standing easel; but don’t want to have to carry / cart one too far. I
have a basic lightweight stool which I could try again; but that’s not ideal.
Would have been OK today looking towards the town; but when sat by water,
invariably lose the view over floodwalls etc and perspective seems much better
when standing up.
While my attention was on
sketching the Castle and buildings on the hillside, the ebbing tide was really
gathering pace. Faster than the Adur at Shoreham yesterday, and there the tide
was running out pretty fast. The bridge (well all the bridges from about
Greatham to the constricted Littlehampton harbour entrance are pinch points
which increase the speed of the current and make it more turbulent. As I didn’t
linger by the bridge when I arrived here, I didn’t notice the flood tide there
so much. Today, though today the ebb tide was more the eyeopener. Maybe it was
more marked because of the combination of a spring tide combined with a
relatively high fluvial flow downstream (EA hydrographs on Easter Monday
afternoon indicated the level at Houghton Bridge at high water was high enough
to overflow, certainly in Amberley Wildbrooks, which are, after all, wetlands.
No flood alerts or warnings in this area, though.
What was especially eye opening
and the main thing I took home from today, was the turbulence just downstream
of the bridge when the tide was ebbing. The pinch point here narrowed further by
the ferry pontoon. As the current raced and swirled around the pontoon posts,
straw debris got caught and trapped: one lot behind one of the posts nearer the
bridge, generating an eddy and small whirlpools as the current swirled around
it. Then, in the calm sheltered area between the pontoon and the bank, the
downstream facing side, lots of straw. Two swans working together presumably /
very likely building a nest, as birds do in early spring. The female, was at the
downstream end, the other, the male, further in gathering clumps of straw in
its beak and passing them down. The big shame was all their effort would be
undone when the tide rose and reversed again this evening. A hint of sun on the
water as I crossed the bridge to head back to the station for the 16.39 train.
On the way back to the station, walking along
the road all the way, a guy said as I passed him, “I’m not ashamed to say that river scared me.”
I hadn’t been aware of him, but I guessed he was watching the water by the
bridge. As I was walking faster than him and not initially sure I heard right
above the traffic, I missed the opportunity to get talking in the way I’ve
always been tempted here, “Yes, this is one of the fastest rivers in England.”.
The Arun doesn’t scare / strike
me as much as it used to, thanks to decades of river wandering. Tidal rivers
with strong tidal currents are all round our island, among them, the fastest,
most famously and the scariest of them all the Severn. The Thames through
London is rough as well.
Nevertheless, when I first saw
how rough it could be here and at the mouth 30+ years ago, I was taken aback. Even
now, it still brings me up short, as it’s
done time and again through the decades with numerous other people. I reckon it has as much to do with the
setting as as roughness: the low lying soft south; a relatively accessible
river flowing through an area popular for leisurely
days and holidays. Not the place
I’d expected to find rivers as fast as this one can be when the tide is running
full pelt. At Arundel, you can’t see the sea from the town and it looks more
river than estuary..
To quote my Cycling Man’s text
while waiting for trains, re: muddy wellies, “Ooops gloops!”His bicycle got
very muddy, but now washed. On train home, more cloud closing in over the sun.
Raining heavily by 10pm.
Nothing at all unusual about this
Easter: April 2000 was very wet – a prelude to the soggy, floody last four
months of the year. April 1998 wet, too, as noted recently. Feels more marked
and muddy because the more usual pattern lately has been early, mild,
relatively dry springs like the ones we had last year, as well as 2011, 2014,
2015. Milder Easter Monday, even if very wet.
