I spent an hour or so of a pleasant Sunday morning retracing the steps of my guided walk on Thursday, taking photos. By the time I got to Priory Park, I was so tired, I sat down on the one bench that was in the shade. About 5 minutes later a man who looked to be about 40 approached the bench and asked if I minded his sitting down. Of course I didn’t and we struck up a conversation while he ate his bun sandwich. He told me that he was the Chief Commissioner for the Scouts, and they were having their St George’s Day Parade from Priory Park, along South Street and into West Street, where they would attend a service at the Cathedral. Apparently the St George’s Day Parade always takes place in Chichester on the first Sunday after St George’s Day, which is April 23.
We then got talking about young people and iPhones, and he told me that when he was 5 1/2, he’d walked to school by himself. That is when I realized he must be about my age, for I told him that when I was 7, I used to walk to school with my sister, and it was about a mile walk each way. I told him how happy I was to have had that childhood. Then he told me that it wasn’t at all like that these days in the UK. That kids had to have parents take them everywhere, while they spent most of their time inside.
At that point, I glanced at my watch, discovering it was nearly lunchtime. And so I said ‘goodbye’ to my new friend, and made my way to the Côte in South Street.
I think I was the first person there for lunch. There were three or four other people, but I believe they were having a late coffee. No-one else was there. I ordered the French Onion Soup and also a dish of scallops that Côte had won an award for. To this I added still water (FREE) and a glass of red wine.
To my surprise, it took a while for the soup to arrive, but it was delicious, the caramelized onions done to perfection. Then it took the waitress a while to get my order in for the scallops, as she wasn’t sure exactly when I wanted them, although I had told her I’d like them after the soup. And so, by 1pm, an hour after I arrived, I was still finishing the scallops. For a change, I decided to behave myself by forgoing the Chocolate Praline dessert, and substituting two scoops of caramel ice cream. (The scoops were about 200 calories together, while the Chocolate Praline was over 400 calories.) Then I paid my bill and left.
My next stop was the Bishop’s Palace Gardens. I remember how much my stepmother would like to go there (she was an avid gardener.) As I looked around a vague memory stirred, telling me that back in the day, it had been much more extensive and impressive. Maybe that is because a large part of it is now taken up with communal plots. By now, my back was hurting, and so I managed to find another shaded bench.
After several minutes, I felt myself beginning to feel cold and so I made myself get up and walk around the Roman walls of Chichester. I walked through a Twitten (the West Sussex name for an alley) that gave onto Avenue de Chartes, crossed over West Street, turned right into Wall Cottage Drive and continued on until the ramp to the North Walls came into view. I remembered going on this walk with Daddy. The North Walls continued into Priory Lane, but then you had to look down to see the Wall Walks sign before doing a left into a hidden entrance. That took you up a ramp to the North-East walls that surround Priory Park.
I followed the North-East walls all the way around until we got to the other arm of Priory Road, before getting down off the walls, crossing the street, and climbing the stairs to continue my walk along the walls. At East Street, the walls disappeared, and you had to cross it before turning right along East Street in the direction of the Market Cross, then first left into St John’s Street.
The walls were no-where to be seen, but a woman looking for the Pallant Museum told me to keep going along St John’s Street. I walked to the end, and then turned right into the other arm of St John’s Street which took me into East Pallant Car Park. Crossing that I found the South-West Quadrant of the wall, but it was a very short length of wall.
I crossed South Pallant and went along Theatre Lane, which brought me to South Street. Immediately, I recognized where I was, close to the Pedestrian overpass that takes you to Waitrose and that Long Stay Car Park that I now realize is called the Avenue de Chartes car park. (Chichester is twinned with Chartres.)
I followed my nose to the beginning of the ramp that leads to the pedestrian overpass to the left. But straight on was a sign saying “Wall Walk.” There was no wall, but there was a pretty walk that led through a meadow alongside a burbling River Lavant. Just before I got to the motorway, I realized that the people on top of the Roman Wall to my right were inside the Bishop’s Palace Garden. I had come full circle.
So I learned that unlike in York, where the Roman walls encircle the old city in an uninterrupted fashion, in Chichester they appear and disappear in a haphazard fashion. On the other hand, Chichester is a pretty bustling town, and for once, it didn’t rain!
