High-speed cyclists on Littlehampton prom are the real danger

It seemed much of the riverside entertainment was being curtailed and I did not recognise the guy in my shaving mirror staring back and making faces at me. After some thought I headed out to Edgcumbes for a coffee and the whole day changed.

In a field bordering the Ford Road I could see above the purple thistles that the corn had been freshly harvested and the golden straw stacked two storeys high.

The shaved landscape was stubbled and flattened and speckled here and there with the occasional pile of wheat, a treat for the birds.

Above all, it was the scent of the freshly cut straw that made the morning so unforgettable. I stood on the fringe for half an hour or so and my mood changed completely.

When I got home the guy in the hall mirror smiled back at me and the dark skies were no longer threatening. Wake up in a bad mood... take a run out into the lovely countryside around our town, it’s magic.



Also in the news this week, a Littlehampton priest has retired after 28 years of service, hundreds celebrated Littlehampton Harbour festival and Wick Week and a metal detectorist has recovered a groom’s lost wedding ring on Rustington beach.

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I enjoyed the recent exchanges on social media about the closing of the pier due to warped planking making the surface uneven and dangerous for the ‘elderly’.

Well, as a long standing and fully paid up member of the ‘elderly’ brigade, I have no wish for such protection at the expense of the pleasure of others.

While I appreciate the concerns of some for the wellbeing of us ancients I would suggest we would be better served by the slowing down of the few high-speed cyclists along the prom and the young whirling dervishes performing wheelies through the pedestrian High Street precinct, now that is a real danger to we the ‘elderly’.


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MPs are banging on about the need for more town open spaces and tree planting to help with the long-term problems of global warming and rising temperatures, and yet I see several local mature trees have been felled recently and I am wondering if planning consent is needed for such an activity and, if so, was it given or even applied for? If you see such activity, please let me know.


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There are so many things in life I do not understand. Why would a person fill a large bag full of collected litter and then just abandon it by the roadside?

Dog-mess bags set down only yards from a doggie red receptacle, empty beer cans parked only a few feet from a litter bin, cars parked blocking the entrance access to the pavement or how the swifts find their long way home from Africa and back to last year’s nest in Littlehampton when I cannot find my way to Sompting Village and, oh, Morris Dancing...

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