Amberley, West Sussex; flooded!
Join us on a winter walk around the village of Amberley in West Sussex, with its historic castle and church, surrounded by the glorious South Downs. Amberley is located approximately 5 miles north of Arundel and 11 miles northeast of Chichester.
Due to its cinematic nature, this video is best watched on a large screen, such as a TV, to fully appreciate the visual detail and immersive aural experience we try to convey.
00:00 Intro
00:16 Intro drone flight
01:07 Amberley castle
02:57 St Michael's church
04:39 The village
06:00 Amberley brooks
08:16 More of the village
09:44 Up the downs
12:00 Return to the village
13:09 Closing drone flight
13:35 Outro
==Our filming equipment==
Camera: Sony A7S M3
Lens: Sony FE 16-35mm F4 G PZ
Gimbal: DJI Ronin SC2
Microphone: Sony ECM-XYST1M stereo
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Camera: Sony A7 M4
Lens: Sony FE 100-400 F4.5 GM
Teleconverter: Sony 1.4x TC E
Monopod: 3LT Legends Alana
Microphone: Sony ECM-XYST1M stereo
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Camera: Sony RX10 M4
Tripod: Manfrotto MT190GOC4 190 Go!
Tripod head: Manfrotto 500 Fluid Head With Flat Base
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Drone: DJI Mini 3 Pro
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After yet another spell of very rainy weather, we knew before we started this walk that we may fail due to flooding. This turned out to be the case so we had to adjust our route accordingly.
We started our walk in the vicinity of St Michael's church and Amberley castle, both of which have roots dating back to the early C12. At a time when the church was all-powerful, and owned the land on which the castle sits, the bishop of Chichester first had a hunting lodge built along with the parish church next door. Over the centuries, subsequent bishops of Chichester had the castle rebuilt and extended, the grounds crenellated, a gatehouse built etc to form a rather grand and elaborate residence. Apparently, the fortifications were required to protect against pirates!
During the Civil War, the castle was damaged and fell into disrepair. Eventually a manor house was built from the ruins, and Amberley Castle became very much what we see today, which is currently run as an exclusive hotel.
A more comprehensive history of the castle may be found on its website - www.amberleycastle.co.uk
Information on the C12 St Michael's church may be found at sussexparishchurches.org/chur....
After leaving the castle, we passed the small pond (with coots building their nest), and then west towards Amberley Brooks (water meadows) and the River Arun. Given the volume of rain that had fallen in the preceding weeks, we knew that this might be tricky in places. It was, and we eventually had to turn back. Though this was ultimately a fail, on route we did see a large herd if fallow deer still in their winter coats, so definitely a positive!
Retracing our steps, we wandered around the western side of the village before turning south and making our way on to the South Downs. We followed the South Downs Way for a short distance, but our little, old dog is no longer able to do long walks, so, again, it was a case of retracing our steps - there are few public footpath options in the area.
Returning to the village, we enjoyed looking at the beautiful, historic buildings, of which a surprisingly high proportion having thatched roofs.
As ever, we tried to film as much wildlife as possible; it was lovely to see our first Peacock butterfly of the year, even if it was a little tatty! We also saw a couple of Brimstones but were unable to capture these with the camera.
We hope to be able to walk the originally planned route in the summer when the ground should be dry.
All background and natural sounds were recorded during our time filming.
We hope you enjoyed watching as much as we enjoyed walking. If you did, please remember to click the thumbs up (like) button, and leave a comment.
For more videos like this, subscribe to our channel (it's free): / @walkingwithjohnanddiana
John & Diana
Music: bensound.com and pixabay.com/music
Пікірлер: 24
Your eye for details really captures the essence of West Sussex. So enjoyable. Thankyou
@walkingwithjohnanddiana
2 ай бұрын
Thank you for your kind comments. We are pleased you enjoyed it, and thank you for watching!
Lovely part of Sussex
A fine spring walk ! Wish you happy Easter days !
@walkingwithjohnanddiana
2 ай бұрын
Than you Gabi; please you enjoyed it. A happy Easter from West Sussex to Hamburg.
Thank you for showing me such a Beautiful part of the country.
@walkingwithjohnanddiana
2 ай бұрын
You are welcome; we are pleased you enjoyed it.
What a lovely video! Amberley village, with its stone walls and thatched roofs, used to be one of my favourite places to visit, and the Wild Brooks (interesting name) a great place to walk and observe nature. You had some great wildlife shots again (monopod rather than tripod this time, I think), and I was particularly interested to see the jackdaws. My mother used to tell how her brother had a pet jackdaw (about 100 years ago, and clearly not an option now) and even taught it to say a few words. The flooding was a familiar sight. I remember sometime in the late 1960s it was particularly bad, and a caravan site at Houghton Bridge was flooded and a person there was drowned. I'll look forward to your next adventure. Thank you again for what you do.
@walkingwithjohnanddiana
2 ай бұрын
Thank you, Jim, for your kind words; pleased you enjoyed it. Many of the stone-built cottages are from stone stolen from the castle ruins a few hundred years ago. You are right about the tripod - sometimes we have to travel lighter and go monopod or hand-held as we also have to carry our dog from time to time! Interesting story about the Jackdaw; they are highly intelligent and amusing to watch. Since the 1960s the flood defences have been significantly improved at Houghton Bridge. Yet again, we are having very poor weather and, on the days it is sunny, it seems we have to work.
So pretty and astounding ... thank you so much ....
@walkingwithjohnanddiana
2 ай бұрын
Thank you for your kind words; pleased you enjoyed it.
This is when the drone comes into its own! Lovely video - the village is too perfect for words! The first time that I’ve felt Spring has Sprung! I didn’t know the castle was an hotel. It had a pretty blossom tree within its walls. That was a good capture of the jackdaw with the stick! You were so lucky to see the peacock butterfly this early on. Thanks so much!
@walkingwithjohnanddiana
2 ай бұрын
Thank you for your kind words, Diana. You are right, the drone showed what we could not from ground level. I'm fairly sure the pink blossom was a magnolia. The peacock butterfly had probably over-wintered as it was looking a little tatty! The Jackdaws are fascinating to watch; could spend hours filming them! Thanks, again, for watching.
@dianarolph1770
2 ай бұрын
I did see a magnolia further into your video - this was near the start in the castle captured by the drone! ( at 1.11 m)
@walkingwithjohnanddiana
2 ай бұрын
I have checked some footage that did not make the cut, and the pink blossom on the tree in the castle grounds is definitely magnolia, so two in the video. With the wind we have here in the south today, I suspect there will be very few of its flowers remaining. We have our fingers crossed for improved weather, as with a few days off it would be nice to film another walk - we currently have nothing in reserve.
@dianarolph1770
2 ай бұрын
Thanks! We had Storm Nelson last night- torrential rain & thunder & lightning. Hope it dries out soon!
@walkingwithjohnanddiana
2 ай бұрын
It has certainly been rather rough recently! We are hoping for some sunshine and light winds today!
What a beautiful video,I've visited a few times but not in the early spring
@walkingwithjohnanddiana
2 ай бұрын
Thank you for your kind comments. As you say, it is a lovely part of Sussex. With hindsight, we were rather ambitious thinking we would be able to walk across the water meadows at this time of year!
@lesleymetthews4590
2 ай бұрын
@@walkingwithjohnanddiana yes it's quite flooded and boggy but that's where the drone is useful.
Such a well made video ❤
@walkingwithjohnanddiana
2 ай бұрын
Thank you for your kind words.
Will the flooding go away? Great video!
@walkingwithjohnanddiana
2 ай бұрын
Thank you! Yes, the water will disappear if there is no further rain for a few weeks. The area is a flood plain for the River Arun but during the summer months very quickly drys out.