Wednesday 6 November 2013

Paddling Past Gormenghast

It is believed that when Mervin Peake wrote his Titus Groan trilogy he used Arundel Castle as a model for  Gormenghast.  It certainly  seems to have had an influence, the town of Arundel appears to climb up the ramparts of the castle, and is that a Tower Of Flints I see?

I'm sure Arundel has its fair share of Bright Carvers,  



Its also the home of a certain boatbuilder, so CW and I took advantage of some rare autumn sunshine and had a trip up the River Arun the other day.



The spring tide was still coming wellying in as we launched, that footpath had been dry a few minutes before.  The current gave us a free ride up stream until the turning of the tide and the call of the pub mysteriously drew us back. 
 After a swift one at the Black Rabbit it was time to float back on the quickly ebbing tide.  Once it goes it goes and the instructions were to head straight for the slipway with no messing around as you could easily end up in Littlehampton or worse still Cherbourg. So all cameras car keys wallets and other valuables were safely tucked away, hence the lack of photos after the pub. 

Here's the inevitable video, the soundtrack by Richard Thompson seemed to be appropriate. 

 I hope you enjoy it.




If you haven't read Gormenghast, give it a try. It really is worth the effort. 

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