West Marden and the fields of West Sussex

Walk date - July 18th 2015
Walk time - 3 hours
Distance - 6.86 miles
Accent - 668 feet



Only a week after my major ankle injury and with a sturdy neoprene strap we ventured out again, brave I know but it's the way of the hardened casual rambler, the walk goes on whether we choose to stroll along or not, having said that I was considerably off my normal pace averaging 26 minutes a mile rather than my normal 20.

Our base was the Victoria Inn at West Marden only a few miles north from the previous weeks walk and still in West Sussex, the pub had a good sized car park we started off just before 11.30

Out of the pub car park and turning left along the road until we came to the B2146 diagonally opposite just off Locksash Lane on the right was a finger post into a field

You can see from the maps that we headed in pretty much a straight line through three fields, well marked and with a good path cut through the crops it was the best part of a mile before we came out again onto Locksash Lane which we turned right onto and followed all they way round until we hit the B2146 again. Now for those regular readers you will recall Locksash Lane and the B2146 from my last blog entry, yes this part of the walk is the same, we crossed the main road headed through the front garden again and then up the steep 'two walking pole' hill, once the top was reached we rested, rewarded ourselves with water but alas didn't get to see a baby deer this time.

We followed the same path as before for a short way and joined the farm track, however instead of heading straight on to Stansted Park we turn right just after Broadreed Farm and headed across more fields, this time following the line of some woodland to our left called Wythy Piece and Batty's Park

The path turned to the right away from the woodland and across another field heading towards the road leading back into the village, if you wanted to shorten this walk, turning right along this road now would have bought you back to the pub in about half a mile or so, we carried straight on though along a farm track and left along another farm track, again taking the right here would also have shortened the walk, my ankle was holding out so we headed on further.

A short way along the farm track we picked up a foot path running along the north edge of a couple of small fields with some woodland to our right, this then led out onto another farm track, we followed the track right past the farmhouse and around a small paddock behind up the hill and into quite an industrial farm called South Holt Farm. All the paths we follow although not major walkways are either public footpaths, bridleways or roads, all marked clearly on the Ordnance Survey maps, we have found these lesser used paths are still well maintained and signposted but very little used, we seldom pass another person whilst out walking along these tracks.

Turning right through South Holt Farm and onto the farm track which would now be our route back to West Marden, walking along the southern edge of Markwells Wood then across a field path dropping down to Horsely Farm and onto another farm track turning off after a short way left towards West Mardon Hall, the path drops as it follows the perimeter of the hall gardens before dropping us down onto the main road left through the village and back the our car.



The Victoria Inn was a good quality pub with a large garden, we ordered two ploughmans from the extensive lunch time menu with the option to add a £1 'handful' of chip, which needless to say I did, I was just hoping that they had good sized hands! each ploughmans was £9 plus the one extra £1 handful of chips so a little more than other pubs we had visited but the quality was absolutely fine, adding in a couple of beers took our bill to over £25 but not by much. It is worth noting that the Victoria Inn offers a 'walking group' menu for pre booked groups of 15 or more.

Trip Advisor - The Victoria Inn

This walk wasn't overly strenuous by design with mainly gentle hills to handle, with the exception of one steep climb which we were already familiar with, there were several 'pull out' points along the route so this could easily be shortened and made into a none cross country walk if you only wanted to stay on hard ground, however the main feature of this walk were the amazing fields, large and open with good paths through ripening crops, this truly was England's green and pleasant land!

Walderton, Stansted Park and the biggest stile in the world

Walk date - July 11th 2015
Wak time - 2 hours 44 mins
Distance 7.3 miles
Accent - 624 feet




Our first walk outside of Hampshire took us to the village of Walderton within the South Downs national park just north of Chichester. We started at the village pub, the Barley Mow, which has a large cat park and is easy to find on the main road through Walderton.

This was a walk of two halves, the first being through fields on lesser used tracks and the second part being within the grounds of the Stansted Park estate


We left the pub car park and headed back along the village road, after a short walk we came to a side road turning right and then onto a foot path which followed the houses along the village edge, this path joined Cooks Lane and we turned right along the road for a few hundred yards before taking a path on the left, well marked with a finger post between two houses this brought us out into a large field.



After a mile of walking through well marked fields (with good paths cut through the crops) and crossing a couple of minor roads we came to a small woodland area, we cut through the corner of the coppice and dropped down to another field, a gentle climb led us to some really good views across the field we had just walked as we now turned back to head west. The path followed the southern edge of more wooded land along the top side of a field, a large bench was on the track, I couldn't see a plaque dedicating to anyone, but it did have a good view point.

The path joined onto a farm track, well made up and gravelled which in turn led onto a Locksash Lane, this dropped down to the B2146, which we needed to cross to pick up the next path.

The path went through the side of someone's front garden which was nice, and then a really, really steep climb, if you look at the gradient chart at the bottom of this section you can see at the 2.5 mile mark, it was a two stick climb, with a good lot of roots and stones to contend with, we rewarded ourselves at the top with water, and as I stood to refresh myself I looked along the track to see a baby deer staring back at me, soon joined by it's mother bounding over the track, collecting up its offspring and bouncing off into the heavily wooded land, we didn't see them again, but it is a nice reminder of what you get to see when walking, especially if you take the less used foot path rather than the main tracks.

As we came through this wooded area we joined another well made up farm track which we followed for about half a mile, at this point we had two options, I always like to build in a route to shorten the walk, and if we took the left hand path at this point it would cut out the Stansted Park section of the walk and about 2.5 miles, however the weather was excellent and we hoped that there maybe a wedding on at the big house and a couple of scraggy looking ramblers would add to the photo's



So right we did turn (I would later go on to regret that choice and not cut the walk short) and enter the Stansted Park estate, the track was a made up road so easy walking with open fields to our right and woodland on the left, the track followed the northern side of the big house before turning left and leading right in front, the path was fenced on both side so little opportunity for the masses to cause too much trouble



We then joined the main driveway into the house , garden centre and miniature railway which we followed for a short way until picking up another foot path at the end of the overflow car park.

The route took us through a couple of small fields before opening out onto a very large field with a good path cut right through on a diagonal running behind the big house, however getting onto this field did cause is some issues as we had to navigate the the biggest stile in the world, it is no secret that Mrs B isn't the tallest, but this fence crossing was something else even for me at well over 6 feet tall, the second step of which came up to Mrs B's hips!!

The walk across these fields was very pleasant, the crops now yellowing and getting ripe, a great view back across to Stansted House and again not another person using these well made and easy to access public rights of way. It must cost the farmers a lot to maintain these tracks and of course the loss of farming land, the upkeep of stiles etc, and I am sure they would be a lot happier if at least they were used, I'll come on to the paths that are not maintained in another blog

At the corner of a field we crossed a stile into a small stretch of gated road and my ruin.

We are at about the five and half mile mark, this small straight track is between two locked gates, and well protected although there is a stile to the side and a marked path, the track itself isn't made up so on grass, however the use of farm vehicles has left two deep ruts which thanks to the lush green grass are well covered, this led to all walkers worst fear (other than a bull in a field) the turned ankle!

My foot slipped from the center of the track into one of the deep rut, then only a few steps later the same happened again, I staggered to the end of the path seeking rest and refuge at the gate reaching out to grab support only to find the top of the gate was wrapped in barbed wire. It was at this point that my shortened walk option would have joined up and saved me a great deal of pain and cursing.

Needless to say the remainder of the walk was slow, although fortunately followed a made up road down quite a steep hill to rejoin the B246 and take us back to Walderton, still well over a mile but at least walkable, I was glad of my walking poles at this stage for sure.



The Barley Mow pub was very pleasant with a nice small garden which had a stream running along its edge, we ordered a couple of ciabattas and beer, again the bill was around the £20 mark, the food was good and came with chips to save me ordering a side, we both had cheese and onion, there isn't much to get wrong with that and the Barley Mow certainly got it right

Trip Advisor - The Barley Mow

This was a really good walk, at over 7 miles a good length and ideal for 2 to 3 hours, the terrain was good with a couple of climbs but nothing that couldn't be done with the aid of poles, so I turned my ankle and now do any distance walking with a support which isn't a bad precaution any way, it did put us out of walking for a couple of weeks though as my ankle did double in size for a few days!

Chalton and Hampshires oldest pub

Walk Date - July 5th 2015
Walk Time - 2 hours 5 mins
Distance - 5 miles
Ascent - 428 feet



Our youngest daughter joined us on this walk which started from the village car park, we normally try to kick a walk off around 10.30, we were a little later on this day not starting until just after noon and the car park was completely full, the village car park joins with the pub car park and after some driving around we did find a space. The Red Lion is a very popular pub not just for being Hampshire's oldest but also well positioned just off the A3 and signposted from the main road.



We left the pub and headed left across the road and followed South Lane up the hill, just after the road split we picked up a foot path through a field, well signed with a finger post, there was a steep descent (which had some steps cut into the hillside) down to a foot bridge over the main line railway (London to Portsmouth), we walked through a farm and crossed the road to follow a path which ran along the bottom edge of a row of fields, this turned into wood land as we started to head up hill through Ladyholt Park, a right turn off this track led to a drop down to a farm and then a turn back along the farm road.

A short way along the farm road we turned right onto a foot path across a field, again most of the field paths on this walk were well marked either around the field edge or in the case of those paths that cut across a field, clearly cut in by the farmer.

The path dropped onto a well made gravel track called Huckswood Lane on the OS map which is an ancient track believed to be Roman, this ended at a crossing with a road which we followed back across the railway line and then joined another path with a steep incline up the bank, at the top of this there was a field with a path clearly cut through, although on a slightly different line to my OS map.


This brought us out into the back of the church yard, which we walked through and came out opposite the Red Lion Pub.

We didn't eat a meal in the pub as it wasn't a meal eating time for most (it always is for me) so made do with a couple of nice cold beers and some gourmet crisps, The menu did look nice with good value snacks (sandwiches and jackets etc) from £7, we plan to walk this region again this year so will make a point to eat here


Trip Advisor - The Red Lion



This was a short walk at 5 miles and the only climbs were up and down to the railway everything else was gentle and easy to manage, our daughter at 17 didn't complain and enjoyed the fresh air, although did comment that this was about as far as she was prepared to walk in the name of 'fun'.