Yeah, yeah, I know this isn't the promised Saxon Shore Way. But I just haven't gotten round to it yet and have instead been stomping around more locally, with a couple of excursions to more exotic locales. Well, Somerset and, as the title suggests, West Sussex. And not the bit of West Sussex which is a mile down the road, but the proper rural bit of it!
This walk was driven by the annual conversation with the good-web-developer-him-indoors which goes a bit like this....
Me: "when does that voucher that you/me/we got for Christmas/last birthday/leaving do expire?"
Him: "dunno. Where did we put it anyway?"
Me: [rummages through huge pile of unfiled paperwork] "behold the voucher that mum/friend/sibling/colleague bought.... bugger it expires next week"
Him: "guess we know what we're doing Saturday then"
Given it was a sunny bank holiday weekend we decided to make the most of the afternoon tea (with Prosecco) for two at the Old Station tearooms near Petworth, which is around half way between Chichester and Haslemere, just on the northern edge of the South Downs National Park. So I broke out the OS map app and planned a leisurely 12km circular walk with aforementioned afternoon tea booked to finish.
It's beautiful countryside, with the South Downs lowering in the distance. I don't know the area well but there seemed to be paths-a-plenty and I was intrigued by the 'Serpents Trail' I could see on the map. Why Serpent? A strange geological feature? Or were we stumbling into the maw of a folkloric dragon? (Turns out its just 'serpentine'. Twisty-turny in other words.)
With these questions fresh in our mind we sallied forth on a cloudless, balmy day, picking up the ST quickly and first heading down through horsey country, past stables, paddocks and meadows before striking out past the ominously named Black Pond and on to heathland. It's this heathland, along the greensand ridge (not the northerly ridge of Greensand Way fame, but the other lower greensand belt just north of the South Downs) that the ST was created to showcase. Heathland is now rarer than rainforest, with 80% of it lost in the UK since 1800.
We followed the trail through some glorious examples, traversing the section of the ST that goes through Burton Park, a large part of which is a nature reserve that boasts 24 species of dragonfly. This section of the ST also incorporates the Burton & Chingford Ponds natue reserve (you can see the reserve has own circular walking route), which includes some idyllic woodland (where we spotted a grass snake, bathing in the sun. Very apt!), and a very picturesque water mill overlooking the 16th century mill pond.
We followed the ST heading south east, before turning to head north east, crossing the fabulously named Lord's Piece heathland, and then departing the ST to continue northerly into the tony hamlet of Coates. Dominated by the 12th century St Agatha's church, the hamlet is chocolate-box download village with an Elizabethan manor house.
We left Coates, heading west on the well defined footpath crossing farmland and through woodland until we reached the aforementioned Burton Mill. The mill has been restored to be fully functioning and is occasionally open to visitors; it has its own brand of bread flour for local shops, ground from local wheat. It's also self-sustaining, generating its own hydroelectric power.
Continuing west across New Piece we picked up the ST again close to Black Pond and retraced our steps back to the Old Station tea rooms and well earned pile of sarnies, cakes and a bottle of bubbly before heading back. The Old Station is actually a B&B with a licensed tea room; tea is served in the waiting room, and residents spend the night in luxury train carriages. The station layout is exactly as it was when the station finally closed to freight in the 1960s (passenger services stopped in 1955) and the vibe is very vintage. We supped the last of our bubbly on the platform and headed home.
All round a very satisfying amble in a beautiful part of the world I would like to explore more. Definitely one for the nature fan, perhaps less so for the history nerd, but still plenty to explore. This isn't a taxing walk, not much in the way of inclines, and well defined paths underfoot with only a couple of minor muddy areas. I walked it in trainers, no need for anything more technical.
Here's a map:
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