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Midhurst walk on 22nd April 2026

On a glorious, sunny day, Mark and Jo led us from the rear of the Royal Oak and took the nearby footpath from Oaklands Lane to Dunford Hollow, pausing to look at the amazing tree carvings. Going past Dunford House, soon to be Long Lane private members club, we entered the Roughs and made our way slowly towards Heyshott Common. John and Maureen left the group after 1.5 miles to take a short cut with the intention of meeting up with the rest of us later. The main group then reached the disused railway where we stopped for coffee. Following the break we made our way to the northern edge of the roughs where there was a strong smell from the muck spreading on the adjacent field!  Now heading towards West Lavington the main group caught up with John and Maureen just before reaching West Lavington. We then walked along Oaklands Lane to return to the Royal Oak for a very good lunch.

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East Meon walk on 15th April 2026

The weather was definitely not looking good for the start of Tim and Jane's walk around East Meon. Rain was very much in the air but by the time we had pre-ordered our food the drizzle was fading away and we headed to the south of the village, passing the school on the way. Duncoombe Farm proved to be the birthplace of many lambs and several set of triplets were in evidence. We then had to tackle the very lowest slope of Small Down, just as well as Small Down is in fact fairly large. Carefully avoiding a path that went a lot higher, we descended back down and were back at the level of the valley that the village nestled in. We then had some road work before reaching the Parsonage Farm area. After taking the path past Fishpond Cottages and despite a lot of searching we failed to find a coffee stop until we were halfway up Cumber's Lane. Even then we were forced to sit on the bank, but at least we had a pleasant drink! Suitably refreshed we took the path through Greenway Copse and on to the the outskirts of the village. East Meon is a very old settlement and some Hall Houses are still standing but fortunately the original design with a single fire and hole in the roof to let the smoke out has been very much improved over the years. A wander down the High Street and we were soon back in Ye Olde George Inn for a very good lunch.

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Cocking Hill walk on 8th April 2026

Julie had certainly picked some glorious weather for her first try at leading a walk.  It was the warmest day of the year so far and reached 26 degrees in some places in the country. Luckily it wasn't quite so warm on Cocking Hill as we set off climbing slowly upwards on The South Downs Way.  A slight turn south and the gradient was much flatter and another turn south and we were passing through Venus Wood and later Westdean Woods. The area was covered in bluebells and was quite spectacular. A little further on and we found plenty of seats in the charcoal burners yard for a good stopping point to have a drink. Suitably refreshed we set off on the second part of our journey down towards Colworh Farm and beyond until we eventually found the A286 road. With a variety of final routes to the Pub, we all managed to make it back in good time for a well-earned drink and  lunch. A great walk, Julie!  After lunch we all caught the bus back up to the  top of Cocking Hill.

We had travelled in and around the West Dean Estate for much of the morning. The estate is part of the Edward James Foundation, a charity that owns and runs West Dean College as well as maintaining the surrounding woodlands. When the boilers in the college failed, biomass boilers using wood from the estate replaced the old coke boilers and have proved very successful. Click here  West Dean   to read more about this great charity.

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Burton Park walk on 1st April 2024

Jay and Lindsey had organized the walkers to convene at the Cricketers to place their food orders before heading off. 

The first stop was Duncton Mill Fishery and its 4 fishing lakes. The nursery lake was stocked with Trout and recent scrub clearance gave us a good view of the old water wheel. From the fishery we headed up to Fountain Copse and made our way to Burton Park with its 19th century Greek inspired country house and Norman church. Burton Park Estate, which dates from the 13th Century and the Grade 1 listed mansion has a chequered history. Once home to a Baronet, then an MP, it became an Army Camp, a girls school, a police dog-training centre and is now split into flats. Then it was onwards to Burton Mill and Burton Mill pond where we stopped for coffee before completing a loop of the pond and heading back via the West Sussex Literary Trail to the Cricketers where we enjoyed a nice lunch. 

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East Dean walk on 25th March 2026

Despite some rain early in the morning, no rain fell on Jennifer's walkers as they climbed up and down around the Charlton Forest and Eastdean Woods.  After gathering together at the Star and Garter and placing our food orders, we walked past All Saints Church and headed uphill towards Court Hill. After a short diversion into Wood Lea we emerged taking the footpath down North Down. It wasn't all that easy to follow as a tractor was busy chewing up the whole hillside but we found our way eventually down into North Lane and up to our coffee stop at the base of Wood Lea. When sufficiently refreshed we climbed up into Wood Lea and turned north along the West Sussex Literary Trail. This trail from Horsham to Chichester lets you walk in the footsteps of Shelley, Belloc, Blake, Keats and Galsworthy but is not guaranteed to improve your English!  After 1/2 a mile we turned sharply south and headed back to the Star and Garter for a very welcome lunch. The walk was about 5.3 miles

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