Gallery

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Fernhurst Walk on 7th August 2024

Jay and Lindsay's walk started out from the car park next to the Fernhurst Recreation Ground. From there we walked past the church, crossed the A286 and proceeded down Vann Road. After a short while we turned off to take footpaths past Hawksfold Farm and Lower Hawksfold. From there we left houses behind  and we were in Copseland! Amon's, Peckham's, Turners and Whitter's Copse were all explored, along with a few inclines and "declines", but we all survived to cross the A286 once again. Now it was the turn of Guildford Copse, but this was the favourite as the Drinks break was due and seats were provided!  From there we headed north past Courts Farm to reach the Grade II listed Verdley Place. Luckily we were quite unaware we had passed the site where the last bear was killed in England, and still said to haunt the spot. Ignorance is bliss! After Verdley Place we headed by path and road to reach the Red Lion for a great lunch and greeted an unexpected visitor complete with a box of chocolates. An excellent end to the 5 mile walk.

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East Dean walk on 31st July 2024

On a warm, sunny day, the walk started at the Star & Garter in East Dean and immediately headed uphill. Skirting Halfmoon Piece we entered Wood Lea and descended to North Lane. Turning left onto North Lane we descended further to meet the West Sussex Literary Trail. A short climb took us to the coffee stop where the views were widely admired. Crossing North Down, we re-entered the woods and then made our way through the woods to Pond Barn. From there it was an easy walk past Wests of East Dean back to the Star and Garter for a good lunch. The total of 617 feet ascent over the 4.76 mile walk was met with ease by our walkers and a combination of high cloud and lengthy times in woodland helped keep us cooler than anticipated.

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Ebernoe walk on 24th July 2024

Undeterred by the road closure in Petworth, our select band of 8 walkers made it on time to the Stag Inn. They then accepted that Mark knew where he was going even though he had not walked the route. (Jay was unfortunately laid up with a bad back. What is it about committee members and bad backs?) The walk was largely uneventful up to the coffee break where everyone enjoyed the chairs in the churchyard. Given the time taken to get to coffee it was agreed to cut out part of the planned route, only to find no trace of the path shown on the OS map! However our band of walkers were not to be deterred and found an alternative trail not shown on the OS map. 

The group arrived back at the Stag Inn at 12:45 having walked about 4.5 miles and then enjoyed lunch and the sunny weather in the pub garden.

Anyone interested in the Cricket Pitch we walked across - see here - Ebernoe Horn Fair.

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Stansted Park walk on 17th July 2024

The walk through Stansted Park, led by John and Maureen, started out from the Castle Inn in Rowlands Castle. Crossing over the road we were soon into the woods of Stansted Park, before emerging onto the Monarchs Way, a wide grassy area, originally cut into the woodland in the 17th century. In the distance was Stansted House, rebuilt (after a fire destroyed the original) in 1903 in the style of Christopher Wren. The Park has had many royal visitors including King John, Richard I, Edward VI and the house has been visited by the Queen Mother and  Princess Anne. However the MFC walkers chose to turn left and plunge into the ancient woods instead of muddying the carpets of the main house. After some easy walking on a wide track, we took smaller paths to eventually exit the Park onto Staunton Way, with a distant view of the main Waterloo to Portsmouth railway line. Whilst the forest had been easy walking,  the vegetation was suprisingly challenging in a few places on this footpath. However after our 4.3 mile walk we all survived to reach the Castle Inn in good spirits where everybody took the opportunity to re-hydrate before being served an excellent lunch.

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Grayshott Walk on 10th July 2024

Drizzle on windscreens on the way to Grayshott was not a good sign. However the rain stopped and whilst we had clouds, we also had sunshine. The walk started from the Fox and Pelican and took a journey through the backstreets and paths of Grayshott. One excursion was unfortunate as it only went as far as a nursery school, at which point we were told the old access past the school had been closed! Luckily it wasn't too large an error and we were soon on our way.  We crossed the road to Headley Down opposite the Grayshott Hall Health Spa (once home to Lord Tennyson) but now sadly closed, a victim of the Covid epidemic. We walked through Ludshott Common, now an important area for several endangered species. Used by the Canadians during WWII for tank training and despite all the glorious heather being turned to mud, it has recovered well. We eventually reached  Summerden, the residence of the National Trust warden and just below it, the wishing well with the poem on a plaque composed by Lord Tennyson. We then walked the length of the three Wagonners Wells ponds and spotted a few large carp and many ducks enjoying this  tranquil area. From Croaker's Patch, a path took us to Stoney Bottom from where we turned up Hill Road and so back to the Fox and Pelican for a good lunch. The walk was about 4.8 miles,

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