South Downs Way - 19th to 26th April, 2006

South Downs Way - 19th to 26th April, 2006

Wednesday 19th April, 9:55 am, Winchester Cathedral

In April 2006, sister and brother Diane Salter and Doug Freeman walked the South Downs Way (SDW) from Winchester to Eastbourne. At the time of the walk, Diane was 59 and Doug was 57. The inspiration for the walk came from Diane who lives in Peacehaven near the SDW, and she had previously walked various sections of the way as day or half-day walks.

Diane had always done a lot of walking, but a car accident a couple of years previous had resulted in a bad leg injury, and walking a long-distance trail was going to be a test of the strength of her leg. Doug had been a keen walker some years ago but had done little walking recently, preferring cycling, and had a dodgy right knee from a sporting accident some 30 years previous. So these two old crocks needed a challenge.

Diane decided that late April would be the best time for the walk and then delegated nearly all the planning to Doug. For planning, and use on the walk, we found the Trailblazer guide "South Downs Way" by Jim Manthorpe invaluable. This handy pocket-size book has lots of useful planning information, which includes names and phone numbers of B&Bs, and very easy-to-follow trail maps.

We had originally allowed nine days for the walk, Doug pre-booked B&Bs for the first 4 nights, and Diane a Youth Hostel for the 5th night. We had not booked accommodation beyond the fifth night, as we wanted to see how we managed over the first half of the walk and to get an idea of comfortable daily distances for the rest of the walk. We planned for distances between 10 and 15.5 miles a day on the SDW. We also guessed an additional 6 miles over the walk to get to and from B&Bs, making a total of 106 miles. We had forgotten to estimate for walking to the pubs in the evening.

In the end, we managed the walk in 8 days, walking a total of 112 miles, of which 100 were on the SDW. Our longest daily mileage was 18 miles on day 6, and the shortest 10.75 miles on the last day. 

Statistics: 

SDW	Total	To SDW	SDW	From SDW	Evening
Miles	112.00	4.25	100.00	4.25	3.50
Hours	54.00	2.00	48.82	1.92	1.26
MPH	2.07	2.13	2.05	2.21	2.78

We had good weather for April. The temperature was just right for walking with four excellent blue skies and fluffy clouds days. One day it rained on and off during the walk, and we had some early morning drizzle on another day. We had another day of mostly thick fog, and on the final day there was some sea mist on the coastal section, but we finished the walk in beautiful sunshine.

The standard of the B&Bs we stayed in was good to excellent, and the owners could not have been more helpful. It was difficult to single out one B&B, but our vote for "B&B of the walk" goes to the Old Hop Kilne at Buriton. A wonderful house in a fine village, with an excellent host and what a breakfast.

We only stopped at a pub once during the day on the SDW, that was on the first day as the walk went straight past the pub. We preferred to stay on the SDW, and only have a snack bar and fruit for lunch which was all that was needed after all the fine breakfasts. We, of course, went to a pub every evening for a meal and found the quality of the pubs, beer and food, to be very acceptable. The vote for "pub of the walk" goes to the Red Lion at Shoreham, but this might not be very helpful to other walkers as we were driven there from our Youth Hostel by Diane's husband Keith. The Red Lion is a proper pub, with an excellent selection of real ales, value for money good pub food, and friendly service.

If we had to select a pub within walking distance of the SDW, it would be the Greyhound Inn, Cocking Causeway, near Midhurst which got the vote for “pub food of the walk”. This was a good 2 miles from the way, but if lazy you could get a bus or taxi. The pub served excellent organic produce and fresh vegetables, and the beer and service were spot on.

A final mention to the Pilot, Meads Village, Eastbourne, only 5 minutes from the end of the walk served Harveys and a Guinness for Diane. A fine pub to finish the walk at.

Wednesday 26th April, 5.05 pm, The Pilot, Meads Village, Eastbourne

Some Useful SDW links;

Trailblazer Guide Books – South Downs Way (trailblazer-guides.com)

Home - South Downs National Park Authority

Day 1 - Winchester to Exton - Wednesday 19th April 2006

A guard at Winchester Cathedral     

Cheesefoot Head, the hill that is

View back to the Winchester bypass

The Milbury's, our only lunchtime pub stop on the SDW

A very stylish walker

A sleepwalker Exton comes into view

Diane strides out

Come on Doug keep up

Church flowers

Diane tries bag-hugging

Exton Church

Day 1 - Wednesday 19th April 2006, Winchester to Exton
Cloudy AM, sunshine and cloudy PM

We travelled from Brighton to Winchester by train, having been driven to Brighton Station from Diane's home in Peacehaven by Keith. We walked the short distance from Winchester Station to the Cathedral and the start of the SDW. We found an obliging bystander to take our photograph in front of the Cathedral entrance, and at 10am precise we started our SDW adventure.

Within 5 minutes of the walk, we had lost the SDW route out of Winchester. It was one of only two occasions on the whole SDW walk we had problems navigating. The SDW signposts were good, except for in Winchester city centre, and along with our invaluable Trailblazer South Downs Way Guide, route finding was rarely a problem.

The first day's walking was relatively uneventful, the only mishap being Doug losing the bottom section of one of his walking poles. We stopped at the Milbury's pub en route, the only time we stopped at a pub for lunch on the entire SDW, and enjoyed our first real ale or Guinness of the next eight days. A mile or two after this decedent lunch stop we made a short detour to Beacon Hill to see the views across the Meon Valley.

The final section of the day's walk was downhill to Exton and was memorable for the number of stiles, there were very few stiles on the rest of the SDW. We arrived in Exton in fine sunshine, looked around Exton church, and then rang our B&B owner who offered to pick us up from outside the Shoe Inn.

The B&B was a couple of miles outside Exton, along a somewhat busy road, so we were very pleased with the transport to and from the B&B. The owner of the B&B had booked us a table at the Shoe Inn for our evening meal, a comfortable hostelry, serving good ale and food. Our B&B host not only drove us to the pub but picked us up when we phoned him. What service.

We did go to bed somewhat early that night in a very comfortable B&B, what a fine start to the SDW.

Statistics: 

Day 1	Total	To SDW	SDW	From SDW	Evening
Miles	13.00	0.50	12.50	0.00	0.00
Hours	5.58	0.25	5.33	0.00	0.00
MPH	2.33	2.00	2.35	0.00	0.00

06:30 Awoke

06:50 Left Peaceahaven, Keith drove

07:20 Brighton Station

07:50 Train departed

09:40 Winchesters Station, start day's walk

09:55 Winchester Cathedral

10:00 Start SDW walk

13:05 Lunch at The Milbury's Pub

13:55 Resume walk

16:10 Shoe Inn, Exton, end of day's walk

16:30 Picked up by B&B owner

18:30 Driven to Shoe Inn

20:30 Return to B&B

21:00 Bed

Nature: Seagulls, buzzards, kestrels, lots of little birds, primroses, cowslips, daffodils, lots of small flowers.

Breakfast - Brighton Station: tea or coffee with Danish
Lunch - Pub garden: excellent pint or half, own sandwiches, apple or banana. Home | The Milbury
Afternoon Tea - B&B: coffee, tea, biscuits
Evening Meal - Shoe Inn, Exton. Good food and beer, and a nice pub. £40.40 for two.  theshoeexton.co.uk

B&B: Corhampton Lane Farm. 1 double, 1 single, bathroom.  Bed and Breakfast in Corhampton, Meon Valley Hampshire | Corhampton Lane Farm 

Pre-booked £30pp. Excellent B&B and a helpful owner.

Day 2 - Exton to Buriton - Thursday 20th April 2006

Corhampton Lane Farm B&B

A well-heeled walker

I can see clearly now the rain is falling


I am enjoying myself

Great views from Winchester Hill?

This is what we may have seen

Buriton pond life

I can't stand here all-day

A stray walker

A fine village

Pete Bones was here

Buriton B&B. View from our private sitting room

Buriton B&B. Yet another view

Day 2 -Thursday 20th April 2006, Exton to Buriton
Rain most of the day, but warm.

We awoke early and were ready for our 8am breakfast. We chatted with our host and his wife over breakfast and learnt that they had owned a tea plantation in Kenya before moving to this farm over 4 decades ago. They gave us a brief insight into the changes over the years they have farmed here in Hampshire, the farm is now run by their son. We heard a few stories about previous guests at the B&B and discovered that Diane was the first postie, or ex-postie, to have stayed there.

Our very obliging host took us to the start of our SDW walk for the day. The walk started in dry weather, but soon it started to rain which continued on and off for most of the day. It was not cold, but the misty rain spoiled the views from Winchester Hill. The almost deserted HMS Mercury base was not a very inviting area, but further on we did manage to get some nice views across the Meon Valley.

As we walked from the Nature Reserve Visitor Centre on Buster Hill, down the steep slope to the Queen Elizabeth Country Park on the far side of the A3, the heavens opened up. We took advantage of the Visitor Center café before starting the last leg of the day’s walk up through the park and then down into Buriton.

Buriton is a pretty village, with a beautiful duck pond surrounded by weeping willows, a fine church, many old dwellings, and two pubs. We had a good look around Buriton whilst waiting for our B&B owner to return, she had warned us she might not be in until 4.30pm. The B&B was well worth the wait.

We were shown our two very comfortable bedrooms and private bathroom on the first floor but were not prepared for what awaited us on the second floor. There was a massive sitting room, just for us, which overlooked a beautiful garden and beyond to other parts of the village. We helped ourselves to the tea, coffee and biscuits, and could have stayed there the whole evening, except we needed to eat.

There was a choice of two pubs in the village; The Five Bells and The Master Robert Inn. On the recommendation of the B&B owner, we went to the Master Robert to eat, which was less up-market than the Five Bells. The pub served good basic food and fine ale and was cheaper than the Five Bells.

We went to bed somewhat later than the previous evening, but it was still pretty early for Doug. A good second day’s walking, and a wonderful B&B in a fine Hampshire village.

Statistics: 

Day 2	Total	To SDW	SDW	From SDW	Evening
Miles	13.50	0.00	12.50	1.00	0.00
Hours	6.08	0.00	5.75	0.33	0.00
MPH	2.22	0.00	2.17	3.03	0.00

06:30 Awoke

08:00 Breakfast
08:50 Driven by B&B owner to Shoe Inn, Exton
09:00 Start day's walk on SDW
12:30 Snack in the car park opposite HMS Mercury
12:40 Resume walk
14:15 Shelter from the rain in Queen Elizabeth Park Visitor Centre
15:00 Resume walk
15:40 Leave SDW for Buriton
16:00 Buriton Church, end of day's walk
16:30 Book in B&B
19:00 Master Robert Inn
21:30 Bed

Nature; Birds were all sheltering from the rain, but some frisky cows and heifers.
Lots of small wet flowers.

Breakfast - B&B: fruit juice, bacon, egg, sausage, toast, tea, coffee
Snack - HMS Mercury: apple or banana
Lunch - Visitor Centre: coffee, tea, Diane's flapjacks
Afternoon Tea - B&B: tea, coffee, biscuits
Evening Meal - Master Robert Inn, Buriton. Basic but good pub food, and good beer. £28.30 for two.

Now renamed https://www.thenesthotelburiton.co.uk/

B&B: Old Hop Kilne; 1 double, 1 single, bathroom. Massive sitting room.

Beautiful house and gardens. Excellent host. What a breakfast.

Pre-booked £30pp. B&B of walk in a beautiful village.

 Old Hop Kiln Barn B&B - Home - Luxury B&B

Day 3 - Buriton to Cocking - Friday 21st April 2026

A view from Doug's bedroom, notice the book

Diane awaits the bill

Morning ducks

Diane breaks into a trot

I wish I was on a horse

A national treasure

A view of South Harting, I think

Which way?

Peacock pad

Day 3 - Friday 21st April 2006, Buriton to Cocking
Mist, then hazy sunshine, then sun, warm.

We again woke early and were ready for our breakfast at 8am. We ate in a fine dining room with many naval pictures, as in other rooms in the house. We asked the B&B owner about these and were informed that her husband, who passed away the previous year, had been a Naval Officer. More than a decade ago he was the Commander of the Royal Yacht Britannia, and after that worked for a Naval Charity. As we were treated to the most amazing breakfast of the walk, the B&B owner told us a little about life on the Royal Yacht for her husband.

We had to rejoin the SDW from Buriton but decided on a footpath up through the woods rather than retracing our steps on the road we had come down the previous day. This footpath brought us out some ¼ mile further along the way from where we left yesterday, so Doug demanded we walk back to that exit point to ensure we did not miss any of the way. Diane was less than convinced, but when Doug threatened to withhold her SDW certificate she relented.

It was a lovely day for walking with some fine views to the north of the downs over the Rother Valley. We went through some beautiful forests before reaching Beacon Hill. We had our lunch stop at the trig point just off the SDW on the top of Beacon Hill, and again Doug enforced a few yards of backtracking from the trig point to ensure we did every part of the route. Our trail guide told us to listen out for Peacocks on Monkton Estate, and not only did we hear them we saw them behind the fenced estate.

It was a fine day, and we had excellent views from Cocking Down to the Isle of Wight and the coastline around Portsmouth. We dropped down through Warren Bottom and were rather disappointed at the “huge chalk ball” marked in our guide. We crossed the A268 and took advantage of the water tap before leaving the SDW on the track to Cocking Church and our B&B.

Our B&B was the Moonlight Cottage Tearooms which is conveniently placed on the A268 to attract passing motorists but does make it a little bit noisy. We had pre-booked a “Chalet” adjacent to the main cottage, and we referred to this wooden building as our “Nissan Hut”. The hut was roomy and advertised as being able to sleep 4 to 6 people. There was a vanity curtain down the middle, so we could separate the hut into two areas and was really quite comfortable except for the short trek to an outside loo on the main cottage building. We had shared use of the bathroom in the cottage and breakfast was served in the tearoom.

The B&B owners were very helpful, even offering to drive us to the pub in the evening, but we decided to walk. There was the Blue Bell pub in Cocking, but we were strongly recommended by the B&B owners to go to the Greyhound Inn which was about 1.25 miles along the main road towards Midhurst. This was excellent advice as the Greyhound received our “Pub Food of the Walk” accolade. The pub was cosy, the beer well kept, and the food was outstanding; organic produce, fresh vegetables, superb puds.

The walk home in darkness was no problem, although Doug did make use of the bushes at one stage. We retired to our hut and with the sound of passing lorries and cars drifted into a well-earned sleep. Another fine day's walking.

Statistics: 

Day 3	Total	To SDW	SDW	From SDW	Evening
Miles	15.50	1.25	11.00	0.75	2.50
Hours	6.92	0.50	5.25	0.33	0.84
MPH	2.24	2.50	2.10	2.27	2.98

06:45 Awoke
08:00 Breakfast
08:55 Start day's walk from Buriton
09:25 Rejoin SDW
11:45 Lunch on Beacon Hill
12:05 Resume walk
13:05 Water Stop
13:10 Resume walk
15:05 Leave SDW for Cocking
15:25 Arrive at tearooms B&B, end of day's walk
18:30 Walk to Greyhound Inn, Cocking Causeway, nr Midhurst
18:55 Greyhound Inn
22:00 Bed

Nature: Yellowhammers, peacocks, pheasants, robins, doves, lots of little birds
Primroses, cowslips, daffodils, lots of small flowers, horses, cows, sheep, lamas

Breakfast – B&B; fruit juice, melon, sausage, bacon, egg, mushroom, kidney, black pudding, toast, coffee, tea
Lunch - Beacon Hill; fruit and flapjacks
Evening Meal - Greyhound Inn, Cocking Causeway, near Midhurst. Organic produce, fresh vegs, good beer and service. Pub food of walk. Outstanding main courses and puds. £35.60 for two. Welcome to the Greyhound Pub, Midhurst, West Sussex

B&B - Moonlight Cottage Tearooms; One room wooden hut. Two singles, outside loo, bathroom in tearooms. Pre-booked £25pp. Adequate but near a main road. Bed And Breakfast And Cafe In Cocking Midhurst (moonlightcottage.co.uk)

Day 4 - Cocking to Houghton Bridge - Saturday 22nd April 2006

Where is my breakfast!

Our Nissan Hut

Adjusting the crampons

Too early for Sunday Roast

The straight and narrow

Blue sky walking

Sock it to the plants

A Bridge too near

Day 4 - Saturday 22nd April 2006, Cocking to Houghton Bridge
Blue skies, fluffy clouds, very warm

We had our breakfast in the Tearooms of the overnight accommodation. It was another undulating walk and Doug missed his second walking pole on the downhill sections. As you can see from one of the photos it was a sunny day with fine views.

The first part of the walk from Cocking was through wooded areas which was welcome on a warm day. As we got to Bignor Hill there were magnificent views, and little shade until we reached Houghton Bridge.

We had booked a room in the Riverside Tearooms which was in a lovely position next to the River Arun, and just across the road was Bridge Inn. The B&B was in a lovely house and we relaxed on the balcony overlooking the river.

Keith had driven from home to join us for an evening meal at Bridge Inn. The food and Harvery's bitter were very welcome after fine day's walk.

Statistics:

Day 4	Total	To SDW	SDW	From SDW	Evening
Miles	11.50	0.75	10.50	0.25	0.00
Hours	5.50	0.42	5.00	0.08	0.00
MPH	2.09	1.79	2.10	3.13	0.00

06:30 Awoke
08:00 Breakfast
08:50 Start day's walk
09:15 Rejoin SDW
12:25 Lunch on SDW
12:45 Resume walk
13:45 Water Stop
13:55 Resume walk
14:45 Leave SDW for Houghton Bridge
14:50 Arrive at tearooms B&B - end of day's walk
15:00 Tea and coffee in tea rooms
16:00 Book a meal in the pub for the evening and have a drink
18:30 Meet Keith for a meal in the pub
21:30 Bed

Nature: Robins, skylarks, crows, slugs, brimstone butterflies, tortoiseshell butterflies, lots of small flowers, horses, cows, bulls, sheep, dogs, grockles.

Breakfast – B&B; Fruit juice, sausage, bacon, egg, mushroom, toast, tea, coffee
Lunch - SDW; Fruit and flapjacks
Evening Meal - Bridge Inn, Houghton Bridge. Good food, but we had to send back a pudding. Keith joined us for the meal. Nice pub, excellent Harvey's bitter. £46.00 for three. The Bridge Inn (bridgeinnamberley.com)

B&B: Riverside Tearoom Riverside South Downs : Shared room, 2 singles. Bathroom. Lovely house, with comfortable beds, and a nice location. Pre-booked £30pp. Friendly owner, good B&B.

Day 5 - Houghton Bridge to Truleigh Hill, Sunday 23rd April 2006

Riverside Tearoom in the drizzle of morning Half way, which way?

Let's go back to Winchester

Day 5 - Sunday 23rd April 2006, Houghton Bridge to Truleigh Hill
Mist and drizzle to start but not cold, sunny later, warm.

The day started with mist and drizzle and warmed up during the morning. Doug was now beginning to struggle with his dodgy right knee. 

My walk notes from day 5 onwards were sketchy, but this was a fine day's walk. Near Steyning, we had occasional views south towards the sea and Lancing College. Keith joined us for the last mile of the day's walk to Truleigh Hill Youth Hostel.   

The hostel was in a fine location, and we shared a room with bunk beds. Doug chose to choose to put his mattress on the floor to sleep. Doug was now struggling with his knee and fortunately, Keith drove us to the Red Lion in Shoreham for our evening meal as there was no pub near the YHA. It was a proper pub, with good food, service and beer. It got our vote for pub of the walk (or drive). 

Statistics: 

Day 5	Total	To SDW	SDW	From SDW	Evening
Miles	15.25	0.25	15.00	0.00	0.00
Hours	7.41	0.08	7.33	0.00	0.00
MPH	2.06	3.13	2.05	0.00	0.00

07:00 Awoke
09:00 Breakfast
09:30 Start day's walk
09:35 Rejoined SDW
11:15 Halfway point on SDW
13:25 Lunch on SDW
13:40 Resume walk
16:15 Keith meets us on SDW just south of Steyning
17:05 Arrive at Truleigh Hill YHA - end of day's walk
17:30 Doug all in - finally managed to climb YHA stairs
18:30 Keith drives us to the pub at Shoreham
18:45 Red Lion Shoreham
22:00 Bed

Nature: Seagulls, buzzards, little birds, horses, sheep, rabbits, grockles, and many small flowers.

Breakfast – B&B; fruit juice, fruit, sausage, bacon, egg, mushrooms, toast, tea, coffee
Lunch - SDW; Fruit and flapjacks
Evening Meal - The Red Lion, Shoreham. Excellent selection of real ale, and proper pub. Keith drove us to the pub. Doug was incapable of walking. Pub of the walk (or drive). Friendly, great pub food and service, £47.50 for three. The Red Lion | Shoreham-by-Sea | Facebook

B&B: Truleigh Hill YHA; purpose-built red brick hostel. Shared room, bunk beds. Doug slept on the floor. Pre-booked £19.30pp. Basic but fine location. YHA Truleigh Hill Hostel | Cheap Shoreham Youth Hostel Accommodation