We hear from Ian, walks leader, on his reflections on recently completing the Petworth Way LDW with several other FSD members this March.
“The Walks Programme occasionally ventures beyond its familiar circular format for something more ambitious: a multi-day linear walk from one point to another. These take a bit more organising (shuttling cars, booking overnight stays) but it’s worth it. There’s something different about finishing a walk knowing you’ve actually crossed a piece of countryside rather than looped back through it.
This quarter, our group took on the 25-mile Petworth Way, two days from Haslemere to Arundel via Petworth in glorious early-spring sunshine.
We had a treat before setting off. Gerald Gresham-Cooke, who created the Petworth Way with the help of Malinka van der Gaauw and is one of our own FSD walk leaders, joined us to introduce the route. His original plan was simple: give Londoners a way to take the train south and spend a couple of days on foot in West Sussex with an overnight stay in Petworth. It worked.
The walk delivered. Coffee at the Temple of the Winds on Blackdown, a pause on Lurgashall’s village green, a steep drop into the Arun Valley, and a fine finish through Arundel Park.
With the Petworth Way done, we’re already thinking about what comes next. The Q2 and Q3 programmes will feature the High Weald Landscape Trail, a six-day walk from Horsham to Rye and the most ambitious linear route the programme has taken on.”
The view looking towards Amberley after crossing A29 at Bury Hill.
