The Highdown Mountaineering Club was formed in October 1986 at the Ferring Scout HQ, and its first programme for 1987 offered 11 trips away to wild country areas in England, Wales and Ireland. The inaugural chairman was David Hyett, then Group Scout Leader in Ferring, who held the post until November 1993; he led many of the Club’s trips at home and abroad, often with his late wife Doreen who was also a Guide Leader in the area. In those early years the transport most often used was an old minibus known as the Ferring Ambulance! 1994 saw a number of changes in the Club’s management committee, with Richard Carlisle taking over as Chairman for the next 5 years. The club name was changed to its current form in 1997 to encourage new ‘hillwalker’ members who might otherwise have envisaged just rock and ice on a rope! Some things have not changed over the years, such as the good-natured companionship amongst our Members, the variety of destinations, and the challenges experienced on our trips and expeditions.

Every year since 1987 there has been a Club trip (or a day walk) at least once per month, always including a foreign trip during the late summer months to the mountain ranges of Europe, from Poland to the Pyrenees, and we’ve also been to the Atlas Mountains in North Africa. There are few mountain routes in the UK that have not been trod by Highdown members over the years, including scores of Scouts and Guides getting their first real taste of ‘wild country’ activities.

As chairman, Graham Aldred introduced some further developments, such as the Club logo and the formal membership scheme. Chairman Chris Haulkham continued the development theme with the upgrading of our website to attract a wider audience of potential members.  Under the Chairmanship of Gary Edwards our Programmes developed a slightly different ‘mix’ of events but still with the theme of ‘something for everybody’!

In 2011 we adopted changes to our constitution to reflect the shift away from Scouts and Guides and a new Committee structure, and in 2012 Alison Edwards was elected as our current Chair.  Alison introduced (and over the years has refined) a comprehensive Trip Leaders Guidance pack: all trip organisers who volunteer to run a trip for us have comprehensive guidance notes on how best to run a trip developed over years of club experience, thus supporting leaders as they offer their own knowledge of new areas of the country/world for us to explore as a club.

During the Covid pandemic, the club cancelled all booked trips and rearranged the day walks to comply with government guidance. This meant that for some walks, when meeting outdoors was restricted to a maximum of six people, we planned a circular walk, with six members walk the route clockwise and any others walking it anticlockwise – ensuring that should we meet halfway, we stayed well apart and in the open. This provided some much-needed exercise for us all and an opportunity to get outdoors after the various lockdowns. Trips did not resume until 2022, and strict Covid protocols were agreed as some of our members were vulnerable. Not everybody was comfortable sharing accommodation right away, and indeed some YHAs would not offer dorm type shared rooms again.

Our website, re-designed in 2024, continues to attract new members to maintain a healthy membership and reflects the increased use of social media as we move the club forwards again. We aim to post reports and photos after each trip so the website gives potential new members a good idea of the kinds of walks we do and landscapes we visit, both on day walks and weekend/longer trips.

Now, we use a mixture of self-catering bunk barns, rental cottages, YHAs, independent hostels and at least one camping trip per year. We try to offer a backpacking option – in 2023 this was around the Yorkshire Dales – and at least one trip abroad to a mountainous area or to walk a coastal path. The annual trip to Scotland in May is always very popular, with some members bagging Munros and others preferring to enjoy the lower Corbetts or Grahams. We have even been known to spend a night in a bothy – but that is a rare occasion!

Over recent years awareness of environmental issues that affect the landscapes we love to walk in have meant our ethos of sharing car travel as much as possible to minimise our carbon footprint is more important than ever. We offer local Sussex-based day walks with options to arrive by public transport where possible, have fewer trips further afield and more local walking – including summer evening walks. These offer an opportunity for non-members to come along and meet us before they decide to join the club. We want prospective new members to be comfortable with the distances and pace of our walks, but acknowledge that not all of us can cope with this on multi-day trips and so we often offer shorter, easier routes as well when we have long mountain days planned. In Scotland, to get to some of the more remote hills we hire cycles – this saves a lot of time and effort.

We have grown and changed over the decades of Highdown’s existence as a club and look forward to welcoming the next generation of hill lovers as they get to know the wonderful countryside we are privileged to have walked in all weathers and seasons.