Arundel Binsted and Tortington day walk
Setting out from a busy Arundel where the Castle was holding a medieval weekend, we walked quickly away from the noise and bustle and were soon into ancient woodland, deep and thick, surprisingly silent for the time of year. A short road walk brought us to a green lane which became steadily more overgrown, encouraging those of us with handy secateurs and scythes (!) to use them against the nasty brambles. Crossing the railway, we followed fields to Ford church where we stopped for lunch before finding our way to the riverside and following it back along its meandering course to the town. A decent 10 miles and some varied scenery – and the mizzle held off until we were all back in the cars before raining hard for a short time!
Walk leader: Sue Waton
Kingley Vale Day walk
On a very warm day we were glad to start off in the shade of these ancient twisted and gnarled yews, winding our way around between them until we came across the grandmother(father?) tree which had a circle of new uprights growing from its old branches that had touched the ground around it. Up onto the ridge for long ranging views of Chichester harbour and beyond, looking across to Portsmouth as we had a quick coffee stop at the tumps – bronze age barrows. We picked up the Monarch’s way down towards Stoughton and through to the next village for a lunch stop before taking a gently climbing path again through cool woodland up towards the top of the vale, descending the other ‘arm’ and back to the track leading to the start point.
Walk leader: Ant Waton
L-R: Alison Edwards, Sue Waton, Ben Bessant, Chris Craig
Credits - photo and the story:
Jeff Travis
Media and Public Relations Officer
South Downs National Park Authority
Highdown Hillwalking & Mountaineering Club test out new path with vital repairs to iconic beauty spot in National Park
Access to one of the most sacred and spookiest spots on the South Downs has been improved in time for the spring. Thanks to £25,000 funding from the British Mountaineering Council, 800m of pathway up to Chanctonbury Ring has been given a much-needed makeover.
The popular path, which is part of the South Downs Way and known locally as Washington Bostal, was in a bad state of repair after years of wear and tear, with walkers having to dodge water-filled gullies.
Some 400 hours of manual labour by four high-skilled path workers - using three diggers, two dumper trucks and two rollers has transformed the route. Now there is a smooth, durable chalk surface and a new camber to help rainwater run- off.
First Aid Training June 2025
10 Members took the Foundations of Outdoor First Aid level 3 qualification today. We are grateful to the 12th Chichester Scouts for allowing us to use their scout hut as a training venue, and to Michael for opening up and locking up after us. We are also very grateful to Simon Whitmore for his excellent delivery of the course content and for his extensive knowledge of potential outdoor scenarios. He also checked our first aid kit and recommended an alternative use of the ubiquitous orange survival bag, to incorporate a foil blanket inside for extra insulation.
It was an excellent course and we all gained a lot of useful knowledge. Simon is a very experienced outdoor leader and trainer. He came highly recommended and we could all see why as the scenarios he presented to us were relevant to our experience. We sat a multiple choice paper at the end of the day, and all passed! We are now all qualified for three years, but he did recommend a refresher annually, as most people naturally forget some of the detail over time.
Sue Waton
HHMC Hon Secretary