I had never slept in a shepherds hut before, but Manor Farm is right on the South Downs Way so a night in their brightly coloured hut made sense. I received a warm welcome from Pauline, the farmer’s wife, who runs the accommodation business, and pointed me to a footpath into the village of Cocking. It’s a small place and the community-owned pub was closed the day I was there, but it has a 12th century church.
I wandered into the church yard and had a quick chat to a dog walker who confirmed the tragedy of the pub being closed, and then I saw something that made me forget about the pub. In a garden next to the church were extraordinary sculptures. It looked like something from Alice in Wonderland. There was no information at hand, so I had to wait until the next day to ask Pauline about this bizarre sight.
It was the house, studio and sculpture garden of renowned sculptor Philip Jackson. He’s responsible for some of Britain’s best loved public sculptures. These include the Bomber Command Memorial in Green Park and the Bobby Moore sculpture at Wembley Stadium. He did the Queen Mother sculpture in the Mall, the Queen in Windsor Great Park, and the Mahatma Gandhi Memorial in Parliament Square.
As Pauline handed me home made sandwiches for my lunch, I couldn’t work out why his presence in Cocking wasn’t better known. I mean, seriously? I left the farm behind and headed off for what would be an absolutely glorious day of walking along some of the most beautiful sections of the South Downs Way. All under a bright blue sky. It was 37km to Steyning, but I didn’t resent a single step of the walk. It was gorgeous.
I was soon on top of the chalk ridge of the Downs and walking amongst woodland. There were several Bronze and Iron Age burial mounds on this first section, and an information board informed that back then I would have had better views because those early Britons had chopped down all the trees. It was a hot day and I was glad for the shade. A couple of hours later I found myself on the Downs at Slindon Estate.
This National Trust property covers 1,400 hectares of woodland, downland, farmland, and parkland. The impossible to ignore thing though were the fields of red clover that swept across the landscape in front of me. It smelled lovely. I desperately wanted to visit the Roman villa with well preserved mosaics nearby at Bignor, but it was closed. Instead, I bounded along the track towards the village of Amberley.
It was a long descent to the valley floor to cross the River Arun, but not long after I was walking down the long entrance drive towards Amberley Castle. Today, it’s a plush hotel, but back in the 12th century it was a manor house that over time was fortified into a castle that the Bishops of Chichester used as a summer residence. I nosed around then made my way into the village.
Amberley was a detour adding several kilometres to my route, I made it simply because I read a newspaper article that promised “a cracking pub“. As I walked towards The Black Horse I asked a man in his garden if I was on the right road for the pub. He looked at me and said, “We have two pubs, I’d recommend the Sportsman.” When pressed about The Black Horse, he told me he’d not been “since it got a new owner”.
If you’re British, this is code for ‘the locals have a problem with the people who own the pub’. I went anyway, mostly because The Black Horse was closer. It turned out to be owned by local vineyard owning brothers who have a string of London eateries. This new venture had opened very recently and the staff seemed on edge. It’s a place that is going to attract the sort of well-healed Londoners who drive Chelsea tractors.
I understood what the guy in his garden had been suggesting, but the barman was friendly and informative, so I ordered a beer and relaxed in the bar. Refreshed, I set off towards the chalk escarpment of the Downs and Steyning. I spent much of the next three hours walking on the tops of the Downs with fabulous views over the countryside below. As Chanctonbury Ring came into sight, I knew I was close to day’s end.
The ring is an Iron Age hillfort occupying a site above the valley. It’s best known for the beech trees which look like a green crown on top of the earthworks. The trees were planted in 1760 by local landowner, Charles Goring, but many were blown down in the Great Storm of 1987. They’ve been replanted but are still some way from maturity. All that was left for me to do, was to descend into Steyning and find a good pub.
Daily walking stats
Distance: 37km
Time: 9hrs 20mins
Beers consumed: 3 (pints of Bishop’s Finger in the Chequer Inn)
