Halnaker to Chichester or West Dean: Scenic steep chalk downlands around the Upper Lavant Valley, the Goodwood Estate, and unrivalled views from St. Roche's Hill
Length: 22.9 km (14.2 mi) [shorter and
longer options available, see below]
Ascent/Descent: 475/501 m
Net Walking Time: ca. 5
½ hours
Toughness: 6 out of 10 (with several steep ascents
around lunch, so may feel tougher than that)
09.05 Portsmouth Harbour train from Victoria (CJ 09.12, EC 09.23), arrives Chichester
10.37 [train splits at Horsham]. Then take the Number 55 bus at 10.45
at the Bus Station (direction Tangmere, usually from Stand 6), arrives Halnaker
Crossroads 11.05. The bus runs every 30 minutes, should the train be
late. The pdf lists nearby cafés to while away the wait.
Return trains are on
xx.09 and xx.39 (96 minutes journey time). Buy a Chichester return.
This West Sussex walk involves a bus connection on
the way out. Its purpose is to explore the scenic steep chalk downlands well
north of Chichester around the Upper Lavant Valley, between St. Roche’s Hill
and the South Downs chain, while passing through the Goodwood estate as well as
through Chichester’s Old Town at the end.
The lonely grassy or wooded hillsides of the
beautiful Lavant Valley are dissected by quiet flat-bottomed valleys, and
feature several pretty villages, as well as providing for stunning views. Most
of the climbing is done between the lunch pubs, but the longest ascent comes
straight after the late lunch option, up to St. Roche’s Hill, from whose
treeless summit you have some of the best views in the southeast.
Walk Options:
Out-and-backs at the start to Halnaker Hill (and its windmill) or Boxgrove Priory
add 5.1 and 2.6 km respectively.
A shortcut around lunch reduces the length
of the walk by 3.6 km and the ascent by 167m (rated 4/10).
Another shortcut around lunch reduces the
length of the walk by 800m and the ascent by 93m (rated 5/10).
An Alternative Ending in West Dean cuts out
6.5 km (rated 6/10).
An infrequent bus service (line 99) runs
past the early lunch stops in East Dean and Charlton (at about 13.30 and 15.00
hours). You need to phone ahead to book a stop though (01903-264 776)!A half-hourly bus service (line 60) runs
from Singleton, West Dean and Lavant to Chichester.
A hourly bus service (line 50) from
the fringes of Chichester cuts 2.5 km at the end.
Lunch: On the full walk
the scheduled lunch stop is The Partridge Inn in Singleton
(11.4 km/7.1 mi, food all day), just before the ascent to the highest point of
the walk: St. Roche’s Hill. There’s also the Star and Garter in East
Dean, but that comes a bit early (5.6 km/3.6 mi, food to 14.30).
On the short walks the lunch stops are the Star and Garter in East
Dean or The Fox Goes
Free in Charlton (9.4 km/5.9 mi, food to 14.30) [Shortcut
II only].
Tea: Chichester has lots of
commendable drinkeries and eateries. For details check page 2 of the
pdf.
For summary, route map, height
profile, walk directions, photos and gpx/kml files click
here. T=swc.239
2 comments:
Advance Tickets still available
6 walkers off the train (incl. 1 first-timer), awaited at the bus station by 1 car driver and her dog plus 1 other walker off an earlier train: n=8 . The day was w=sunny-with-a-cold-breeze
An early highlight was a stunning poppy field (ie a cereal field with loads of poppies), just off path by Halnaker House. Later, in the woods, we saw some very slow runners going the other way, with race numbers across their chest. They were barely faster than walkers, despite looking quite fit. Strange. Later we saw more of them and we could apprehend and question one while he was having a drink at a tea kiosk on the Trundle. They were competing in the Race To The King (google it), a 101.5 km Ultra-Marathon. Can be split over two days, but our man at the tea kiosk was going to finish it on the day, around midnight at best... Respect!
It was a perfect time of year for this walk, with plenty of wildflowers in the fields, also the few arable fields en route were all lying fallow, so also easy walking. Views were smashing, if a little hazy in the far distance (the IoW was a mere shadow in the sea).
At Singleton, one picnicker marched up the hill, wanting to get the last ascent out the way before taking food (17.39 train for him), 2 other picnickers joined the 5 lunchers in the best-in-class pub garden of The Partridge Inn. This has always been lovely, but now (as of 2 months ago) they have the most impressive sun and rain protective canopy you'll ever see: sturdy but aesthetic steel beams concreted into the ground, with the tarpaulin tethered to the house wall, covering the whole paved area, with views of the grassy rest of the garden. It should survive the worst imaginable hurricane...
We had quite a long stay there, incl, desserts and coffees.
The 7 of us stayed together until the end (with more poppy fields en route in the valley below The Trundle), and had time for a quick drink at The Fountain (Hall & Woodhouse), before 2 took the 18.09, and 2 others the 18.39. The car driver left as well, leaving 2 to have a meal. With weary legs, we just stumbled across the road into a Zizzi branch. And what a building it is! A historic theatre-barn/building, with some tables on a gallery right under the massive wooden beams. 20.09 train.
Group cohesion and group dynamics: 9 out of 10
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