Length: 18.53 km (11.51 miles)
Toughness 2 out of 10
London Victoria: 09-05 hrs Southern Service to Portsmouth Harbour and Bognor Regis: train splits at Horsham - you need to be in the front section for Portsmouth Harbour: stops CJ 09-12, EC 09-23, Horsham 10-01
Arrive Southbourne: 10-51 hrs
(Apologies for the slightly early start, but I want you to have the option of enjoying a pub lunch stop and later visiting Chichester Cathedral and having tea there late afternoon before the Cathedral closes)
Return
Chichester to Victoria: 09 & 39 mins past the hour, Southern service to Victoria
Rail ticket: buy a day return to Southbourne
I'm guest posting for Thomas G whilst he is away, so allow me to post a Book 1 walk which has not been posted on a Saturday for some years. If you like a relaxing stroll beside the water, having lunch at a cosy harbourside pub in a quaint old village, and ending the walk with a visit to a delightful cathedral, then this is a walk for you. And there are no hills or inclines on this walk !
Leaving Southbourne you are soon walking on a raised path beside the waters edge before heading inland to the village of Chidham, where you could stop for an early lunch at the upmarket The Old House at Home gastro pub (you will have a wait until it opens) but the suggested lunch stop comes later. In the village of Chidham do call in to the Parish Church of St Mary, to view the amusing home-made dolls made from teasels depicting individuals and events of historic interest over the centuries. From Chidham your way continues over more fields before you take the long waterside sweep along three sides of Bosham Harbour until you reach the village of Bosham, where you find the suggested lunch stop today - the Anchor Bleu pub. Your e.t.a is 1-20 pm
After lunch, you walk again beside the harbour water before another leg inland to Fishbourne before you head through the outskirts of Chichester and into town, to visit Chichester Cathedral and its excellent cafeteria for tea. After tea it's a short(ish) walk through town to the railway station, for your journey home.
Enjoy !
T=1.37
Walk Directions are here: L=1.37
2 comments:
In 2022 at point [7] para 34, the way ahead , down steps, was closed. I believe the route ahead has reopened but if not, you will need to continue left along the road to the next road junction on your right, which you take to walk into Bosham
A select N=7 on this walk, on w=a-lovely-sunny-day which was just perfect for it. By luck or design the tides were also ideal, peaking at 1.40pm. So we got lots of glittering sea rather than miles of mud.
We split into two groups in the morning due to a difference of routes (three stuck to the road past the early lunch pub, four followed the specified footpath). A little later we passed a glorious field of pumpkins, surreally waiting to be harvested for Halloween (see photo on Facebook). There was also curly kale in different hues and leeks (apparently: I didn’t notice those).
The path on the last stretch to Bosham was officially closed, but we of course ignored that. The reason soon became clear - a metre wide gap in the sea wall through which water was gushing. Techniques varied for crossing this. One (me) leapt. One took off boots and waded. Four did what seemed to me a perilous step onto an inclined piece of concrete. One returned to the main road to find another route and rejoined us at lunch.
In Bosham the pub had no free tables, so we went to the Shoreside Cafe, which served perfectly decent nosh and produced it much quicker than the pub would have done. It was high tide, the sparkling water lapping right up to the cafe, nearly overtopping the “This Road Floods at High Tide” sign. One local, with a shopping bag, waded fully clothed out to his boat anchored in the bay, apparently unconcerned to be soaked up to his waist.
The afternoon passed pleasantly and we got to the gorgeous Bishop’s Gardens in Chichester at 4pm. How lovely the cathedral looked, etched white against the blue sky! We had again got a bit strung out but eventually five of us assembled in the garden of the tea room. We then went to look at the very charming cathedral, which supposedly closes at 5pm but obviously didn’t, because we time for a good look round it.
We got the 5.39 train, split into two groups, neither of them, as far as I know, consuming any “supplies”. All of us agreed this was a very nice walk which deserves a more regular airing.
Post a Comment