We made a rapid return to the South Downs Way, undertaking this second stage early in March 2024.
We are walking in an Eastbourne direction, having started from Winchester.
For the first leg, we experimented with walking over two days, on either side of an overnight stop. This obviously involves carrying fuller, heavier rucksacks than we would typically need for a single day.
We managed with less difficulty than we had anticipated, and so opted to continue with the same pattern.
We would be travelling to East Meon by train and bus as early as possible on day one, staying overnight at The White Hart in South Harting before finishing near Cocking around lunchtime on day two.
The total walking distance is approximately 18 miles.
Day 1: East Meon to South Harting
Everything went to plan on the outward journey. We arrived at Petersfield Station shortly after eight in the morning and made our way to the 67 bus stop directly outside.
The station forecourt was thronging with young people, part-way through their journeys to school or college. It was chill and foggy.
The 67 bus arrived on time and we were deposited outside All Saints’ Church by 08:45. Visibility was already improving slightly as we got under way.
We passed a ‘toads crossing’ sign on the road out of East Meon, before finding the footpath we had used last time to leave the South Downs Way.
Gradually, as the sun grew stronger, the fog thinned and evaporated, leaving a clear blue sky in its wake. But long ribbons of fog remained in the valleys, giving the landscape an unusual appearance.
Conditions underfoot grew worryingly muddy on the long drag up to the Droxford Road. There was one particularly wet section where we had to haul ourselves along the barbed wire fence to avoid puddles deeper than our boots.
But, soon after ten, we arrived at The Sustainability Centre, which describes itself as ‘an independent learning and study centre, a beacon for sustainability and an award-winning social enterprise charity’. We wanted to visit the Centre’s Beech Café for coffee and a mid-morning snack.
Just before the turning, we met an elderly gentleman with a docile golden labrador who gave us plenty of helpful advice about the route ahead, remarking that we’d just completed the muddiest stretch.
He recommended that we sample the beer from local Droxford brewery, Bowman Ales, available from the Café.
But it was a little too early for that, so we stuck to coffee, but also had some very tasty ginger cake. We took our purchases to a bench outside, where we basked in the welcome warmth of the sun.
Resuming, we continued for a while parallel with the Droxford Road before heading across country again, where we spotted a bullfinch sitting in a moss-covered tree.
Eventually we joined North Lane for the climb up Butser Hill, the second highest point in the South Downs National Park, reaching 271 metres.
The name is said to be a corruption of the Old English for ‘Brytte’s Slope’.
There is a nature reserve here, in which some 30 species of butterfly have been recorded. It is also a popular spot for hang gliding and there is an annual ‘Butser Hill Challenge’ run, three times up and down in succession.
We admired the tower at the summit before beginning our own descent. We debated whether we could see the sea through the haze, presumably around Hayling Island.
Passing underneath the A3, we approached the Queen Elizabeth Country Park Visitor Centre, where a group of teenagers was being organised for an outward bound activity.
We used the toilets and ate our sandwiches in the courtyard area of the café, from where we purchased coffee to round off the meal.
Continuing on our way, we entered a lengthy wooded section, sharing part of the route with the Shipwrights Way (Bentley to Portsmouth) and the Staunton Way (from here to Havant).
The Shipwright’s way is lined with sculptures and we passed two of them: the Hampshire Downs Sheep and the Cheese Snail, the latter beside Buriton Chalk Pits.
Limestone was excavated here from the 1860s until 1939.
During WW2, the area was used by the Admiralty to take apart unexploded sea mines, so keeping abreast of the enemy’s latest detonating systems.
Our route bypassed the village of Buriton itself, whose manor house was the sometime home of historian Edward Gibbon (1737-94).
We noticed the entrance to Ditcham Park School, which inhabits Ditcham Park House. It was commissioned in 1887 by one Laurence Trent Cave and allegedly built twice, because the first iteration burned down when the boilers were lit on 4 March 1888.
A little further on, we also observed this vacant treehouse for rent, before our attention was drawn to the folly belonging to Uppark House, known as the Vandalian Tower.
It was built around 1770, for Sir Matthew Fetherstonhaugh, who bought Uppark House in 1747. He was subsequently Member of Parliament for both Morpeth and Portsmouth.
It was originally designed in the form of a pinnacled pavilion with kitchens below and a dining room above. There is some suggestion of an association with the Hellfire Club, but the dates do not tally.
The Tower acquired its name because Sir Matthew built it to commemorate his support for ‘Vandalia’, a proposed settlement in West Virginia, to be built on the banks of the Ohio River, on land obtained from the Iroquois.
Sir Matthew was one of the investors in this project, which was abandoned with the onset of the War of Independence, by which time he had died. The Tower burned down in 1842.
We descended to South Harting by footpath, thinking better of using the extremely busy road.
This small village was briefly the home of Anthony Trollope, who moved here in 1880, just two years before his death. BBC luminary Cliff Michelmore was also a resident.
Several of the properties in the Village are listed, including The White Hart Inn, which has 17th Century features.
Arriving at around 15:45, we were shown to our well-appointed room, on the ground floor to the rear. We ate in the pub that evening.
Day 2: South Harting to Cocking
Following a hearty full English breakfast, we paid our bill and were underway by 09:45. It was a fine morning, though still slightly hazy. Climbing back up to the South Downs Way was something of a rude awakening.
Soon, though, we were striding along Harting Down, looking down upon South Harting and East Harting next door.
Eventually we found ourselves in a closed valley, dotted with scrub, where six red kites were wheeling in the sky. We spent some time trying to get a decent photograph before continuing on our way.
Half an hour later we stopped near a farm gate with a blue rag tied to it, for a coffee-free coffee break.
Soon afterwards we found ourselves in rather scrappy woodland, passing a tiny memorial to the crew of a Luftwaffe Junkers JU88 which crashed nearby on 13 August 1940, after being attacked by RAF Hurricanes.
It was the lead aircraft in a formation targeting Farnborough Aerodrome. The pilot – Oberleutnant Josef Oestermann – was killed, but the three remaining crew members – the observer, wireless operator and gunner – bailed out safely.
Local newspapers reported that Cyril Ash, a farmer, went with his farmhands to find the survivors. They ‘fingered their revolvers’ but gave them up when Ash aimed his gun in their direction. They were later transferred to PoW camps in Canada.
The memorial was erected in 1988, in the presence of Oestermann’s brother and daughter.
Almost immediately, we reached the Devil’s Jumps, a collection of seven Bronze Age barrows, most of which which align with sunset on Midsummer’s Day.
The name is derived from the myth that the devil enjoyed leaping from one to the other, until he disturbed Thor, who threw a rock at him.
As we emerged from the woods back onto downs, the sky had clouded over and it was decidedly chilly. We pushed along past fields of sheep.
The descent down towards Cocking was over flinty ground, hard to manage with tired feet, but we eventually reached the bottom. Coming abreast of a Cadence Café, we popped in for celebratory coffees plus delicious apple and blackberry crumble flapjack.
We had only to cross the road to find the bus stop, from where a number 60 bus took us to Chichester Station. We were soon back in London.
TD
April 2024
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