Sat in the car heading West towards Winchester, it struck me how the two and a half hours on the road would normally seem like an irritatingly long time to me. I then considered walking that distance and them some winding up and down and side to side across the South Downs, heading back East. The two and a half hours no longer seemed like such a long time!
Winchester is a very pretty medieval town with a history that goes back to before Roman times, and its classic Englishness made for the perfect backdrop for the start of our adventure. After moving off from the start marker at The Old Mill, we made our way down the steps to a path and along the fast flowing shallow river and through the town – it was 13.00. 100 miles to Eastbourne!
Rocks, chalk and ruts
As the three of us quickly tried to become accustomed to our backpacks, we tugged at the array of straps trying to make them more comfortable and somehow magically make them lighter. My pack weighed 30lb plus water, Ford’s 18lb with Peter’s being somewhere between the two.
My map marked the points we intended to rough camp roughly 14-18 miles in between for 6 days, and also water tap fill points dotted sporadically along the trail which I had researched online. We were travelling fully self-sufficient but I had some cash should we need it. I also had a lightweight solar panel tied on my pack to charge my phone, as there would be no other option for charging anywhere else.
Intermittent rain and shine greeted us as we climbed up onto the Downs, and the solitude of the path seemed a million miles away from the busy little town less than a mile behind us in the distance. With gently moving cornfields on both sides and the ground a mixture of loose flint, chalk and deep ruts, it made for the perfect ankle twisting terrain.
As Winchester slowly disappeared, framed elegantly by the green inclines and woods on both sides, we found a steady pace.
A few hours later, with our water bottles sloshing to and fro, with the rhythmic sound of rattling kit in our packs, the heavens really opened up on us. We hurriedly put on our waterproof jackets and ran as best we could into a wooded area to find shelter, but it didn’t really work, so we headed back out on the trail where we found a large sheep shed in a field a few minutes later. We climbed over a fence battling stinging nettles and waited for the rain to ease. After a while the sun broke through again and off we set, but not a half an hour later we got yet another soaking, and once again looked for some shelter.
Deserted house and Peter’s tent
This time we found an impressive looking deserted house complete with amazing views, a double garage, an overgrown tennis court and a covered porch. It looked as if it hadn’t been lived in for at least a couple of years. After we had checked the place over, we lit our army stove under the protection of the porch and cooked dinner; I resisted the temptation to force a way in and run a bath.
The boys laughed at the sight of me tipping down the hatch a whole can of cold rice pudding without even using a spoon. I was so hungry and I had forgotten just how nice that stuff really is. Luckily that house had an outside tap so we were able to wash up our pots and fill our depleted water bottles. Both Ford and Peter had forgotten to bring a cup, so the empty rice pudding can was given a stay of execution and became a coffee cup. We cleaned up after ourselves and moved on in the late afternoon sun. A little while later yet again the rain began to fall, and so we made the decision to quickly make camp before we got completely soaked through which would have meant a miserable night for us.
Ford and I were supposed to be sharing our little lightweight tent, but it became abundantly obvious that we were not going to fit in it without our kit being left outside in the rain. Peter’s tent although still small looked like a barn compared to ours so he and Ford shared it with all the packs stuffed next to me in mine. In our haste to get them put up, both the tents ended up at angles ensuring that the occupants would roll into one corner. I ended up laying as if in a hammock on one side, and I could hear Ford and Peter laughing and chatting. We watched lighting through the tents, and eventually drifted off as the rain began to really hammer down.
Exton
06.00 – the morning was misty and damp, but slowly the sun pushed through the clouds, so we spread out our wet kit over the tents to dry as best we could and watched it slowly steaming. We made breakfast and coffee, I laughed when Ford asked for some milk as he drank from his tin can, and Peter his from a metal drinking bottle. I had no signal on my phone but I could tell we were in for a brighter day. As the Sun warmed up from the East we broke camp and headed off.
As we headed towards the picturesque village of Exton, it was clear that Peter had slowed down and picked up an injury to his ankle; he was quietly suffering. I made the decision to call his parents to come and get him although he really wanted to continue, which says a lot about him. After a rest in the Sun and Peter heading back safely with his dad, Ford and I strapped up our backpacks and headed back out towards Old Winchester Hill. Peter thankfully lent us his bigger tent and took my minuscule example back with him.
After another short rain storm the sun really began to shine, and I was glad I’d brought a decent hat with me. Our water bottles ran low, but luckily there are a fair few places they can be refilled along the way if you look for them. I then encountered something I haven’t had for many years since climbing Ben Nevis on my honeymoon – the dreaded Ben Nevis Bum. It is basically chaffing due to wet clothes which if left will quickly become unbearably painful. Luckily, I had brought with me a pot of coco-butter which worked a treat in extinguishing that particular blazing ring of fire. Some lessons are never forgotten!
Butser Hill
For our second night we found a beautiful spot just off the trail, we cooked dinner and rummaged through our rucksacks for any other goodies we had in there. It was nice to be laying flat this time, and we both fell asleep to the eerie sound of foxes barking and playing in the woods next to us.
The morning was perfect, it was bright and hot and the sun filled us with the knowledge that the weather had changed and for the better, with no more rain forecast at all. We quickly broke-camp and pushed on. We reached Butser Hill in very good time and scoffed some food and coffee. We then kept up a good pace for which Ford had no difficulty in maintaining, he has fantastic stamina and is able to walk fast for hours happily chatting all the while seemingly oblivious to the heat and hills which were making me start to blow. The trail is generally unforgiving, and it is widely known for that with areas of potholed woodland also. Care must be taken.
On one occasion Ford tripped over one of my walking poles and he flew forward landing on the hard ground with a distinct thump. Luckily though, with only a few bruises he was quickly back up and all was forgotten – you must not dwell, you dust off and crack on! He is without question a tough kid. We pushed on all the way to just above Heyshott where we decided to drop down through the very steep woodland and into the village to meet Sadie to pick up another freshly charged working phone. Earlier my phone had inexplicably stopped working, but a lovely pair of ladies let me use theirs and we walked with them for a while. They even wanted to take my heavy pack and swap it for one of theirs to give me a rest, which was lovely; I of course kindly declined. It proves that there is so much goodness in people out there if we look for it. Throughout our walk we encountered nothing except goodwill, smiles and encouragement from strangers willing us on; it definitely had a boosting effect on us both. If by chance those ladies are reading this, thank you so much for your help, unfortunately I cannot remember catching your names.
The wrong face cloth
Heyshott is a beautiful little classic English village and Sadie had no problem in finding us there. I grabbed a sneaky pint of ale in the Unicorn Inn, which was indescribable, and put my sim in the new phone. An extra surprise for me was having a couple of fantastic brothers turn up to say hello and support Ford and I, Phil and Wayne. I have had the honour in standing besides both these men many times during demonstrations, with the police trying to intimidate us, but that could never be with these two forces of nature.
Wayne let Ford and I use the sink in his campervan to wash in lovely warm water which was very welcomed. Even after I accidently used his face cloth mistaking it for the new one he bought for us, and really went to work with it, his contagious humour found the funny side! The cloth found the bin.
The blind leading the blind
The next morning we once again marched East with the sun in our faces. We pulled our caps down low to shield our eyes, and picked up our pace. The sign posting along the route isn’t great and it would be easy to mistake the multitude of bridleway signs for the South Downs Way sign posts especially when tired. Sometimes in fact, there were no signs at all and a little guesswork and luck were needed to keep us on track. Unfortunately on a couple of occasions we did make mistakes. It is soul destroying to discover that you have been walking in discomfort heading in the wrong direction, then having to simply turn around and head back. The way to deal with it is simple, take a long deep breath then turn the air blue with foul language that would make a rugby team blush, then take another deep breath swallow hard then carry on! You have no choice. By this stage stinging blisters had began to show their ugly heads on my feet, but I have experience with that and know that thinking about them doesn’t help at all.
Asking passers-by isn’t always wise either, as often they will start to question and doubt themselves which quickly degenerates into the blind leading the blind.
Near Midhurst, we were joined by our Alpha brother, Aiden and his bro, who walked with us for a time in the hot midday sun. He gave us chocolate which Ford and I greedily scoffed, and I somehow managed to resist the tempting tin of ale I was offered. It is always so great to chat and walk with members of our awake community and share the stories of how we came to realise the truth of the world we live in. It never ceases to amaze me how similar so many of our personal journeys have been over the last few years, and how getting active in our community has energized us all and given our lives new meaning and direction. Little did the enemies of freedom, light and love realise that in their arrogance, evil and attempts to destroy our freedom and spirit, they in fact created for themselves their own perfect storm in which emerged the awake community, that has grown beyond even our greatest dreams and achieved so much. From here we can only grow further.
116 white elephants in the sea
As we walked with Steyning below and to our left, we could hear and see in the distance a huge music festival underway, so we decided that once we had walked far away enough to once again find peace, we would make camp. By now my blisters had become very painful and the idea of laying on soft grass a very agreeable one. I could see a famer working in a field making repairs to fencing as we passed by, and a couple of minutes later he drove up behind us on the trail in his truck. I waved him down to ask of a good place to pitch up, I explained we were on a mission to raise funds for HOPE and I gave him a quick rundown. His name is Olly, and he very kindly gave us use of a private field with permission to stay the night which was very helpful.
A little later on, and after a bit of confusion as to where we were exactly, Sadie and the rest of my family drove up nearby and walked to find us. A hot kettle of still warm water was put to good use, brought to us by Sadie. The fact it was still warm made me realise how far we had come as we were now only a forty minute drive from my home.
In the morning and after a quick coffee, the now four of us set out to get as much done as we could. Later we were met by our lovely Emma and Joseph, who helped to point us in the right direction after some more map confusion and top us up with some goodies, which was a real moral boost for us. We bid farewell to them and heading in the right direction once again, we pushed off at a good pace.
For the first time I could now make out familiar landmarks looking over to our right; out to sea we could see the huge Rampion offshore wind farm in the distance opposite Worthing and Brighton. I couldn’t help wondering the cost of building and maintaining such a vast site that covers twenty-seven square miles, and how better could that bottomless pit of cash have been spent instead with homelessness and depression reaching crisis points around much of the UK. It proves that ticking boxes and nonsensical bureaucracy takes precedence over human suffering with those that rule us.
Going light kit only
The sun burned down on us as we trudged ever onward stopping only briefly to top-up our water bottles wherever we could. The trick is, if you find a source of water, neck a bottle down before filling them all up to the top. Never let a tap go begging. Check the colour of your urine each time you go especially if it’s hot. It should be slightly yellow. Too clear could mean you are drinking too much and flushing out the crucial electrolytes you need. If it is too yellow and concentrated, you may be becoming dehydrated which can lead to fatigue and poor decision making. Food is simpler, just little and often and vary it.
We pushed onto Pyecombe where we met by the wonderful Rob, Sammy and family, and resupplied with juice drinks and bottled water which we had been getting through quickly due to the heat. They also kindly took our heavy kit including tents, sleeping bags, stoves roll-mats and anything else non-vital. Ford and I had made the decision to try something crazy and press on through with a night march all the way to Eastbourne to arrive very early the next morning. It seemed like a good idea at the time.
So, with high spirits we bid our farewells and set off. Walking by now was aided by paracetamol which took the edge off the pain of my blisters that had by now long burst and had dried inside my boots gluing them on. For some reason Ford did not have a single one, and instead skipped merrily along as if on a light stroll along the beach.
After a good while, a combination of lack of sleep, all but non-existent signage and a map written in the 1800’s, meant we got lost and somehow walked right around the hills above Lewes in the wrong direction. With the help of a local out walking his dog we located Lewes in the distance and eventually made it through the town, the time was at 21.30 and we had covered 25 miles since the morning. I was by now in great pain so we took the decision to call in the cavalry, and Sadie came out to us with a fresh first aid kit. With no tent and the air turning decidedly cool, we went back to the house with her only thirty minutes away. In the morning we had a quick breakfast and I bandaged up. I found a couple of co-codamol and put them in my top pocket for later.
Jade Emperor
Dropped off back at Lewes, we were soon once again weaving our way back up onto the steep crest of the Downs to push on for the final and increasingly windy 15 mile stretch, to the end marker in Eastbourne. Once again the Sun beat down unforgivingly as we passed Firle and then took a quick break in Alfriston. We were joined by Sadie and my family for a while before we pressed on to the beautiful River Cuckmere Valley with its winding river dotted with kayaks and paddleboarders. We kept up on the high left side of the valley as we turned towards the sea through some scrub and trees before coming to the first of the famous Seven Sisters Hills. The striking views out to sea draw people from around the world, the most abundant being people from South East Asia as the Seven Sisters represent to them the seven daughters of the Chinese deity, the Jade Emperor.
100 miles
We kept up a good pace with Ford showing off his sprinting skills running up the hills to wait for the two old guys to catch up. A few times I too joined in with the running using my walking poles but shortly after I would be punished with stabs of pain as the co-codamol finally wore off.
As the first views of Eastbourne finally came into sight framed by the green hills either side, we realised we had it in the bag. In the distance moments later I could see my other son, Callum running up to meet us. We embraced and headed down together to be met by members of our local community and my family.
I kissed the wooden weather-beaten finish marker, and we posed for pictures as I contemplated soaking in a bath and eating a takeaway. We had done it! 100 hilly, taxing miles. I felt fantastic as I watched Ford racing his brother up and down a hill to prove his new improved fitness! I just shook my head.
During the short car drive back home my mind began thinking up what we can plan next to raise the funds we need to support HOPE Sussex. I have a few ideas – and none of them are easy! Will you be with us for our next adventure?
Matt Single
HOPE Sussex
You can make a donation here. Thank you x. www.hopesussex.co.uk
Visit my Facebook page for the live videos I made during our walk.
Special thanks go to all the wonderful members of our community that supported us during our walk. You are all amazing! xxx
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