the subtle curves and folds of the landscape, the steeply plunging north-facing slopes, the dazzling white cliffs at the eastern end, the intimate inner valleys. It could be its history, or its villages. For the walker with an eye for more than just a view with a footpath disappearing through it, a good part of its appeal must surely rest on the flowers that speckle the downland and the birdsong that serenades each mile.
The thin soil of the downland, lying on an immense bed of chalk, is sorely deficient in certain minerals, yet a variety of plant species will be in flower from spring right through to autumn. Among those that favour chalk-rich soils are the rough hawkbit, common milkwort, bulbous buttercup and salad burnet. On open grasslands, the regular grazing by sheep and rabbits over hundreds of years has kept the natural spread of scrub and woodland in check, which has enabled flowering plants to thrive, but elsewhere isolated deposits of clay-with-flint indicate the existence of deeper, more fertile soils that encourage small clumps of trees to stand out in an otherwise bare and open land.
The South Downs is a natural habitat for many different orchids
Cowslips are an unofficial symbol of the Downs
In West Sussex and the Hampshire Downs beechwood ‘hangers’ characterise the steep flanks and continue onto the escarpment. But the beech is not the only tree to flourish here, for oak, ash and yew are also common – the ancient yews at Kingley Vale, northwest of Chichester, are thought to be among Britain’s oldest living plants and are well worth a visit.
In springtime the cowslip (Primula veris) makes its appearance on open downland, and on a few select slopes overlooking the Weald it spreads a great carpet of yellow in April and May. Almost ubiquitous on the South Downs, with some justification the cowslip could be taken as its symbol, for the collection of lightly scented, tube-shaped flowers opening to a cupped ‘face’ are among the natural gems of the National Park – a single stem can host literally dozens of individual flower heads.
At the same time the common bluebell (Hyacinthoides nonscripta) drifts across steep banks where there’s ample shade, and fills acres of broadleaved woodland with its brilliant colouring, sometimes interspersed with greater stitchwort (Stellaria holostea) or red campion (Silene dioica). In those same woodlands, wood sorrel (Oxalis acetosella) also comes into flower in April and May.
In spring and early summer a number of different orchids appear: the early purple, common spotted, and the scented fragrant orchid among them.
Spiky bushes of gorse (Ules europaeus), the yellow kidney vetch (Anthyllis vulneraria) and horseshoe vetch (Hippocrepis comosa) are all members of the pea family and are common to chalky soil, the last two flowering from May to August, while gorse flowers golden almost year-round. On rough grasslands and sunny woodland margins, marjoram (Origanum vulgare) is mainly a summer-flowering plant whose leaves, when crushed, smell of mint. Also seen throughout the South Downs on the chalk grassland, the small scabious (Scabiosa columbaria) flowers from July to September.
But the prize for the most eye-catching and colourful display must surely go to the common poppy (Papaver rhoeas), which invades grassland and arable field alike. It’s not unusual on a summer’s day to gaze across a broad view where swathes of brilliant red or scarlet reach into the distance. Draw closer and you may find long-stemmed chicory (Cichorium intybus) growing amidst the poppies, their beautiful pale-blue flower heads appearing delicate by contrast with their more powerful neighbours.
Writing about the South Downs in 1893, the Victorian essayist Richard Jefferies commented: ‘Under the September sun, flowers may still be found in sheltered places, as at the side of furze [gorse], on the highest of the Downs. Wild thyme continues to bloom – the shepherd’s thyme – wild mignonette, blue scabious, white dropwort, yellow bedstraw, and the large purple blooms of greater knapweed. Grasshoppers hop among the short dry grass; bees and humblebees are buzzing about, and … the furze is everywhere full of finches’ (Nature Near London).
Finches, yes, gathering in flocks in autumn and winter; brambling and chaffinch, thrush and warbler swarm over areas of scrub, attracted by the insect life that scrub supports. Redwing and fieldfare are common migrants, returning to the Downs in the autumn from their breeding grounds in northern Europe. The wheatear is a summer visitor, scavenging on the ground in search of insects. Ground nesting birds such as the meadow pipit and corn bunting are downland favourites, as is the lapwing (or peewit) which lays its eggs among open plough tracings.
Poppies, seen almost everywhere on the South Downs in summer
But it is the skylark that will suddenly rise from the ground trilling its mellifluous song, then hovers as a tiny speck, singing all the while. No song could better conjour a landscape than this; it is the unmistakable soundtrack to the South Downs.
Typical butterflies, such as the adonis blue, chalkhill blue and common blue all feed on chalkland plants like the horseshoe vetch, while the marbled white is attracted to thistles on rough grassland.
Animal life ranges from tiny spiders and grasshoppers to roe and fallow deer. Rabbits and hares graze the open grasslands; badgers, being nocturnal creatures, usually emerge from their setts in the evening to feed, while foxes can be quite brazen in their daylight journeys.
Used by the SDW, this track carries the walk beyond the Clayton windmills (Walk 15)
Walking on the Downs
Discover some excuse to be up there … and, if not, go without any pretext. Lands of gold have been found, and lands of spices and precious merchandise; but this is the land of health.
Richard Jefferies (1848–1887)
The very best of the Downs can only be enjoyed on foot, and the 40 walks described in this guide have been chosen to serve as an introduction to some of the finest countryside in southern England. Stretching throughout the National Park, each of the routes is circular, beginning and ending at the same place; wherever possible, these places can be accessed by public transport.
No walk is more than 11 miles/17.5km long – the shortest is just under 5 miles/8km – but there’s as much enjoyment to be had in a ramble of modest length, as may be found in a march that covers 20 miles or more. Size and distance have no meaning here: it’s what you experience as you wander, and what you remember afterwards, that count.
Enthusiasts know full well that walking should not be confined to the summer months, for every season has its own unique brand of beauty, its own rewards, and a frosty winter’s day can hold as much magic for the walker as any in balmy July. Nature serves each season well: spring’s vibrant eruption of flowers and jubilant birdsong; summer’s warmth and long hours of daylight encouraging full growth in field, meadow and woodland; autumn’s touch of Midas, its mists, migrations and mushrooms; and winter’s stark outlines of naked trees, long shadows and harsh frosts.
As someone once remarked, there’s no such thing as bad weather when you’re properly dressed. But being properly dressed will make all the difference to one’s enjoyment of a day spent wandering the Downs.
Choose clothing suitable for the season; clothing that is sufficiently adaptable to accommodate the vagaries of our climate. Footwear needs to be comfortable: if it is you’ll feel almost as fresh at the end of the day, as when you set out at the start. For summer walks, shorts may be adequate on the majority of footpaths described in this book, but bear in mind that brambles and nettles often stray across infrequently used paths. An inexpensive pair of overtrousers (preferably with a zipped ankle-gusset so they can be pulled on or off without removing walking boots) will prove useful. A lightweight collapsible umbrella can be worth carrying for protection from a sudden shower. Since much of the region covered by this guide is open high ground, windy days can seem much colder than they