We kicked off our massive hike of the bottom half of the UK with the South Downs Way, our local trail. We live in Brighton and we’ve hiked the shit out of pretty much everything east of Chanctonbury Ring. It was nice to kick off a 1000 mile or thereabouts journey with the familiar rolling hills of the Downs. Okay so they’re not as dramatic as your fancy northern hills but they’ve got their own charm and I’m very fond of them. The wild camping was a bit nerve wracking though, I know how busy the Downs can get with humans and cows. I don’t like cows. Or humans for that matter.
BUDGET for one person, based on two sharing
Accommodation: £26.93 for a night in Winchester
Transport: £19.91 for an Uber, train, then bus to the trail head
Groceries: £61.83
Booze: £2.75
Coffee/tea/soda: £15.70
Donation: £2.50 to Pyecombe Church as we camped in the porch
Grand Total: £129.62
Daily Average: £21.53
The Stories
Day 1 – Eastbourne to Firle(ish)
We’d decided to start our trip with the South Downs Way as it’s our local trail and we’ve wanted to do the whole thing for ages. We also decided to…
Day 2 – Firle(ish) to Pyecombe
I didn’t sleep well at all last night. We were pitched on a slight slope and my mat is slightly slippy and my sleeping bag is slightly slippy which meant…
Day 3 – Pyecombe to Storrington
I don’t think I’ve ever woken up in a church on Good Friday before. I’m surprised a godless heathen like myself didn’t burn up as soon as I laid out…
Day 4 – Storrington to Didling Hill
We’ve been dragging our unwilling carcasses out of bed at some ludicrously early hours, not out of any burning desire to watch the new day dawn but that’s a happy…
Day 5 – Didling Hill to Old Winchester Hill
So we had to make a decision; do we take it easy between here and Winchester and give ourselves another three days? Or do we beast through and do it…
Day 6 – Old Winchester Hill to Winchester
The day started with large quantities of judgemental sheep glaring at us as we shuffled our way to the first trig of the day. All I wanted to do was…
And after we’d finished the South Downs Way, we took the day off in Winchester.
Day 7 – Rest Day, Winchester
In an uncharacteristic show of restraint we didn’t try and cram everything in Winchester into our eyeholes in one day like the massive tourists we are. Instead we decided to be selective, and allow time for other things such as…
Travel & Shit 