Halnaker walk on 19th July 2023

The 5.7 mile gentle stroll started in the car park of The Anglesey Arms in Halnaker starting on the main road, admiring some of the houses before heading up Mill Lane track where some of us were more interested in the rolling stone than the information board telling us all about Halnaker Hill and The Windmill Trail. A short climb brought us to the path up to the refurbished Halnaker Windmill. Halnaker Mill was first mentioned in 1540 as belonging to the manor of "Halfnaked". It was built for the Duke of Richmond as the feudal mill of the Goodwood Estate. The surviving mill is thought to date from the 1740s and is known to have been standing c.1780. Halnaker Mill was working until struck by lightning in 1905, damaging the sails and windshaft. The derelict mill was restored in 1934 as a memorial to the wife of Sir William Bird. Returning to Mill Lane track we took footpaths beside vineyards, then back onto the main road before turning east into woodland where we stopped for our coffee break. The location was unanimously voted for. Once fed and watered the troup marched through a wheatfield towards Eartham but turned south west before getting there. The route through Thicket Beeches needed some secateur wielding to clear the path while some demonstrated dressage techniques for elegantly stepping over the brambles. Arriving on Thicket Lane we turned south and then into Dyer’s Copse to come onto Tinwood Lane. A slight shimmy off the Lane took us into Tinwood’s vineyard coming close to the Church and ruins of Boxgrove Priory and back to The Anglesey Arms for a great lunch.

Admiring thatched houses in Halnaker

We are The Rolling Stones!

Walking up the tree tube

A moody Halnaker windmill

Butterfly enjoying a wild herb

The weather cleared, must be time for the team photo

In best Duke of York fashion, having been marched up the hill...

Admiring the wild flowers

The welcome break, venue selected democratically

'Billy no mates' leading the walk

Single file in the wheat

Views like this are why we walk...

...and with good friends

Dressage or horsing around?

Eyes left

In the light, heading for the shade

Grapes in the vineyard coming on

The magnificent 15

About 5.7 miles, incidentally about 2 of those miles were on the exact route of Stane Street.

Built by the Romans to take traffic from Chichester to London, it only deviates by a maximum of 6 miles from a precisely straight line and then only to use a gap in the North Downs. How could they do that without a sat-nav?!

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• ← Stoughton walk on 12th July 2023
• Selborne Walk 26th July 2023 →