Rural Strides

Sharing the secrets of the Western Weald through walks. Pure escapism…. just one hour from London

10/04/2026

Ever thought about joining a walk?
You don’t need to tick every box…
Just the one on photo 18 will do 😅🧁

08/04/2026

Water and I have never been natural bedfellows — it’s far too cold and wet for my liking! But add a bit of sunshine and the promise of the first ice cream of the season, and I might be tempted to dip a toe or two 🦶

That said, it’s probably for the best there’s no footage of me attempting to walk across those pebbles barefoot… graceful it was not.

02/04/2026

I have just come across this quote in a book first published in 1920. It brought a smile to my face 😊 One day, a few years ago when walking the SDW, I got chatting to a group. I asked them where they’d started. Their reply was Cocking, but as we were on the Seven Sisters this seemed an improbable distance for just one day. When I quizzed them they said they’d been told the Western Downs were dull and to start their SDW multi-day walk in Cocking. The horror!! How I could have done with having this quote to hand 😅

01/04/2026

Might some of these walks pique your interest?
You can find more information here: https://ruralstrides.co.uk/open-walks-rural-strides/

31/03/2026

Do you always walk the same routes because you lack the confidence to explore new areas? Lost & Found is a small group navigation session designed to teach you some essential wayfinding skills in a relaxed, hands-on way. In this session there is no such thing as a wrong turn, every decision is a chance to learn.

One place remains on Friday morning

https://ruralstrides.co.uk/lost-found/

29/03/2026

𝗦𝗮𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗦𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗮𝘆 𝗪𝗲𝗲𝗸 𝟵
Didling Church, known locally as the Shepherds’ Church, is one of the most understated yet beautiful churches in the Western Weald. Set against the scarp slope, it blends almost imperceptibly into the landscape, as much a part of the Downs as the sheep that so often graze around it.
Local tradition says that shepherds watching their flocks high on the hills could hear the bells ringing on a Sunday morning. When they died, a small piece of wool was nailed to their coffin so that the angels would forgive their absence from church.

There was never a wealthy patron here - only generations of hardworking farming families who lived and worked the land. The church reflects that same quiet humility.
The church has long inspired poets and musicians, drawn to its solitude.

Visit in spring, when the surrounding fields are alive with the calls of ewes and lambs 🐑

27/03/2026

It felt like a good moment to reintroduce myself and properly answer the questions: who and what is Rural Strides? 😊

25/03/2026

A 3 hour church bell peel, in honour of Lady Day, guided us across the fields today to our our destination church - St Andrew’s, Tichborne. So beautiful to hear 🔔🎶

23/03/2026

But which one?!🧐

21/03/2026

No lost sheep on today’s Shepherding the Flock walk around the shepherd churches beneath the Downs 🐑

Two standing churches, one ruin, and one marked only by the space it once occupied in the churchyard. Local historian Andrew Shaxon brought each site to life with its stories.

Ewe couldn’t have asked for better weather or company… including bumping into on the SDW. Do come back Amol - but next time to explore the Weald below. After all, it’s the view you enjoy from the Downs 😉

19/03/2026

Strip lynchets across a ‘green and pleasant land’.

18/03/2026

Is life so busy you neither have time to stop nor stare?

Over millions of years our ancestors wandered, tracked, herded, migrated and explored the globe, guided by curiosity and their senses. Walking wasn’t exercise or leisure; it was simply life. Our reliance on transport, maps and GPS has quietly dulled that ancient connection to the land—a connection that was once central to the human experience.

This June I’m leading a small-group Time to Stop and Stare silent walk and woodland camp, designed to help us reconnect with that most basic human instinct to wander, while also giving ourselves the time and space to rediscover our childlike curiosity about the world around us.

During the walk we’ll travel in silence, giving us the opportunity to slow down, notice more, and simply experience the landscape without distraction. Numbers will be kept deliberately small to keep the experience special.

The silence is only for the walk. Afterwards we’ll unwind together at a beautiful private woodland campsite sharing food and conversation, with a natural pool, showers, toilets, outdoor kitchen, cabins and space for tents.

A simple and slightly unusual opportunity to wander, switch off for a while, and spend a night in the woods. Fancy joining me?

https://ruralstrides.co.uk/time-to-stop-stare-1/

Address

Petersfield

Website

http://www.ruralstrides.co.uk/

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