Katherine enjoys a memorable day

Download a PDF of this route here.

My friend Sarah-Ann and I, led as usual by Juno my lovely Labrador, set off bright and early to walk the Duncton and Sutton route. I say ‘bright’; quite what the June weather thinks it is playing at with all this rain leaves some questions, but as it was, we remained dry throughout our jolly 2.5 hour walk.

As all dog walkers will testify, we walk every day and are always on the lookout for variety, so the chance to explore a new stretch of West Sussex was a real treat. The route is gentle in pace and the perfect length. Dogs, even mine of larger proportion, can sneak under all the stiles and almost the whole route lends itself to being off lead. The beautiful grounds of Burton Park are a great start to the journey and shortly after taking in the beauty of this incredible building, you come to a section of winding woodland paths which create a sense of mystery and silence as you enjoy this part of the route without interruption.

With questions already arising as to whether it is acceptable to start lunch en-route at only 10:34, we conclude we should wait and concentrate on the scenery instead of our stomachs. Distraction was what was needed and it came in the form of a slightly lost Duke of Edinburgh group who happened to be following a small section of our walk. Lethargic from ‘absolutely no sleep’, we coaxed them along the bridleway through to Sutton village with chocolate buttons and a good dose of morale.

The experience we most enjoyed about this walk was the variety and the opportunity to take up a mixture of the various local footpaths and bridleways – this is what makes iFootpath guides so good as the iFootpath team has taken time to explore a slightly different version of what is normally on offer, with very clear instructions. The route has a good balance of field, stream, village, churchyards and open spaces and has some absolutely fantastic views across the hills, offering up some great photo opportunities.

As the walk comes to an end, we ask ourselves the usual questions that all dog walkers must…‘is he soggy, has he eaten something foul or is he…rolling in fox poo?’ When the answer to the latter was yes, and with only one water bottle left, we did our best to hose down the culprit and head back to the car. Needless to say, we drove home with the windows firmly open! A great route and a memorable day.