I wake up early on the first Saturday in June and head to meet friends at Victoria with plans to be somewhere scenic, with a pub by lunchtime! We’re heading to Arundel, in West Sussex, my dad grew up there and it sounds like the perfect place to get away from our hectic life in the city; a castle, the river and beautiful countryside, just a train ride from home, perfect.
It’s not long before the city turns to the countryside through the windows of the train and it reminds me of just why Britain is so special, there’s nowhere else in the world that has landscapes quite like this, it’s seriously beautiful. The girls and I are planning a few hours walking, with pit stops of course, before we hit a cute little B&B for the night.
The train arrives and I’ve planned a route to walk that will cover about 12 miles, enough to get some colour in our cheeks! Our walk starts at the River Arun, heading up the old high street, we’re completely blown away by the view of the cathedral, it looks incredible such an imposing building in such a quaint and pretty place. We have a good mooch around before heading through Meadow Park and out of Arundel.
We walk towards South Stoke along the river, greeted by the occasional cow, they’re pretty massive up close! There’s a game of cricket going on in the village of Burpham, so we sit and watch for a while, Dad would be pleased. Taking it all in and looking back from where we’ve walked the views of Arundel are just stunning. The girls and I are ready for lunch and thankfully there’s a pub close at hand – The George, the food is fab and chatting to the bar staff they mention the whole pub is owned by the community which is pretty great.
Once fed and watered, we’re back on the move up and over the chalky South Downs. If you attempt this walk make sure you wear decent shoes as it was slippery here and there, my best mate’s bright white trainers were a fail! Thankfully we all manage to stay upright and after a few miles arrive at Amberley Village which has lots of places to explore. We can’t help it, burning all those calories means one thing, it’s time to replenish them with scones and jam in the Amberley Village tea room, divine.
Too full to go much further we head back down through Stoke and head towards the Black Rabbit pub, now this was one place my Dad said I had to stop. So, kicking back in the garden with a bottle of wine by the river is how we end the day, shouldn’t all weekends be like this one?
