New Petworth Way walking route enjoys hugely positive response
Gerald Gresham Cooke is delighted at the response to a brand-new walking route he has devised.
Its working title in the early days was Gerald’s Way, but Gerald was determined that that wasn’t a title that was going to stick. It has now been launched as the Petworth Way, a two-day, 25-mile, rail-to-trail walking route, which connects Haslemere to Arundel with an overnight stop in Petworth.
Gerald offers it as a sustainable way to explore the eastern fringe of the Western Weald. In contrast to the chalk Downs, it’s a region within the South Downs National Park (SDNP) celebrated for its vibrant lowland heaths, patchwork fields and heavily wooded sandstone ridges.
Envisioning it as the perfect way to explore a peaceful corner of the South Downs while promoting his beloved hometown (Gerald lives in Tillington, just outside Petworth), Gerald laid the foundations for the walk.
Though still happily walking in his 80s, he entrusted the task of route planning and wayfinding to four friends of the trail – Malinka Van Der Gaauw (Rural Strides), Lucy Pitts (Sussex Exclusive), Laura Libricz (formerly Friends of the South Downs) and Lesley Foulkes (Langham Brewery).
Author Bill Bryson, who championed the inclusion of the Western Weald in the SDNP during his tenure as president of the Campaign for the Protection of Rural England, described this landscape as “a gorgeous piece of England set in the heart of one of the most overcrowded parts of the planet… this is a jewel.”
The Petworth Way illustrates his point.
Gerald explains: “I lived in London for 38 years, and when I came down to Tillington, after some time I saw the need for a walk that Londoners could come for the weekend to do. So this is why it is a walk which is divided into two halves. The first half is about 12 miles from Haslemere to Petworth and then the second half is from Petworth to Arundel. You can get the train from Waterloo to Haslemere and from Arundel you can get the train to Victoria.
“Haslemere seemed a good starting point because of the good service from Waterloo and it was great fun realising that there were footpaths that could take you all the way to Petworth and then after that it is up and over the Downs with some lovely scenery to Arundel.
“The first half is 12 miles in the day including Blackdown which is Sussex’s highest hill so you need a certain level of fitness though it doesn't climb the full way. After Blackdown there is a lot of level walking all the way to Petworth, leaving Petworth Park by Petworth House, and then the next day to Arundel there are several ways that you could go but I think we have chosen a very good way. You join the South Downs Way which is 100 miles from Winchester to Eastbourne and you do that for a few miles. You come through Amberley and then go towards Arundel.”
More details on https://ruralstrides.co.uk/the-petworth-way/ Route overview: start: Haslemere Station (South Western Railway); finish: Arundel Station (Southern Railway); distance: 25 miles over two days (Day 1: 11.95 miles & Day 2: 13 miles); terrrain: mostly undulating but some very flat sections. Steepest climbs on Day 2.