Book review: South

Day Walks on the South Downs: by Deirdre Huston

Book review by Harvey Tordoff

This is a new edition, the first having sold out – two printings - and the opportunity was taken to update the walks and mapping and add more photos. There is a lot of competition for walking books, so that's a recommendation in itself!

It looks good, and it feels good. Quality paper, lots of sharp photos, maps and text. Small enough to fit in your pocket but big enough to fit a lot of information on a page without it feeling cramped. However, the proof of the pudding . . . .

I have used several guide books over the years and I remember on some occasions having difficulty finding the car park, or even deciding which pedestrian exit to use from the car park; and then spotting landmarks that might have been obvious to some but not to me. But the more you walk with this book as a guide and the more confident you become that you can trust Deirdre Huston. The South Downs is our newest National Park, but the Downs of course are ancient. They are naturally beautiful in their own right and there are many instances of human occupation, ancient and modern, that warrant closer inspection. Deidre knows where they are. The book contains 20 circular walks across three counties, 150 pages in all. Before we get started there are several pages of helpful notes and advice.

Each walk then has a brief introduction, a summary of what's involved – distance (kilometres and miles); total elevation (metres and feet); time to allow; starting point (grid reference and sat nav); which big map to use; location of pubs and cafes; and a comment on how straightforward (or otherwise) the walk is. This is followed by a well-written and interesting general description of the whole walk, a map marked with key points along the way, and then one entries are generously interspersed with

or more pages of specific instructions. All

good photographs of the landscape and particular features, and on some walks with suggested alternative loops or short cuts.

The walks are all fairly long, many of them with hill climbs, so not for a casual Sunday afternoon amble, but if you are reasonably fit and don't just want to tick off another achievement, this book is perfect.

Could I have asked for more? At the risk of

being picky, the coloured panels on which the summary details are printed render the text harder to read. The general descriptions could have been longer, because so many features are left out, but then it would be a different book and wouldn't fit in your pocket. And the pages of instructions are not especially entertaining but they do tell you what you need to know.

Bottom line: this is an excellent book and I have no hesitation in recommending it.

Harvey Tordoff Midhurst February 2020

Or, why not an Ultra-Marathon on the South Downs Way?

In case those walks are too easy for the ultra-marathoners amongst us, you could take part in something like the SWD100 ultra foot race! That 2015 route coursed from Winchester to Eastbourne and for those who really train up for it, this is a way to pass a day away taking some 27 hours, or more, to complete. Who needs a car when you can run!

Read a log diary of a 2015 competitor at https://navs1962.wordpress.com/2015/06/17/there-andback-again-a-south-downs-way-journey-part-2-sdw100/

Your reward for finishing the gruelling run - the Finishers Medal

For those who have less time to devote to this kind of leisure there are the local events such as the Petersfield Half Marathon and 10km run.

Meet the Committee: Michael de Jong-Smith by Michael de Jong -Smith

I was born in Surrey in 1933, and first left home to spend time in the Forces, during which I had to grow up very quickly, seeing active service during the first Suez Canal Zone Crisis of 1951-4.

1952: Bren gun carrier experience.

apprenticeship, worked for the M.O.D. for a while and then became involved in single seat racing cars, at Brands Hatch,

Formula 2 days.

other venues during the late 1950s. I also managed to find time to design and build three sports cars, and even registered a car make,

Michael in 2012

where I enjoyed competing with my Merlin Rocket.

Then I met Nel on top of a mountain in Austria. And my life changed for ever. We were married in 1965, and lived in Wokingham for four years until I was offered

After leaving the Forces I served an Engineering for the rest of my working life.

I became very active in motor racing, and spent much of my time racing Formula 2 Goodwood and that led me into

a job in Sierra Leone. ‘Palux’, with the Department of Transport. My father founded the Egham Lake Sailing Club

Here’s another I made earlier: Cobra.

After West Africa we came back to England until, a year later I was asked to run a company in The Netherlands, probably because I spoke the language. Languages have always interested me so apart from English, I can get by in Dutch, Turkish and have a ‘smattering’ of Arabic and German.

By then we had a daughter, Rowena, and a son, Adrian, and now we have three grown-up grand-daughters - Chloe, who is a successful engineer, and Jasmine and Jessica, who are still studying.

When that post ended we returned to England and I joined an American company building pipelines in Saudi Arabia, as Head of Procurement; but this was not a success, so Nel and I decided to create our own company, which grew to become the Rowena Group of six separate organisations and we were able to

keep ourselves and our family fed and clothed for twenty-one years.

When we came to Midhurst in 1973, it was a totally different place to what it is now. The first thing we were given when we bought our house, was a booklet about Midhurst which showed, amongst other things, the route of the proposed by-pass road. It still hasn’t happened. We did not need to shop outside the town, as Henderson’s Department Store was on the corner of West Street and Rumbolds Hill, and Bradleys outfitters were on the opposite corner. In fact, my in-laws would come from Holland specially to buy their clothes from Hendersons, Bradleys and Christines in North Street.

There was Cullens the grocers and International Stores, several greengrocers, three butcher’s shops, Mays in West Street (which became Greens), a good shoe shop and many more pubs than there are now. The Crown in Edinburgh Square put on plays and other events, and I particularly remember old Mr. Ayling, dressed in his shepherd’s smock, giving the most amusing comedy monologues with a broad Sussex accent.

There was a farrier opposite Lloyds Bank and a blacksmiths at the end of North Street. The bus depot was off North Street where Northgate Mews is now. Just imagine trying to reverse a double-deck bus through that narrow alley-way.

When the bus station fell out of use, indoor markets were held in the old bus depot building. The Southdowns Motor Company offices were on the opposite side of North Street where Fitzcanes are now. Russell’s Garage was on the corner of Station Road and Petersfield Road, and one could also buy petrol from the pumps outside the garage; which is now Pizza Express.

My daughter grazed her pony in the field where the original Grange Centre was built, and we used the stables behind Peachey House, but we had to give that up when we became involved with raising money to build the Centre. When we retired, we bought land in Turkey and had a house built; and enjoyed our time there for nineteen years. Other countries

Nel and Michael in 2015

visited during our lifetime include, Senegal, Morocco, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Russia, Albania, Libya, Egypt and nearly all the European countries.

At 87 years of age, I now have Parkinson’s Disease, but this has not stopped me following many activities such as bowling, computing, building miniature Victorian locomotives and, of course, being Membership Secretary for the Midhurst Society.

Yesteryear 1960: Car Park Plan at a Standstill

‘After nearly two years of negotiations, Midhurst Rural District Council and Cowdray Estate Co., Ltd., are still at deadlock over the siting of the proposed new car park at Cowdray Meadows, Midhurst. The Council wants to construct the park on the north side of the Meadows but the Cowdray Estate Co. feels it should be on the south side. It appeared that Lord Cowdray was likely to object to the siting of the park on the north side, but might be prepared to consider its construction on the south. A lay-out plan was submitted showing how the land on the south side could be used, the wrought iron gates being set back to allow an entrance to the car park across the Causeway.’ (Local newspaper, WSRO)