The Town to Down Walks
The Town to Down Walks are designed for those who enjoy walking in nature, and would like to explore the local area on a walk to Highdown Gardens.
We invite you to explore using your senses, your memory and imagination.
Each walk to Highdown Gardens has its own theme which comes from the different ways we recognise how nature presents itself. We suggest different ways you can notice and engage with nature as you travel each route.
Ultimately, we encourage you to find your own connections so that the experience of your walk and your visit to Highdown Gardens is memorable and personal to you.
We encourage you to:
- Take these walks solo, as a family or in a group
- Become more familiar with your local area, and claim your ways to Highdown
- Enjoy the natural world around you and share your experiences with others
Angmering
Start: The Spotted Cow Pub
Difficulty: Easy to Moderate
Suitability: 20% paved, 80% gravel and grass
Uphill: 175ft
Where to start:
The Spotted Cow Pub, BN16 4AW. To begin this walk, you can either get the Stagecoach No 9 Bus from Angmering or walk from Angmering Community Centre, Foxwood Avenue, Angmering, West Sussex BN16 4FU
What to expect:
This is an easy to moderate walk. The ground is 20% paved, and 80% gravel and grass, and there is 175ft of elevation.
Get the route:
- Access this walk via AllTrails – Angmering
- Access this walk via Google Maps – Angmering
- Access this walk via downloadable PDF – Angmering
On this walk we invite you to…
Explore using your senses, memory and imagination. Notice the contrasts between the near and far spaces, find the horizon and take in the vastness of the land, sea and sky.
Think about how you sense these in your body, and the connections you can make.
Finding connections in Highdown Gardens
Look for winding pathways that are lined with trees and bushes, and for contrasts in dense and open spaces as you move between the different areas of the gardens.
The Middle Garden offers windows of light, up into the sky. Find the enclosed pathways that lead you to the Performance Area and notice the different spaces that are bright or shaded. Imagine what could be beyond what you see.
An activity to explore after your visit – Nature Memory Windows
Make frames from pieces of card. Look out from different windows at home and use the frames to focus on what’s near and far. What parts of nature can you capture? How do they remind you of your walk to Highdown Gardens?
Durrington
Start: Durrington Community Centre
Difficulty: Easy to Moderate
Suitability: 90% paved, 10% gravel and grass
Uphill: 75ft
Where to start:
Durrington Community Centre, BN13 3FJ
What to expect:
This is an easy to moderate walk. The ground is 90% paved, and 10% gravel and grass, and there is 75ft of elevation
Get the route:
- Access this walk via AllTrails – Durrington
- Access this walk via Google Maps – Durrington
- Access this walk via downloadable PDF – Durrington
On this walk we invite you to…
Notice the changes in light and shadow and the atmospheres that these create for you on the paths that you take.
Sense the height and spread of the trees you pass and how you relate to them.
Imagine the network of tree roots crossing and connecting underneath you as you pass by.
Finding connections in Highdown Gardens
You will notice the light and shade in different areas of the gardens. Find the darkest, most enclosed space…and the lightest, most open.
In the Middle and Lower Gardens you’ll find shifts in light and shade, and catch some dappled shadows cast onto the ground.
To remind yourself of the verticality of the trees at the beginning of your walk, visit the treeline at the bottom edge of the Lower Gardens, and sense how it feels to be walking alongside this line of giants.
An activity to explore after your visit – Light Space, Dark Space
Find the lightest part of your house and settle in a space you’re drawn to. Notice the light and shadow. What’s highlighted or hidden? How do you feel in this space; how can you inhabit it? How do you experience this differently in a darker part of your home?
Goring-by-Sea
Start: Goring Railway Station
Difficulty: Easy (beginner)
Suitability: 60% paved, 40% gravel
Uphill: 100ft
Where to start:
Goring-by-Sea Railway Station, BN12 6NT
What to expect:
This is an easy ( beginner) walk. The ground is 60% paved, and 40% gravel and grass, and there is 100ft of elevation
Get the route:
- Access this walk via AllTrails – Goring-by-Sea
- Access this walk via Google Maps – Goring-by-Sea
- Access this walk via downloadable PDF – Goring-by-Sea
On this walk we invite you to…
Notice the layering of rural and urban life that lies between the start of your journey and Highdown Gardens. Make connections between your immediate surroundings and the landscape that meets the horizon. Identify different sounds and choose which ones to focus on.
Finding connections in Highdown Gardens
Highdown Gardens sits into the Downs and reflects the layers in its surroundings.
Look for the layers in how the gardens have been designed. Consider what is immediately noticeable to you, and what takes time for you to recognise.
Spend some time in the Chalk pit and acknowledge the different spaces that have been carved out in this area. Acknowledge the parts you are most drawn to and consider why this might be.
Each time you visit, you’ll notice something new.
An activity to explore after your visit – Build your landscape
Gather fabrics and papers and layer them in different ways to illustrate the textures, colours and lines that you have experienced on your journey to, and in Highdown Gardens. Where would you place yourself in this collage? What sounds do you associate with it?