Treyford to Hooksway to Didling

• 5 ¾ miles

• Elevation: 1000 feet / Hilly

• Stiles: Yes

• Dog-friendly: There are sections on quiet roads

• Refreshment: The Royal Oak, Hooksway

1. Park in the small layby on the road a few metres south of Treyford Manor (GU29 0LD). (If you struggle to find it, look for the curved wall with a post box in it.) Walk past the manor, and where the road bends to the right, take the signposted footpath to the left through Manor Farm.

2. Climb over the stile at the far end of the farmyard. Pass through the field, over another stile and then at a three-way signpost, take the public bridleway to the left, towards the Downs.

3. At the next three-way signpost, continue straight on, over another stile on a footpath. Cross the stream, cross a driveway, and continue across the field towards the woodland and the Downs.

4. Climb the hill up through the woods and out the other side to the top of the hill on the obvious path.

5. At the top, turn right on the chalky farm track, and stay with it as it passes Buriton Farm, and onwards.

6. When you reach the five-bar metal gate with a wooden pedestrian gate beside it, take the more obvious chalky track that bears to the left.

7. This path passes under trees, and through a gate partway up the hill. Stay with this track with woodlands on your left and fields on your right, ignoring the turn next to a bungalow. You’ll reach a three-way signpost where you’ll take the left turn, still on the restricted by-way.

8. Follow this track down to a lane and turn left to walk down to the Royal Oak at Hooksway.

9. Continue past the pub and straight up the hill, taking the most obvious middle path (a restricted by-way) where two others bear left and right.

10. Towards the top of the hill is a crossroads. Go straight on to join the South Downs Way, passing the Devil’s Jumps.

11. Stay on the South Downs Way past Monkton House (you’ll hear the peacocks) and exit the woods. Just a little ahead of you, you’ll see a bridleway path to the left, which you’ll take.

12. Descend the hill on the chalky track and at the bottom turn right on the road, past St Andrew’s Church, Didling.

13. At the road junction, take the left signposted to Ingrams Green and into Didling. At Manor Farm on your left, take the footpath through the farmyard. Stay with the marked footpath that goes slightly right across a meadow, through the gate, skirts the edge of the next field, and passes through two more, heading to Treyford.

14. You’ll descend some steps in a woodland, cross a stream and emerge on a quiet lane next to a house called The Studio. Turn left, and at the road junction, turn right. Your car is parked in front of you.

On this walk, look out for ...

• The Devil’s Jumps: five impressive Bronze Age barrows that are aligned with the midsummer setting sun.

• St Andrew’s Church, Didling. This beautiful isolated shepherd’s church nestles at the foot of the South Downs.

In the area? Why not visit:

• The lovely village of South Harting with its copper-spired church and whipping post.

• The also lovely village of East Marden where Bertrand Russell set up a school.