Good-going to Goodwood on Good Friday (Now Even Racier!)

Waitlist: This event could become fully booked, but if you'd like to attend and there are no spaces left, please add yourself to the waitlist. Places often become available closer to the day and you are likely to get one.

Racier, but also shorter and linear. A rehash of a walk from last Good Friday, but now with more of the famous racecourse. Partly townscape but mostly landscape, the townscape is that of Chichester, a cathedral city of Georgian townhouses, and the landscape is that of the rolling South Downs National Park. We'll go surprisingly deep into the national park and the vistas we'll enjoy will go even deeper. In Chichester, we'll follow a half-circuit of the Roman city walls with views over the historic centre. In the countryside we'll see chalk streams and flint-built villages, and at lunchtime we'll sit on an Iron Age hill fort and survey views across the Weald, across 'Glorious Goodwood', and across the coastal plain. 

The sights:

Chichester: A cathedral city of Roman origin (Noviomagus Reginorum) founded soon after the Claudian invasion of 43 AD. Many Georgian buildings and a thriving arts scene. The chief sights are: Bishop's Palace Gardens: extensive and intricate Tudor gardens overlooking the cathedral; 'Dutch-style' roundabout: Only Britain's third, where cyclists and pedestrians have priority; City walls: Originally Roman, c200 AD, four metres wide and five metres high in places. 80 per cent complete, making them the most intact circuit of Roman town defences in Southern England; Chichester Cathedral: Fundamentally Norman, but modest and friendly in scale. C12 and C13 rebuilds creating beautiful transitional Gothic chancel and retrochoir. Unique but clunky detached bell tower of 1436. Tower and spire (82 m tall) accurately rebuilt in 1861 after collapse by George Gilbert Scott. Interior is almost a gallery of modern art (the cathedral exterior will be seen at a slight distance; we won't be entering); Chichester Festival Theatre: By Philip Powell and Hidalgo Moya, 1962, grade II*-listed. Innovative open stage and hexagonal plan. Park location to foster informality and festivity.

East Lavant: Beside the river with a lovely intricate yet relaxed plan. Brick, flint and thatched cottages and a superb view north to the Downs. St Mary's Church is 12th and 13th century, with a plain brick tower of 1671 and all the rest a Victorian restoration of 1863. We could have a drink at The Royal Oak. 

St Roche's Hill and the Trundle: 206 m in elevation. The Trundle (Old English 'Tryndel' or 'circle') is an Iron Age hill fort built around a Neolithic causewayed enclosure. Subsequent history involves a chapel to St Roche (lost), a Civil War encampment and a viewing area to Goodwood Racecourse. There are wonderful views to be had, north over the Weald and south over the Sussex Plain and the Sea.

Goodwood: We won't see the late C18 stately home and we'll only see the aerodrome, car racing circuit and site of the Goodwood Revival at a distance, but we'll get a grandstand view of the grandstands of the famous racecourse. 'Glorious Goodwood' earned its honorific by being 180m up, and set in sublime countryside. It was laid out in 1801 as a private military racecourse. The current stands are the March Stand of 1980, the Charlton Stand of 1989 and the Sussex Stand of 1990, the latter by Arup Associates. Architect Michael Hopkins designed the paddock area with tent-like structures in 2001. Edward VII called Goodwood 'a garden party with some racing tacked on', and I think the festive feel and beautiful setting confirm his belief.

Charlton: A quadrilateral of lanes lined with flint cottages. Apart from Fox Hall which was built by Lord Burlington (architect of Chiswick House) in 1730 as a hunting lodge for the Charlton Hunt, there are no houses worth special notice and no church. The village is still very pleasant in its setting among wooded hillslopes. It played the fictional Scottish village of Tulloch Moor in the Fourth Doctor Who classic story Terror of the Zygons. The Fox Goes Free pub (then The Fox Inn) was the base of UNIT operations, and Sarah-Jane Smith and the UNIT soldiers chased the Zygon Harry Sullivan along its lanes until the creature fell from a hayloft on to the pitchfork it was wielding.

Singleton: A tangle of lanes with no special houses, but very pleasant nonetheless. Beautifully maintained. St John the Evangelist church has a Saxon tower and very tall Norman walls, but the details are C13. 

The route (click the link to see the walk at the OS website):

Leaving the station we will walk around the southwest, northwest and northeast quadrants of the city walls, mostly on the elevated walk promenade, occasionally at street level. We will then descend the walls and cross the Oaklands Way Ring Road to walk past the Festival Theatre. Beyond that Centurion Way cycle path will take us out of the town into the countryside to East Lavant. We'll take the West Sussex Literary Trail to The Trundle. After lunch, we'll descend the hill and take the Monarch's Way alongside the racecourse. Chalk Lane track will take us to Charlton and we'll follow the River Lavant and Charlton Road to Singleton to pick up the bus. 

The bus journey back

The Stagecoach No. 60 bus takes 20 minutes to go from Singleton to Chichester and departs at 21 and 51 minutes past. A single fare is £3 and contactless payment is encouraged. 

Dogs:

I love having dogs on my walks and this walk is suitable for them, although there will be lots of road walking in town and may be some fields with livestock. A dog off the lead must be obedient.

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(Picture credits: View towards St Roche's Hill: Photo © Peter Trimming (cc-by-sa/2.0); View towards Singleton from The Trundle: Photo © David Martin (cc-by-sa/2.0); Goodwood Grandstand from The Trundle: Photo © Rob Farrow (cc-by-sa/2.0); Bishop's Palace, Chichester: Photo © David Kemp (cc-by-sa/2.0); Chichester Cathedral: Photo © David Martin (cc-by-sa/2.0); St Mary's Church. East Lavant: Photo © Dave Spicer (cc-by-sa/2.0); Looking southwest from The Trundle: Photo © David Martin (cc-by-sa/2.0); Path and wall on edge of Westside Plantation: Photo © David Martin (cc-by-sa/2.0); Looking across the River Lavant towards Manor Farm; Bridge at Lavant, Sussex: Photo © Peter Trimming (cc-by-sa/2.0); Chichester Festival Theatre: Photo © Peter Trimming (cc-by-sa/2.0); View into Goodwood Racecourse east of the Stands: Photo © David Martin (cc-by-sa/2.0); Fox Hall: Photo © John Lindsay (cc-by-sa/2.0). Fox Hill Lane, Charlton, with listed telephone kiosk: Photo © Rob Farrow (cc-by-sa/2.0). Singleton Church: Photo © Chris Thomas-Atkin (cc-by-sa/2.0). All images are copyrighted but are licensed for reuse under Creative Commons CC-BY-SA/2.0. Other pictures were taken by the leader on his recce in March 2024.)