Strolling Around Plumpton
HAPPILY temperatures soared on a beautiful Indian Summer’s day last Sunday (10th October) as around 50 walkers gathered at Plumpton station to mark the launch of Plumpton’s new Footpath guides.
It was a celebration of the production of 16 walks leaflets produced by Plumpton’s Village Action Plan Footpaths Team, designed to highlight Plumpton as a ‘Gateway to the South Downs’.
The walkers headed south for about two miles to the Half Moon pub which nestles at the foot of the South Downs and where the management welcomed them with a complimentary drink and buffet. The path chosen was part of one of walks described in the leaflets. Plumpton parish includes Plumpton Green, and lies at the foot of the South Downs, close to Brighton and Lewes with the southern part within the South Downs National Park.
The walk leaflets are designed to demonstrate to villagers and visitors alike that it is possible to explore the area in an environmentally sensitive way, with many of the walks centred around the train station. The parish enjoys a local bus service and has good amenities, with a well-stocked village shop, four pubs and another in nearby East Chitlington. Virtually all of the walks, which vary in length from three to seven miles, are circular.
Catherine Jackson, the VAP Team Leader, commented “Although the Team spent over 600 hours putting together the leaflets, it has been a real community project with input from the Plumpton Footpaths Society, the Plumpton Wildlife & Habitat Group, local artists and photographers”. The leaflets will be available from local shops, train stations, tourist offices, pubs or can be downloaded free from this website.
The walkers were accompanied by Katherine Hale from Collabor8 which, with Natural England, provided financial support, Phillippa Morrison-Price, Ranger, from the South Downs Joint Committee, Jeremy Leggett, Chief Executive of Action in rural Sussex and Board member of the South Downs National Park Authority, and Peta Phipps, Designer, as well as Tom Hawthorne and Carole Nicholson, Chair and Vice-Chair respectively, of the Plumpton Village Action Plan.
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