Celebrating 50 years of the South Downs Way

Many people have an epic tale to tell about the South Downs Way. Whether you’ve walked the whole 100mile length, or just a section of the route, its breathtaking views of coast and countryside are truly inspiring, uplifting for the soul and can’t fail to stir the imagination.

This year will be the 50th birthday of this amazing meandering passage along the chalk escarpment of the South Downs. The hilltop route has been trodden by people for millennia, but such was its national importance for walkers that it was approved to become a new National Trail in March 1963.

In July 1972 it was officially opened as the South Downs Way National Trail, making it the UK’S fifth national trail to be established and its first long-distance bridleway.

Since then tens of thousands of people have walked, cycled or ridden the trail from Eastbourne to Winchester (or visa versa) – each with their own unique story to tell.

The route, with its highest point at Butser Hill at 271m, provides people with the opportunity ‘to get away from it all’ without having to travel too far in this busy part of England.

Did you know that the National Trail wasn’t always 100 miles? Initially it ran almost entirely in Sussex, from Buriton, on the Hampshire–sussex border, to Beachy Head, near Eastbourne. In 1987 it was decided to extend the route westwards through Hampshire to Winchester.

The recommended time to walk the South Downs Way is eight days, with an average of 12.5 miles a day – the world record for completing it on foot is 14 hours, three minutes and 54 seconds, set in 2014 by Mark Perkins at the Centurion Running SWD 100 event.

The route has certainly stood the test of time. Humans have been using the tracks that have been linked to form the South Downs Way for around 8,000 years as its elevation made it a safer and drier route than the wetter lowlands.

If you’ve never been before, why not start your adventure this week?