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Programme of walks Winter & Spring 2010
Here is the latest list of walks and Walking Workshops for the Winter and Spring. Most are between 4 and 6 miles long and take 2 to 3 hours. They are carefully researched to include a variety of scenery, to be generally away from the noise of traffic and always include less frequented walking tracks. The routes are all checked out beforehand to make sure paths are accessible and stiles in working order. Meeting points and routes may change in response to weather conditions or other factors. Barring such extreme conditions as thick snow or gail force winds the walks go ahead even when the sun isn't shining.
There will be also be extra walks added throughout the season so keep checking the website or contact me if you wish to be added to the Soles & Souls mailing list. Walks cost £5 unless otherwise stated, and they always include a refreshment break. Unfortunately dogs are not allowed. Please let me know if you’d like to book on any of these walks - they are very popular and I want to keep the size of the groups comfortable! I look forward to walking with you soon.
Friday 1 January, 11am Beacon for the Year
Start your year on a high - the 217m Firle Beacon for a walk that gets 2010 off on a healthy foot. 5 miles, hills.
Wednesday 27 January, 10am: West of West Firle
Another walk from Firle, this time heading west before walking to the top to join the South Downs Way for a stretch. Refreshments afterwards at the Ram. 5 miles, hills.
Sunday February 14, 2pm: Heart of the Tiger
To celebrate Chinese New Year (year of the Tiger) and Valentines Day, a walk in the shape of a heart (albeit a slightly wonky one), setting off from the Tiger Inn at East Dean! 4 miles, hills.
Sunday 28 February, 11am: Along the Old Coach Road
Starting at Charleston, we will walk along the Old Coach Road to Berwick village for lunch and return past the medieval tithe barn at Alciston. 5 miles, flat.
Sunday 21 March, 2pm: The Lost Village of Balsdean
A walk north from Rottingdean to what once was the downland village of Balsdean. 6 miles, hills.
Wednesday 31 March, 10am: Little Bo Peep's in The South Downs National Park
A walk on the Downs south of Alciston on the day the South Downs gains National Park status. 5 miles, hills.
Sunday 11 April, 11am: Wilmington & Jevington
A circular walk taking in stunning views from the Downs, stopping for a pub lunch in Jevington. 7 miles, hills.
Saturday 24 April, 2pm: Bluebells at Barcombe
An annual pilgrimage to see the shimmering carpet of bluebells throughout the springtime woodlands at Barcombe. 4 miles, flat.
Saturday 15 May, 2.30pm: Natural Navigation
A Walking Workshop. Tristan Gooley, author of 'The Natural Navigator' book and the only living person to have both flown solo and sailed singlehanded across the Atlantic, will join us to describe how we can find our way using signs from nature. £12.50 payable in advance, please book early as numbers are limited. 5 miles, hills.
Wednesday 26 May, 10am: Foraging on the Downs
A Walking Workshop. Wild food expert, Anna Richardson will join us to explore the Downs, foraging for plants which can be used for food and medicine. Please bring a sandwich that can be topped up with wild greens and a notebook and pencil. £10 payable in advance, please book early as numbers are limited. Ditchling. 4 miles, hills.
Saturday 12 June, 11am: Foraging by the Sea
A Walking Workshop. Wild food expert, Anna Richardson will join us to explore the coastal landscape, foraging for plants which can be used for food and medicine. Please bring a sandwich that can be topped up with wild greens and a notebook and pencil. £10 payable in advance, please book early as numbers are limited. 5 miles, hills.
Cancellations: Please let me know if you've booked on a walk and are unable to come as I often have a waiting list. If you cancel with less than 24 hours notice for reasons other than bad weather or sudden illness I would request that you pay for the walk. For walking workshops I can offer a full refund with a week's notice; 24 hours to a week, a refund if there is someone to take your place.
Tailor-made walks
I can arrange tailor-made walks for work or social occasions. Please call me on 01273 813722 to find out more.
How to book
Contact Louise Gorst:
by email info@solesandsouls.co.uk
by phone on 01273 813722
Please contact me if you would like me to send you a brochure.
Keep updated!
If you would like to receive details of walks directly to your mailbox, email me at info@solesandsouls.co.uk and I will keep you updated.
Previous walks
Friday 1 January 2010
"I'm just writing to thank you for leading the lovely walk on New Years Day. I'm so glad I came across your web site just in the nick of time to join you! I enjoy walking alone as the solitude gives me time to think and enjoy the fantastic local countryside fully. I also enjoy walking in a group and meeting other like minded people, so to combine the two, especially after a stressful festive season, was perfect for me. It is an excellent idea and I was particularly pleased that you chose the steep hill for us to walk in silence! I also enjoyed the New Year quotes we were each given to read and mine turned out to be quite apt for the issue I needed to deal with. I will definitely join you again on future walks and have already recommended them to others." Denise Binks, Shoreham
Saturday 10 October 2009 - Natural Navigation with Tristan Gooley
"On Saturday I was invited to give an introductory natural navigation course on one of the walks organised by Louise Gorst. Twenty-one of us headed out on a glorious circuit from the ‘Sussex Ox’ pub in Milton Street, near Eastbourne. We headed up Wilmington Hill and stopped along the way to look very briefly into the use of the sun, wind, clouds, land, sea, trees and buildings. One of the great things about natural navigation is that it never gets between a walker and the outdoor experience, it never detracts from fantastic views or great dollops of sunshine, but helps us to connect with them in a new way." Tristan Gooley http://www.naturalnavigator.com
Saturday 4 April 2009 - Spring Greens with Anna Richardson
"On a personal note I so enjoyed our walk together and hope you found inspiration and appreciation for the abundant gifts of the wild plants around us. I would encourage you to do some research and check information I have given if you intend to use the plants. I recommend referring to at least 2 wildflower guides so you can double check – the pictures can vary so much. If you feel wary just stick to what you feel confident with. Nettle is the perfect plant to really get to know as it is abundant, easy to recognise, really safe and amazingly good for you. Good luck and happy munching!" Anna Richardson, co-walk leader
Sunday 29 March 2009 - Plumpton
"I felt I had to tell you how much I enjoyed the walk today - the first of Summer and a sunny one. I had, of course, been with you before but it was some time ago and I had forgotten how good your walks were, the silent parts making them special. It was a wonderful walk for wild flowers : primroses and sheets of white anemones in the woods, a pink-flowered quince covering a cottage wall, with blue periwinkles, daffodils, tiny purple and white violets on the banks. It was lovely, too, to see the tight green buds on the trees beginning to unfurl and the hawthorn blossom in the hedgerows. That's the great thing about your walks you have time to notice things like this. I wished I''d brought my camera when we stopped at East Chiltington church with its porch gate wreathed in yellow roses and mimosa. And to catch that look of superiority those long-necked lamas seemed to be giving us as we went across what I'm sure they considered was their field.
Towards the end of the walk, in a quiet spell, you could see the sun really glittering on the long grass and how, in a few weeks, the bluebells would be carpeting the woods we were walking through. I'd love to go back there at that time if only I could remember how to get there! Lunch in the Half Moon pub rounded off one of my nicest Sundays for a long time."
Angela Wigglesworth, Lewes
Thursday 1 January 2009 - Firle Beaon
"The New Year’s walk up to Firle Beacon was a really lovely experience – a group of people who were fun to be with, the encounters with inhabitants of the hill (weren’t those ponies great?) and the total sensory experience of the walk really set me up for the year. And although I was a little resistant to New Year’s resolutions, I did resolve to keep much more in touch with friends living elsewhere in the country – so far I’m not doing too badly! Many thanks to Kay for carrying that bottle of champagne up the hill – what a lovely thought and surprise!" Lesley Healey, Lewes
Friday 20 April 2007 - Firle Beacon
"On an April morning a goodly group of us set out from the top of Firle Beacon towards South Heighton. Our lively chatter lessened as the magic of the landscape began to work on us and a skylark sang above. For a while we walked in silence and, as a newcomer to Soles and Souls, I revelled in the company and quiet as we opened to the surrounding countryside. Through Home Bottom we walked with Poverty Bottom in the distance. At Stump Bottom we stopped for a break and a look at the badger sets then, no longer bottoming out, we climbed and rose up over Snap Hill to be met by a stunning view of the sea, Newhaven and the ferry. Here we turned right to wade through a sea of yellow rape, emerging to find Piddinghoe and its pond like toytown below us. A long uphill climb past America farm and the radio masts took us back to Firle Beacon, the sighting of a honey buzzard and a picnic in the sun. What a great way to spend a morning!" Hazel Collinson, Lewes
Tuesday 23 January 2007 - Isfield
"I had thought about joining a walking group for some time but never seemed to get round to it. Then I heard about Soles and Souls which sounded like my kind of thing. My first walk with them fulfilled all my expectations. A group of seven of us met at Isfield Car Park including our very friendly leader, Louise. We walked across the fields, along the river, through woodland and back onto a country lane to the Anchor Inn at Barcombe where we were welcomed by the landlord with a cup of coffee and a warming log fire.
We then continued on our way back to the car park. The best thing about the walks with Soles and Souls is that there is a period of enforced silence when you are free to think about whatever you want or just enjoy the peace and quiet of our lovely countryside. I personally found the silence therapeutic as I sadly lost my husband a few months ago and it allowed me the time to just be 'inthe moment' with my thoughts. I will definitely be going on the next walk and can thoroughly recommend it to people who enjoy walking but also communing with nature." Heather Hicks, Kingston
Sunday 3 December 2006 - Kingston
"When I woke on Sunday morning to the the winter rain lashing down outside, I thought the prospect for my first Soles and Souls walk was dubious, to say the least. However by the time we reached the meeting point the sky had cleared and the gusty wind was sending the clouds racing across a blue sky. Our route took us up high onto Kingston Ridge where the village below seemed like a model to us and the sun and cloud changes seemed miraculous. One minute gloom, the next bright cheer. The wind pushed us along the top and the mud tried hard to halt our progress once we'd come down into the fields. I felt so pleased that I had decided to go and not let the rain keep me indoors. I loved the route, the changes of landscape and especially the stages of silent walking where I could really take in all the colours and scenes around me. And as we neared our destination and the sun set, the full moon rose before us, ghostly against the darkening blue sky. Beautiful. I loved every minute of it!" Chloe Alexander, Lewes
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