No Shepherd, no Fox, no Oak, no Plough, no Jack, no Jill, ..

No shepherd no dog
The area between Amberley and Ditchling is what Americans call a ‘dry county’. That’s why pub-based South Downs walks are not possible in this benighted region. Or so The Telegraph would have you believe. [Confused Telegraph readers who find themselves on this page should look here.]

Mapping the woods [update 2]

Secret of the High Woods
Our two earlier posts on the LiDAR-based archaeological research into what lurks within the wooded areas of the South Downs were in July 2013 and March 2014. The SDNPA is now calling for volunteers to (i) poke around in the woods [field surveys], (ii) poke around in dusty boxes in Chichester [archive research], or (iii) interrogate elderly locals [oral history]. More information here and at the WSCT.

If you go down to the woods today, you’re sure of a big surprise.

Mountain Bikes on the Downs

View of Fulking from escarpment with MTB handlebars in foregroundWe’ve all seen them. Youngsters on fearsomely expensive mountain bikes skilfully descending precipitous trails on the Downs around Fulking…

Well if you look closely, you may find that some of those youngsters aren’t that young, the bikes aren’t that expensive and the trails may not be a fearsome as you imagine.

Fulking has some great MTB trails for riders of all standards to enjoy – many that only the locals know about. So to encourage more of us out, we’ve put some of the lesser known and shorter circular routes on the website. More will be added in future. Take a look and if you’re already into mountain biking, please contribute your own favourite routes by emailing webmaster@fulking.net.

Current Calendar PDF

Current Calendar PDF
Pigeon Post now features a calendar for the relevant month on page one. But items are added to the calendar constantly so, by the middle of the month, there may well be events listed that never made it to the copy of PP that you blue-tacked to your fridge door. We have thus added a button to the the right sidebar, immediately under the Filofax calendar icon, that will allow you to download an up-to-the-minute printable PDF of the current month’s calendar whenever you wish.