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It was a grey, misty, mizzly morning and I must say that a stroll along the seafront wasn’t looking that attractive. But on the way to the start I stopped off at the Martlets Hospice where nurses Ginny and Evelyn came out and gave me a wave. The Martlets was the reason FSH was started 25 years ago and so this greeting made all the difference.  In 1995 a group of volunteers, myself included, organised a Christmas Fair to raise money to help with the building costs. Later, when the Martlets was operational we continued running the Fair, distributing proceeds to other Sussex hospice care providers; we now support 13 hospices across Sussex. Until that time, I’d never been inside a hospice so decided to volunteer at the Martlets doing various roles and, after a few years, I joined its Board of Trustees.  Through this involvement  I witnessed the dedication, professionalism and expertise that hospice care encompasses.  Today the Martlets has 18 inpatient beds and, like most hospices,  the majority of their care is delivered in peoples homes.  Running costs are £7 million of which 28% is government funded. Much encouraged and starting at Shoreham Station  the route took me through a residential area, passing St Julian’s Church, Shoreham College and the Sussex County Croquet Club at Southwick (where a planned Croquet Day last year for FSH had to be aborted due to torrential rain and flooding.) By the time I reached Shoreham Port it was blowing one hell of a gale but as I crossed the bridges of the Lock I have to admit it was quite exciting – walking alongside the port, deserted except for a man fishing on the dockside. Although unfamiliar to many people there’s been a port here since Roman times and after the Norman invasion it was one of the largest cargo handling ports on the south coast. A little further on I was joined by my friend Francesca and her husband Philippe.  They had walked from Hove –  into the headwind – to meet me.  It was lovely to catch up as I hadn’t seen them for ages. They took a photo by the colourful beach huts and as we walked and chatted the sun came out and it turned into a beautiful morning –  although the wind continued to rage.  A little way further along we saw Super Mario running towards us – full pelt  into the turbulent headwind – his costume was ballooning out and he almost took off like a kite. His name was Pete and was running a 10k – we took these photos before he hurtled off on his way. At Marrocco’s we met Sue and Pete Korman  and had a delicious (distanced) coffee.  Sue Korman was the brains behind the Sussex Hospices Trail back in 2016 and it was her ‘throw-away’ suggestion that inspired me to do this walk!  I’d always intended to walk the whole trail……but sometime in the future and certainly not in one month! Then I continued alone, propelled by the caffeine and the galeforce wind, past the remains of the rusty West Pier and the gleaming 531 ft steel needle that is the i360. Walking up West Street I popped into Mountain Warehouse and bought a lighter mini backpack advised by Jon and Ieva, the very helpful sales assistants. After all, there are 21 walks to go! I finished today’s walk with a  rare selfie! There really wasn’t much space for meditation today but it felt so good to meet and laugh with friends although strange and restrictive not being able to hug one another.  Touch is so fundamental to human communication.  A caress of the arm, holding a hand – these everyday gestures we usually take for granted – are more important than we think -it’s our primary language of compassion,  which is why hospice staff are struggling with the current situation.  Nursing staff  are finding physical distancing and having to wear PPE difficult as these are counter cultural to the essence of hospice care, where touch and facial expression are so important. This walk was so different from my previous pastoral and coastal walks.  Shoreham Port was fascinating and the buzz of Brighton in the sunshine was so exhilarating!  My thanks to Judy and Les Salvidge from  Local Fuels Shoreham Port who sponsored this section of the Trail in loving memory of Judy’s mother, Yvonne Harvey. I stopped for a few moments at the plaque the family had erected for her on the trail and remembered the sunny day in August 2016 a group of us gathered to unveil it.   

My day started with a desperately needed haircut at 7.00am with Lisa at the newly Covid-perspexed Village Hair Shop in East Hoathly. It was so good to catch up with Lisa and Michelle and hear their lockdown news.  An hour later I set off from Goring Station and headed south for the seafront: was a very grey and blustery morning – lots of white horses and a few crazy wind and para-surfers in the sea – they were really moving, the surfers being lifted incredibly  high above the  waves.  It wasn’t raining and it wasn’t cold and the wind behind me just carried me along as though I was land-surfing.   The whole stretch of promenade from Goring to Shoreham is so beautifully kept – no litter, its lawns and flower beds neat and tidy, some great places to stop for coffee and the loos would get my Tripadviser 10/10 .. the last one is quite important when there are no bushes. (OK, probably too much information!)   Two years ago FSH held a fashion show in St Paul’s Church in Worthing. It was called Cut Up & Cool – design students from Burgess Hill Girls’ School showed how old clothes could be turned into cool new outfits.  We’d planned to hold a second show which would have taken place yesterday, but this has now been postponed until next spring.   My friend Antonia, who lives in Worthing, came and walked a little ways with me which was lovely.  It was tempting but we decided against having a Worthing Gin and opted for a hot chocolate from Dave at Cloud 9 Coffee – delicious!  At the east end of Worthing Antonia set off home and I continued to be blown along looking as though I had opted for the gin!   A pirate with toothless grin standing in a children’s play area made me smile – a bit like the yesterday’s scarecrows and fishing boats with their colourful lobster pot marker buoys brightened up the gloomy grey and were crying out to be photographed. As I powered along past Lancing Beach Green it brought to mind FSH’s connections with nearby Lancing College. The College has been incredibly supportive of FSH, giving us the free use of meeting rooms, hosting a Hymnathon and organ recitals in its awesome, spectacularly vaulted Chapel, and last year the college hosted a hugely successful black-tie dinner in its magnificent dining hall. The Widewater Lagoon was a real surprise.  The guide described it as a “beautiful coastal nature reserve and a hidden treasure” and it really is. All around the banks of this saline lagoon, plants and flowers thrive in shingle and grassland. Turning inland from the seafront I passed the Shoreham Riverbank Houseboats – a remarkable collection of dwellings, living up to the description in my guide as “the wackiest houseboats in Britain”.  Many of these barge homes have become living works of art: everything from a WWII bomber, a rusty coach, and a car sticking out of one of the houseboats’ walls.  At Shoreham Ferry Bridge I was met by Ian and Paula Gough (windswept, below) who accompanied me back through the town and the finish of this walk. I was surprised how much there was to see and enjoy along this nine mile coastal promenade.  The monotonous bits gave me some time to meditate on today’s Buddhist offering “True freedom means freeing oneself from the dictates of the ego and its accompanying emotions”.  This is such a wonderful journey. My thanks once again to the sponsors of this section of the Sussex Hospices Trail, Sir Patrick & Lady Cable-Alexander and Ian & Paula Gough.

Another perfect day.  Caroline Nicholls very kindly ferried me to Arundel Station, the start of my third walk, and gave  me some useful pointers about what I might expect as she’d walked this section as part of FSH’s Walk The Hospices Trail event two years ago. The first part of the walk took me alongside the River Arun, where, in the early morning sunshine the nature reserve managed by the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust made for a calm and scenic start. Thinking back to the castle I was reminded of The Earl and Countess of Arundel hosting a dinner for FSH in 2018 when our guest speakers were Julian Fellowes and Hugh Bonneville –  a really splendid occasion which raised £70,000 for our hospices. My walk continued along part of the Monarch’s Way, a 615 mile long-distance path that approximates the escape route to France (from Worcester to Brighton) taken by King Charles II in 1651 after being defeated in the Battle of Worcester. Continuing through the Angmering Estate, I crossed pastures and a forest of majestic beech trees.  A little further on I took a detour to call at Chestnut Tree House hospice where some of the nursing staff came out to cheer me on. Chestnut Tree House cares for approximately 300 children and young adults from 0-19 years of age with progressive life-limiting conditions.  It currently costs over £4 million to provide the care services offered with only 5% of this coming from government.

Back on the trail I was again treated to some stunning scenery – emerging from some woodland into a crop field I could see the tall spire of Patching Church and the sea beyond.  As my trail notes suggested, I stopped on the bench alongside the lynch gate at St John the Divine church for refreshments.  I went inside and used the sanitiser provided in the porch, leaving my contact details on a list on the baptismal font (for Covid tracking purposes).  It is a pretty church and had a nice feel about it. On continuing through the sleepy village I saw a man clipping a hedge which was populated with some very quirky scare-crows which made me smile.  I asked the man, his name was Roy Hogan, why they were there.  He said he’d originally put one there and noticed it made people smile, so he added more which made people smile even more.  He told me that his wife, Joan, was born in their brick and flint stone house, at the door of which stood a life size cardboard cut out of Boris Johnson, a recent birthday present to Joan from their daughter.  I wandered on still carrying the smile Roy had given me. After the village the trail took some peculiar zig-zags across fields leading to an underpass beneath the A27 just beyond The World’s End pub.  After a climb up through Highdown Copse I was rewarded with some truly magnificent views  which took in Brighton and a long stretch of the south coast.  I had earlier made a plan through the good offices of Ruth Taylor, Trustee of St. Barnabas House, to call in to the hospice but was running about an hour late. Fortunately, Ruth’s husband Kevin met  and guided me through that last stretch and  I was greeted on arrival by Becki, Joanna, Kate. St Barnabas has 20 inpatient beds but the majority of its care takes place in the community – in people’s homes.  It costs St Barnabas just over £8 million to provide that care, of which only 17% comes from government. I’d received messages of support from Chair, Patricia Woolgar, Chief Executive, Rosemarie Finley and Clinical Director, Cathy Stone.  All said how proud they were to work with such a dedicated team of healthcare professionals who work tirelessly to provide vital hospice care and who have all gone above and beyond – rising to the challenges presented by Covid-19. Today’s walk was long and varied and quite, quite beautiful.  Its length and the peace and solitude provided on many of its sections gave me the time and space to meditate.  I found the rhythm of walking acted like a sort of mantra helping me to disengage from my mind and go within.  It really was a perfect day! My thanks to Lisa Welton who sponsored this section of the  Sussex Hospices Trail in memory her father Peter Hamilton-Price R.N.

Ideal conditions again this morning for walking – thanks mum and St Anthony! I headed off in the direction of Yapton, home of David Bathurst. David is a marvel: a trail completer, a participant in the Hymnathon I mentioned yesterday and one of his own for FSH at nearby St George’s Church, Eastergate, in 2017,  when he sang all 401 hymns in the BBC Songs of Praise Hymnbook from memory!  He’s also written and published national and local walking guides and has generously donated the proceeds to FSH. I stopped off at The Sussex Snowdrop Trust in Walberton and chatted with its Chairman and Co-Founder, Diana Levantine, and Head of Fundraising, Lucy Ashworth.  The Trust provides care at home for children with  life-threatening or terminal illnesses.  Its nurses currently care for 70 children in its catchment area at a cost of £400,000 but receives no government funding. Covid-19 has not interrupted the care delivered by the Snowdrop nurses but it has impacted fundraising and reserves are being spent  to cover the deficit.  I was given the Snowdrop T-shirt here! In the village, admiring the pretty flint stoned cottages and the Holly Tree pub with its fetching grey exterior and matching grey GPO telephone box, I met a woman walking her Border Terrier (I have a Border Terrier called Lulu) and we chatted – eulogised Border Terriers for five minutes or so.  Travelling on through crop fields, across a golf course and through Binsted Wood which felt a bit spooky – probably because Diana had tipped me off that it was haunted and there were witches there – I eventually arrived at Arundel with its imposing castle and cathedral.  I received some socially distanced hospitality from Kevin and Ruth Taylor in the exquisite garden of their 13th century house. Ruth is a Trustee of St Barnabas and Chestnut Tree House, both of which are on my walk tomorrow! This part of the Sussex Hospices Trail was sponsored by Gaye Allen in memory of  her husband Dr David Allen.  

The weather was perfect for walking – much kinder than yesterday’s wet and windy conditions. My mum, who’s been living with me since lockdown, is in charge of the weather for the duration of my walk – she has a hot line to St Anthony who usually answers her prayers – although he’s up against it at the moment as she’s also asked him to find my sister’s engagement ring! Anyway, so far so good. This walk was generously sponsored by Di Steele in memory of her aunt Hilda Wadham who lived in the Chichester area during WW2. I met Di’s aunt Hida, sadly when she had dementia, she was absolutely charming. St Wilfrid’s Hospice was situated on the trail, but a year ago ( July 2019) moved to a fabulous new building at Bosham, three miles to the east.Although the new build has increased the number of beds from 14 to 18, the majority of care St Wilfrid’s provides takes place in the community – in people’s homes. St Wilfrid’s supports a community of over 80,000 households and receives only 15% in Government funding. The old hospice building has been demolished and a care home is being built on the old site. It was lovely to get a virtual wave from Alison Moorey, Chief Executive of St Wilfrid’s. I set off at 8.00am from Chichester Station and was soon walking along the towpath of the Chichester Ship Canal, which was peaceful and beautiful and a fabulous start to my journey.I stopped to say hello to some ducks and coots and a pair of swans, closely guarding their cygnets. Here I’d planned a (distanced) rendezvous with Roger Bloxham – FSH pro-bono photographer – and his wife, Lesley, at Poyntz Bridge which has a stunning view with the spire of the Cathedral in the distance. Poyntz Bridge was the location of Turner’s famous 1828 Chichester Canal painting. Chichester Cathedral has been a generous host to FSH over the years. I have fond memories of a Hymnathon in 2013 when choirs from across Sussex sang all 542 hymns of the New English Hymnal without a break, and of a service in 2017 which celebrated the 50th anniversary of the founding of the modern hospice movement by Dame Cicely Saunders. All of the Sussex hospices took part in these events…..they were very special.I’ve also enjoyed several of the magnificent flower festivals the cathedral organises every other year to raise money for the upkeep and development of the Cathedral. Later I walked past The Spotted Cow with a blackboard outside proclaiming “RE-OPEN SAT 4TH WHOO! HOO!!” Along public footpaths across wheat fields, courgette crops and through what felt like endless miles of polytunnels I saw so many strawberries, raspberries and blueberries. I never knew we produced such an abundance of these fruits here in Sussex! Despite many kind offers by friends to walk sections of the trail with me, I chose to walk the trail on my own because I wanted to use it as a personal meditative journey. I have a book of Buddist thoughts for each day, each thought accompanied by a beautifully poignant photograph. Today’s page read: “Want what you have and don’t want what you don’t have.Here you will find true fulfilment.” Throughout my life I’ve mostly wanted what I didn’t have – or believed I didn’t have – and not fully owned what I have. As I embark on this journey around our beautiful county I hope the time and space and the rhythm of walking alone will bring clarity. Our thanks to Di Steele (below) for her generous sponsorship of this section of the Sussex Hospices Trail in memory of her aunt Hilda Wadham.