Day 1

 Welcome to my new blog. As the title suggests, I am walking the South Downs Way ( SDW). 

For those of you that don’t know, the SDW is a 100 mile trail through the South Downs National Park, between Winchester and Eastbourne. 

People generally walk west to east, because you have the spectacular Chalk Cliffs at Beachy Head to finish the walk! 

Therefore, I set off early this morning and travelled by train to Winchester, where I started the official route at 09:15. 

Unfortunately, the plaque denoting the start is situated behind iron railings at Winchester Mill, which was closed at that time of morning, so a picture of the nearby bridge will have to suffice! 

The path wasn’t particularly well signposted out of the city centre, but I managed to map read my way out and crossed the M3 motorway and was in open countryside quite quickly! 
I made good progress and walked the first 7 miles in two hours. I reached Holden Farm, which had a wonderful cafe/campsite. 
After a refreshing cup of coffee and flapjack, I set off again. However, after another couple of miles, I found my path was blocked by some silly fool who put a pub in the way 😜
Obviously, I had to quench my thirst with a cool pint of lager, but didn’t stop long. 

I quickly made my way to Exton, where once again the heat & humidity forced me to stop at The Shoe Inn . 

I made some phone calls to find a campsite and then set off, after an hour’s rest. 

I set off again and soon had a stiff climb up Old Winchester Hill and then a circuitous walk in the direction of East Meon. 

I eventually arrived at my campsite at 6:30pm and struggled to put my tent up in the stiff breeze! 

I have walked 21 miles of the trail today and now walked another mile to Ye Olde George Inn at East Meon, where I have just devoured a steak burger! 

Surprisingly, my feet feel fine after all those miles, with no blisters to report. 

I plan to get up early and get some miles under my belt, before the forecasted heat & humidity get too bad! 

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