On Friday, 2 November, a party from East Surrey Walkers enjoyed a long weekend at Abingworth Hall, West Sussex which nestles amongst beautiful countryside between the South Downs and The Weald.

The Hall is an HF property, and we were made very welcome with an afternoon tea, plus sumptuous meals and packed lunches throughout our stay. Obviously this ensured all had plenty of energy for the raffle and the table tennis tournament, starting Friday evening, and the walks commencing Saturday.

Saturday morning, both walking groups started from Petworth. The shorter walk (6.7 miles) made a circular route through and around Petworth Park and Upperton Common, whilst the long walk, (9.5 miles) included Petworth, Lodsworth and Upperton Common. All walkers were back in time to enjoy either the art content at Petworth House, and/or the streets of the quaint town – and/or of course the obligatory cup of tea. We were also lucky enough not only to see the deer in the park, but also the local hunt in all their finery, traversing the Park.

On Sunday, the shorter walk (6.7 miles) departed from Abingworth Hall, following a large circle of the village of West Chiltington, whilst those on the longer walk travelled to Steyning, climbing the South Downs, visiting both Cissbury and Chanctonbury Rings (10.25 miles). What glorious views.

We were all ready for another 3 course meal, followed by a fun quiz set by Helen and Amanda, enjoyed by all, and the final of the Table Tennis Tournament. Well fought by all contestants and enjoyable for us viewers.

A big thanks to all involved in making our weekend a success. First a thank you to Tony and Adam for planning and organising the walks and also to the walk leaders of all the walks - Pamela and Noel, Alice, Fran and Mark, and Tony.

A special thank you to Helen (with Amanda’s support) for all her hard work co-ordinating the fun weekend break, and also those who helped behind the scenes. Finally, thank you to those who kindly offered car shares. Everyone made this weekend event such a friendly and resounding success, and as a newcomer I felt very welcomed.

 Article by Jane B                           Photos by Brian S, Judy B and Noel C