Petersfield
On this walk, children will enjoy stopping at the farm to pick fruit and vegetables, including pumpkins in October, and going to the tea-room with a garden play area.
Making our way from Rogate Common to Durleighmarsh Farm
The Basics
Time: 1 hour 50 mins
Distance: 6.2 km / 3.9 miles
Terrain: Woodland paths, gentle inclines, farm tracks.
Pushchair: This route is not suitable for pushchairs.
Dogs: Dogs are welcome on the walk, but they are not allowed in the fruit picking fields or the farm shop.
Refreshments: The Tea Barn at Durleighmarsh
Toilets: For customers of The Tea Barn.
Public Transport: There is a bus stop on the A272 at the bottom of the track to Durleighmarsh Farm, it is served by Stagecoach 54 Petersfield to Chichester or Stagecoach 91/92/93 Petersfield to Midhurst.
Parking: You can either start your walk at Durford Heath car park, Hill Brow, free (Postcode: GU31 5DS - W3W: ///lakeside.trap.snow) or at Durleighmarsh Farm Shop/The Tea Barn, assuming you will be a customer (Postcode: GU31 5AX - W3W: ///fishery.hillsides.impressed)
The woodland of Rogate Common
The highlight of this walk near Petersfield is the pick-your-own farm shop where strawberries, blueberries, raspberries and blackberries are ripe for the picking in summer, and pumpkins in autumn. There is also an excellent tea-room with play things in the garden. To reach Durleighmarsh, our walk takes you along the West Sussex and Hampshire border and through the woodland of Rogate Common.
The Route
This walk can be started from Durford Heath car park at Hill Brow or from Durleighmarsh Farm Shop & The Tea Barn. Advantages of parking at Durford Heath are that the walk can be completed when the farm shop is closed and it also places that tea room at a half way point. Advantages of parking at Durlerighmarsh are that you can put any produce straight into your car. Please note you should plan to use either the tea room or the farm shop if you use this car park.
Our directions begin from Durford Heath car park. If you park at Durleighmarsh, you will need to walk up the track to the right of the farm shop - it is The Sussex Border Path and the same track that you drove in on. Walk under the footbridge and continue for a few minutes before joining the walk at step 4.
1. From Durford Wood car park, take the permissive footpath by the information board. The road will be parallel away to your left. At a fork, keep left. At the next junction, veer up to the left and join a vehicle access track next to a telegraph pole. Turn right and follow the track. Where the track widens out into a logging area, many paths converge. Keep straight and to the right of this space. Ignore the first woodland path on your right with a barrier and follow the finger post saying ‘public way’. Do not walk to the house, but instead fork left just before a rusted blue ‘private road, no cars, access only’ sign.
2. Keep straight on the public way, ignoring any paths to your right. The path will initially be under trees, then with fields either side and will get progressively sandier. Continue until a collection of farm buildings. Keep right of the buildings and continue straight on the path, which will now become a tarmac lane.
3. After some worker’s caravans and a pumping station to your right, leave the lane and take the public way on your right. This path is narrower than the previous one. Continue straight and ignore a bridle way to the right. At the junction with a wide vehicle track continue the walk by turning right or turn left if you wish to visit Durleighmarsh Farm Shop and Pick Your Own as well as The Tea Barn (5 minutes each way, return to this point).
4. Walk up the Sussex Border Path and keep left when a private track goes off to your right. Where the space opens up to your right, keep going straight until you reach a ‘private property’ sign.
5. The footpath will veer right with fields to the right and woodland to the left. Soon the tree type will change to the conifer plantation of Rogate Common. After a fallen tree, begin heading downwards. At a ‘Sussex Border Path’ badge on a post, the path will split around a central line of trees - keep left. When you reach the National Trust and a De La Salle Brother’s signs, turn right. Follow the path with the boundary to your left until you reach the Durford Wood car park.
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Did you know?
Durleighmarsh Pick Your Own is open Monday – Saturday from 10am to 4pm (last entry 3.30pm) and Sunday from 10am to 3.30pm (last entry 3pm). There is a £2 charge per person to enter the fields and then your fruit is charged by weight in addition to that. The strawberry crop can be intermittent, so we advise checking their Facebook page for stock updates.
If you enjoyed this walk…
…try this walk at Compton Down where you can also pick pumpkins in autumn
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