GUIDE TO SLOW SUSSEX BY LOCAL AUTHOR
Lewes based Travel writer Tim Locke has recently published the new Bradt guide to Slow Sussex andSouth Downs National Park, in which he encourages locals and visitors alike to slow down and celebrate what makes the region special.
Tim, who was a finalist in the Guide Book of the Year category, British Travel Press awards,covers a whole range of regional delights in his latest guide, from sampling local wines and beers, trekking with llamas, perusing prehistoric
flints on the Downs taking a solar powered cruise, discovering Bohemian artists’ haunts or walking in the wilds of the Weald
Bradt’s latest addition to its Slow series, Slow Sussex & South Downs National Park
follows close on the heels of the South Downs officially becoming Britain's
newest National Park on 1st April 2011 – the tenth to be designated in England.
Only an hour
from London, the park extends from eastern Hampshire to the sheer cliffs at
Seven Sisters and Beachy Head, and includes much of the High Weald of West
Sussex too. It already receives more than twice the visitor numbers of any
other national park in the country.
Author Tim
Locke describes the decision as being hugely popular among local people.
‘There’s been a campaign to raise the South Downs to national park status for
decades. This will help preserve the very special character of the Downs and
the Weald – an area that has miraculously kept its deeply rural character, and
help promote the right sort of sustainable tourism that is very key to the Slow
concept.’
The book also
covers much of the rest of Sussex and eastern Hampshire, across which the
author has been selective in picking out his favourite places – both well known
and obscure. He describes the peculiarly local game of stoolball that is still
widely played in these parts, a phantom railway station (Newhaven Marine) that
has no trains but is still officially extant, an ancient Wealden cottage
(Priest House) covered with anti-witch devices, an artist’s retreat (Farley
Farm House) where Picasso painted a
kitchen tile above the Aga, a tour through the Brighton sewers, and the pleasures of cruising round Chichester Harbour in a solar-powered craft.
Locke has lived in Lewes for 15 years, and though he feels he knows his patch pretty well he's still happy to be amazed at how many new places and experiences there are to discover. ‘This is a landscape where nature and human activity strike a particularly satisfying balance. Yet it’s an area where a guidebook can really help a reader pick his or her way round carefully. You certainly won’t get the picture by attempting to charge around the whole thing.'
The book’s firm emphasis on Slow tourism is all about finding reasons to linger and savouring what makes an area special: Locke recounts his Slow travels with huge affection, chats to enthusiasts such as archaeologists and naturalists, points out places you can take courses on countryside skills, finds museums where you can volunteer at weekends, and meticulously describes ten of his favourite local walks. His book noses out eco-friendly accommodation and explores ways of
pottering about without a car. Rather than attempt to cover everything, he picks out the essence of the area, with enough space to give a readable and informative description of what readers will see. No payments are made for inclusion in the guide. If it’s in the book, it’s because the author likes it.
The Bradt Guide to Slow Sussex and South Downs National Park. £14.99 www.bradtguides.com
For more information about the author, see www.timlocke.co.uk