Petmid two

Verified Slow Way

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Walked as part of the National Parks Challenge 2026. A lovely route between two delightful towns.

Petersfield to Midhurst 2 (Petmid 2) review.

My first Slow Way in the South Downs, and it was an excellent one. Navigation was straightforward, and the route is almost all fields and woods (the latter very welcome on a hot midsummer day!).

Note: I walked Midhurst to Petersfield.

The Midhurst sign declares it the ‘Heart of the South Downs National Park.’ There are bus links with Guildford, Petersfield and Chichester. The route passes amenities, and leaves town via Carron Lane, and into woodland.

The Slow Way doesn’t exactly follow the public footpath through Midhurst Common, but the woodland tracks are clear enough (Photo 1). As mentioned in a previous review, follow the pylons west (Photo 2).

The route turns south to join the Serpent Trail. As a general note, the Slow Way essentially follows this trail, but takes direct footpaths to cut out some of the ‘coils.’

With serpents in mind, I suspected the mixture of heath and woods could be ideal snake territory (Photo 3). I kept a lookout but none were seen. Sadly, I did pass a deceased slow worm – so reptiles were certainly around.

The route meanders through fields and woods, passing goats and horses (Photos 4, 5 & 6). Although hills are visible north and south, this Slow Way mostly avoids slopes. Harvested fields at the Goldrings Farm obscured the path, but there were enough fingerposts to find the way.

A footpath at Dumpford goes right past a house. I paused to check the map, but then recalled a previous review mentioning this. The owner was out feeding her goats, and didn’t seem to mind me wandering through.

The walk into Nyewood was over sun-drenched fields and a stretch of former Rother Valley railway between Petersfield and Midhurst (Photos 7 & 8). Nyewood is on the bus route between Petersfield and Midhurst.

The route into Petersfield is through farmland and crosses the River Rother (Photos 9 &10).

The urban walk into the centre of Petersfield is partially avoided by Petersfield Heath and Pond (Photos 11 & 12).

Petersfield to Midhurst

Petersfield is a beautiful historic town and this route goes by a large Petersfield pond where locals spend their leisure time. The next section to Nyewood is mostly through quiet open fields and meadows. Nyewood itself has a small village green with benches to sit on. I also took a photo of their appealing community hall - The Henry Warren hall. See the location on the map.

When the route reaches Dumpford, the public foothpath that it follows goes right next to a house with goats and a mini roundabout. The route there is accurate but it's hard to believe that walkers should continue right next to the wall of the large house. The exit to Trotton Road is somewhat concealed.

As the slowway approaches Midhurst, the surroundings are more shaded by woods and tree canopies.

The route is fairly easy to follow as it makes use of well maintained public footpaths. I only struggled a bit in the last km before Midhurst. There are many narrow footpaths that probably all lead to Midhurst anyway but the best guide there are electrical pylons that end just before the forest path reaches the town.

I'd say that at least two thirds of the way are in an open country so it is advisable to put on suncream in hot weather. Most trails are also either wide or well trodden or kept up. Not even once was I scratched by bramble canes on my way.

This is a great route that I very much enjoyed walking. It was largely off-road and nicely varied: fields, forests, healthland and picturesque Sussex villages. I took a quick detour to pop into the Elsted Inn for much needed refresher which is a nice little pub.

All roads had good verges or pavements - no scares there. I was lucky enough to have beautiful weather but I imagine it could get very muddy in wet weather.

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