00:00Good afternoon, my name is Phil Hewitt, group arts editor of the Sussex Newspapers. Always
00:05lovely to spend time with David Bathurst. We've just battled through worsening weather
00:09conditions to do 17.5 miles of the Isle of Wight coastline. But David, we're talking
00:14now about a different coastline and a different county entirely. In your latest book, The
00:19Sussex Walker's Year, tell me about the thinking behind that book.
00:23I just thought there is so much to offer The Sussex Walker right through the year. And
00:28so what I've done is I've come up with the 40, I would say, best walks to undertake in
00:35Sussex in the course of a single year. Each of them month specific. So for instance, January
00:41I've got best winter walk around Pagham Harbour. February, best pub walk around Battle. March,
00:47the best church walk linking Lansing College Chapel and Stenning and other churches. So
00:52right the way through the year.
00:53And you really are covering the whole of Sussex, aren't you?
00:56Absolutely all of it. And not only the whole of Sussex, but a nice balance between east
01:02and west. I've got Brighton and Hove in there as well. Very much, I would say, part of the
01:06Sussex scene. And indeed there's a best city walk for Brighton and Hove. And there's a nice
01:12range of walks. Some very long ones, some very short ones.
01:15And it must have been fascinating to do the research. Obviously a vast amount of knowledge
01:20behind this, but the research must have been good to do. Absolutely. But I wanted it to
01:25be personalised as well. And on top of the facts and figures that you would expect from
01:30a book, the basic information, I've also tried to reminisce on some of the amusing incidents
01:36and some that are of particular kind of sentimental or emotional significance to me. One example
01:44being Mayfield. I've devised a lovely walk in Mayfield in East Sussex. And it recalls when my mum,
01:52as at the age of 17, celebrated her birthday by taking her best friend to lunch in April
01:58Cottage, a tea room in Mayfield. So just little personal touches like that.
02:01Oh, that's really lovely. And just tell me, I'm in the million dollar question, isn't
02:06it? Why does walking mean so much to you? What does it represent?
02:10It's hugely healthy. It has great life enhancing properties. You never come back from a long walk
02:19feeling worse than you did at the start. And there's always something to see because you're
02:25not rushing, you're not in a car or even a bicycle. But walking enables you to really
02:31appreciate the landscapes, the views, things close at hand. So, you know, the wonderful
02:36panoramic views you get, to say, from the top of the South Downs. It's just, there's
02:41what's not to like about it.
02:43And your walking history has been astonishing over the years. So many places you've walked.
02:47But Sussex, you clearly rate right up there, right at the top, don't you?
02:51Absolutely. There's something for everybody in Sussex. The downlands, the sea, lots of lovely
02:55towns, cities, villages. Truly something for everybody.
02:58And the book is obviously going to be available in various places, particularly to say that
03:03locations. Mention some of the places that you expect it to be found.
03:07St. Olaf's Bookshop in Chichester, the Petworth Bookshop, the Stenning Bookshop, City Books
03:13at Hove, all of those, I hope.
03:15And doing the book for a good cause as well, you should say?
03:17Absolutely. Yes, all the profits will be donated to the Sussex Snowdrop Trust, which helps families
03:23of children in Sussex with life-threatening or life-limiting illness. It's a wonderful charity.
03:27I'm superbly run. And I always love to support them.
03:32David, congratulations on the book. Just give me the title again.
03:35The Sussex Walkers Year.
03:37Perfect. Lovely to see you. Thank you.
03:39Thanks ever so much, Phil.
