Tuesday 8th September 2026

We went rogue today and did the walk back to front – mixing it up a bit!! We caught a train into Chichester and then hopped on a bus just outside the station which took us all the way down to Bracklesham Bay. This was a point we had finished off at in October last year and our abiding memory of it was enduring 1.5 miles of walking on pebbles at the end of a 16.5 mile walk. We very much hoped that our 11 mile walk back to Bosham today was going to be an easier terrain.

It seemed God was paying me back for moaning about the heat over the last few days as today was the opposite – continuous rain and quite a chill wind. Our weather forecasts were telling us that it was due to clear up in a couple of hours though so we strode on confidently, believing we would soon dry out. For the first time in ages, Steve wore his leather hat which is generally part of his wet weather walking gear, but today he said that either his head had got bigger or the hat had shrunk – he felt like it was just perching!!

It seemed luck was on our side as the Coastal Path signs immediately led us around the houses of Bracklesham Bay rather than on the pebbled beach and we were loving that – until a sneaky path led us unexpectedly onto the dreaded pebbles. It wasn’t too bad however, although they continued for some distance they were interspersed with concrete and grass areas at points, and we managed. Better at the beginning of the walk while our legs were still fresh.

And despite the rain it was a really pleasurable walk. The pebbles gradually changed to shingle and then to sand – in fact black sand which I’ve never come across in this country before. In parts we walked in woodland running alongside the beach, very pretty and varied. When the path hit sand dune territory at East Wittering we hotfooted it down to the harder sand at the shoreline. It’s always lovely to find ourselves on a long stretch of sandy beach and we enjoyed this all the way to West Wittering where a Lifeguard recommended that we take to the higher path.

From West Wittering to West Itchenor the Coastal Path was varied and well signposted. Unbelievably, the house appreciation took on a whole new level today. The whole spread of this coastline has got to be extremely affluent, some properties literally took my breath away. Later I discovered some of the local residents include Kate Winslet, Keith Richards, Nicholas Lyndhurst and Michael Ball. None of them popped out to say hello however!

At just 7 miles we reached Itchenor – it was still raining. We easily found the Ferry and its very friendly Ferryman who whizzed us across Bosham Deeps (officially part of the Coastal Route), saving us an extra 10 mile walk. We were only his second customers of the day, think he was glad of the company.

Miraculously, the rain stopped for about 20 mins, just as we reached the other side. There was a bench perfectly placed for us to finally have our lunch – so we tucked in to re-energise for the remaining 4 miles of rambling.

Although the path was well marked out it was a bit slip slidey with mud and wet seawood – it was a little close at times but we managed to stay upright. And then we reached the extremely picturesque village of Bosham – luckily the tide was out so we could cut across the shallows.

We clocked up 11 miles of walking today and for some reason I found it quite manageable. I think it’s taken me a few days to get into the swing and maybe because it was cooler it didn’t feel such a task. But we were pleased to get back to our Airbnb for a hot shower, dry clothes and a good old cup of tea.

We achieved the completion of the gap – it turned out to be just 46 miles and that’s what we’ve walked in the last 5 days. This means we’ve done the whole of the Hampshire and West Sussex coastline, another big tick.

Later in the month we’ll be back on the Coast Path from Morecambe heading North – just enough time to rest our weary feet!