South Midweek Walk 2022 – Chichester Ship Canal Circular

Join Justin and Matt on this ambitious 7-mile Summer Solstice walk to make full use of the longest evening in the year. We start at the railway station and pick up the start of the Chichester Ship Canal only a few meters from the station. A lot of money has been spent on the canal and about a third of it is now navigable with boats taking trips from the starting point. As you would expect, it is a very popular route for evening walkers and cyclists from the town so keep your ears alert for the ding of cycle bell. Some rather nice butterfly sculptures grace the path at the start and appear further along. We pass under the A27 along the canal and pass the restored Poyntz Bridge which has now been re-instated at the site of a similar Padwick Bridge. Along the route there are information boards about the canal, the wildlife and the history.

Are the end of this straight, we cross over onto the other side of the canal as it bends 90degs on it’s path to the marina at the original site of the Poyntz Bridge. We are now on New Lipchis Way. The canal becomes unnavigable at this point and the amount of water vegetation and so wildlife increases. During the recce walk in April we spotted a few swans' nests and so I’d expect plenty of swans along the route in August.

We walk through the top of the marina and along the banks of the Chichester Channel, following the shoreline on a permissive path up to Dell Quay where we will stop at the Crown and Anchor for some food and a drink.

From Del Quay we continue up the now named Fishbourne Channel until we break away and turn across a field and follow the path of the River Lavant until we reach the A27 past an unsightly store for portacabins! Yes, back in borders of the city.

Here, using extreme caution, we cross the A27 at a designated crossing point, but the cars will not know this. This takes us through the back of an industrial estate where we can follow the roads back to the Station where the walk will end. I would expect it would be between 10pm and 10.30pm. If you are catching a train from here make sure you let us know so we can time our departure from the pub. The aim is to make the best use of the daylight on this walk so will not be back before 10pm.

Check out other mid week walks in the area by searching on "South Midweek Walk 2022" - Note this year the majority of walks are on Tuesdays not Wednesdays as previous years.

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