About Footprints of Sussex
We came to Sussex in 1974 and very soon discovered those 'whale-backed downs' on our doorstep. It wasn't long before we volunteered to lead the Y.H.A. walking holidays along the South Downs Way, an enjoyable task which involved walking the trail up to five times every year.
Staying in hostels, however, was not everyone's cup of tea and demand for 'less spartan' accommodation led to the formation of Footprints.
At first we guided every group and stayed overnight with them at the B & B's which were springing up along this new trail.
But it soon became impossible to walk with everyone and self-guided quickly became the norm - as it is today.
We still had our passion for walking, of course, and with more time available we immersed ourselves in a series of walking projects throughout the county., many of which are detailed elsewhere on this website. This didn't go unnoticed by our County Council who were very happy to become involved in our year-long venture of 'Walk 2000' in which we walked the whole boundary of West Sussex.
It was a huge success and the following year the council invited us to take over the management of the Annual South Downs Way Walk.
The rest is living history. We've created new accredited trails across the county, devised and written countless walks for newspapers and magazines and met thousands of lovely people on our many journeys on foot.
We hope to keep doing that for a while yet and look forward to the pleasure of meeting you personally somewhere out there.
Supporting Our National Trails
National Trails Website
Towards the end of every year we make a donation towards the maintenance of all our National Trails.
These 'jewels in the crown' of country walking are cared for by the national trail officers and their teams and we have been delighted to support them since the inception of the support scheme.
This year, as always, we are proud to display the 'supporting' badge on our website.
Alfred Lord Tennyson
“You came and looked and loved the view long known and loved by me :
green Sussex fading into blue with one grey glimpse of sea.”
