Chichester - a week off the well-trodden path

Things we did:

Weald and Downland Open Air Museum: a 10-15 min bus ride. This delightful, really well-kept group of buildings also features live demonstrations of crafts - I watched the miller grinding grain into flour using the working waterwheel; a baker; and listened to and talked with a harpist and hammered dulcimer duo. Ate lunch at the onsite cafe by the pond.

Evensong at Chichester Cathedral.

Goodwood House (@ 15£ each way Uber ride) for a tour and afternoon tea. This was an absolutely lovely house with a good guide. And the tea wasn’t bad either. Lol.

Fishbourne Roman Palace: by bus, with its display of mosaics and garden. Then bussed on to Bosham for a pub lunch, then bussed a bit further to Emsworth for a wander by the water (looked a little like an Italian passeggiata might) and tea and cake, before bussing back to Chichester.

Chawton House: a delightful day trip with forum friends out from Winchester. Chawton House was owned by Jane Austin’s brother and she visited but her house in the nearby village wasn’t open ( looked like some renovations going on inside). This might be a stretch from Chichester by public transportation. We trained to Winchester (which would also make a great day out) and went by car from there.

A day in Chichester for Bishop’s Garden, a Sunday Roast at a pub, some wall walking, and an afternoon market and classic motorcycle show.

A final day in Chichester to see the small Novium Museum, more of the gardens, more city walls, and some shopping (another market). It was a little rainy this day or we might have ventured out by either train or bus to nearby Bognor Regis for a peek.

Goodwood Horse Races: technically I did this from Arundel, but had to take the train back to Chichester. When I found out that Goodwood was having a weekend of horse racing, it felt like a must do - when would that chance come again? So I chose an “enclosure” (an area to watch from) and bought my ticket online, took the train to Chichester and then the free bus to Goodwood, spent the afternoon, and then reversed. I love horses and it was fun to be able to stand at the rail as they thundered past. I stayed for 4 races before calling it quits. There was a lot of betting going on, I am sure - but that was way too complex for me. What an experience!

Ate: In addition to our Sunday Roast, we tried out 4 pubs for drinks in the evenings (went to one 3 times and skipped a couple that looked a little too raucous), ate at a French chain (Cote), had 2 pub lunches in different towns, and had delicious Turkish food at Reina!

Busses: easy and reliable. There are passes, but we just tapped to pay on the bus for a single ticket at £2 (most trips, but never more). People on the bus and drivers were very helpful, if we appeared to have a question about a stop. Google Maps never steered us wrong.

Conclusions: Chichester was delightful - lots of history, lodging, restaurants, transportation options, and people but no crowds. Easy to reach from London and well worth at least a few days.

Next up for me - Ireland for the ORIGINAL plan. Ha!

Brilliant! Deep dive stuff, places I've never heard of. Goodwood interests me for the motor racing and that's where they make Rolls Royces these days!

Racing is great. I used to live right by Hamilton Park racecourse in Scotland and could see the horses from my kitchen window. I went several times to meetings, just dressed casual and betting no more than £20 or so.

GerryM, I would love to take credit for the research but my friend did most of it. Ha! My job this time was, when asked, to say “absolutely, I want to go!” (Because it was great stuff!) I did find the apartment though.

The racing was interesting. Not knowing what I was doing, I chose the middle “level” of enclosure - people were there in everything from shorts to suits (men) and pants to shiny prom dresses (women). Quite an array! I think next time I would go for the top level and be closer to the finish line and higher up. But I was nervous about the dress code for that one…..I would have been fine, but live and learn! Edit: I did see the car racing and the Rolls Royce entry from the road.

This sounds like a dream stop to me! Thanks for sharing. I’m going to file this under Just Might Do Some Day.

Thanks, Carroll! We were a little early for the Festival of Flowers and the Chichester Festival Theater. There was also some different theater on while we were there that we missed.

Is your friend with the info a local? Several of your stops I've never heard of but sound quite interesting.

How did you find it on the "living like a local" front? You must have been getting quite used to Chichester life after seven days.

Lol, no, just a very good trip planner (a fellow forum member).

And I am so glad you asked the question because I have been wanting to figure out a way to talk about this part of the week.

Not quite living like a local, but it would be hard to count how many conversations we had with actual locals. That WE did not initiate. People were so friendly and interested in us (beginning with our accents as we talked to each other), and it went from there.
Maybe we talked about flowers, then their gardens, then rain, then…..
Or our accents, then their accents, then where they grew up, how husband and wife met, ……
Or what we were doing in Chichester, what we thought, what they were doing on their Sunday, where the gardening store was, ……
Or where were we going next, oh, she used to work in Ireland, travel, the state of the medical field, …… Or, I like your dress, he chose it, concerts, what concerts we all had tickets for…..

I think maybe because it’s a smaller town, and not too crowded with Americans, and maybe because we weren’t pushy but easy to talk to? Or basically because people were just nice! Not a day passed that we didn’t meet and talk to new people - even the security guard at the filming of The Repair Shop. Lol. So actually, this was the best part of the week for me.

Yes it's not difficult to meet people in the UK and Ireland, especially in rural parts and small towns. So glad you had such positive experiences you can talk about!

Is your friend with the info a local?

I wish I were still a local. That's been decades ago now, when Chichester would have been a day trip. But I'm not sure if I ever went there. Arundel yes, I have postcards to jog my memory.

For Chichester, I started with a favorite online source:

https://www.thecrazytourist.com/15-best-things-to-do-in-chichester-west-sussex-england/

I often use Crazy Tourist to kick start my research. I count the number of "key" places from their Top 15 that interest me, and that gives me a good idea how many days to begin my planning with. Smaller sights fill in my afternoons. We hit about 10 on their Chichester list.

After using this same resource across quite a few trips, I've gotten pretty good at using it to estimate how long I'll be content in a place.

West Dean Gardens was another winner for a sunny afternoon. Lots of spring flowers in bloom in mid May. It combined nicely with a morning at Weald and Downland Museum, a stop or two apart on the same bus line.

Yeah well done on the planning front. It sounds like you got some nice places to visit that people might not think of. It's the benefit of staying in one place for a while. England is full of little gems of interest that you can visit if you're focussed on one region.

It's an area that interests me. I've never been to Chichester or Rochester and I'm interested in further up into the Thames Estuary too. There's some quite remote places on the Kent and Essex sides.

It's the benefit of staying in one place for a while

It's so true. And I can be so happy with a local history museum, a pretty garden and a beautiful Cathedral. Even better that Chichester has all those and more nearby!

It helps that it's so easy to get around. Hopping on a bus and tap to pay makes getting there painless.

I had forgotten - I had Rochester on a tentative list in 2018, but didn't get there. A good reminder that maybe it needs to go back on a list for the future.

I've absolutely enjoyed my visits to Chichester.
It's perfect for taking the train to Portsmouth for visits to the Mary Rose Museum and the #60 bus to the Weald and Downland Museum. Back in 2018 I geeked out on W&D building & running a charcoal clamp and producing a batch of charcoal. Then watched their smith doing work for the TV show The Repair Shop during series 3 filming. And left from Chichester to take the ferry from Portsmouth to Cherbourg. It was the city I returned to see how well I'd handle travel back in October 2023, after my accident.

Anyone considering a visit I do recommend accommodation through the Chichester Cathedral and I took breakfast at Trading Post Coffee Roasters.

PS - coincidentally I was having my late evening coffee in my Chichester Cathedral coffee mug.

Only time I've been to West Sussex to visit Brighton quite some time ago. | had to look on the map to see where Goodwood was in relation to Chichester, and where exactly Chichester was tbh :) I've got Kent and Essex on the brain because I'm so close and haven't seen much. Need to get out of London more!

If anyone wants to click the link, have a look at Weald and Downland Living Museum. Looks like a really interesting day out
https://www.wealddown.co.uk/

There's some quite remote places on the Kent and Essex sides.

That is so true. I lived in commuter belt at Southend (the genteel side at Westcliff, not the brash more classically seaside resort side with the arcades etc) for 10 years when working in London. But getting out into the countryside of Essex and Suffolk at the weekend I was often struck by how remote and how lovely parts of Essex were.

I am just loving TTM's and CWSocial's trip reports of what sounds like a wonderful week in a part of the UK so often by passed by foreign tourists- but an area I know quite well. Actually bringing back a lot of very happy memories for me. We had a thread a while ago on "the parts of the UK tourists miss" or something like that. This trip exemplifies that to a T.

If I was doing hated split shifts at a weekend (so was already in London by breakfast time on a Saturday or Sunday) I would often nip down to the south coast (I am being broad there) on my Network Railcard (or to the North Downs on my annual travelcard even, as by bus from a Zone 6 station lots of the North Downs are in TfL territory, or very close to it) for what remained of the day, between the split.

I've never been there, but I'm intrigued by the idea of The Isle of Sheppey. I think I'd need a car. Canvey Island is somewhere that interests me (Dr Feelgood) but I don't think it's much of a destination.

VAP, I remember reading your trip report of your “trial trip”. I love the vision of sipping coffee in your Chichester mug - I usually buy one but had to restrain myself this time. Ha! Interesting maybe-fact: one pub worker told us that the Cathedral owns most of the property within the walls. We didn’t ask for a translation to practicality, except about that particular pub.

Gerry & isn31c, I am loving this dialogue. There are small pockets of England I would like to get to and do it slowly. I have the luxury of having been to a number of the more well-known (here) locations, albeit not in depth. I liked this way of travel and think it bears repeating.

I think James from Wales began that referenced thread, in case anyone is looking. Yep, I bookmarked it.
https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/england/the-places-that-the-north-americans-have-never-heard-of

There are small pockets of England I would like to get to and do it slowly.

I think the less well trodden parts of Kent and Essex would warrant a thread of their own at some point. Even the densely populated towns have been there for a loooong time and would have interest for the traces of history they have.

I think Kent should have one thread and Essex (with it's hazy border for the south of Suffolk another).

Very well volunteered, Gerry !! More seriously though that would be good for someone to do.

Oh my, you two are just trying to find new ways to tempt us back to England, aren't you?!? I think the en vogue word right now is "enablers." As in, enabling our travel addictions!!

I can't wait to read whatever you might like to write!!

I'm going to Nairn in a couple of weeks, but after that I may get some help to do a few days away from home in Kent and / or Essex. I'm sure Stuart know a lot more than me about this region, but I'd be interested in having a conversation about it.

I was thinking about this and it occurred to me... you could write a trip report! Only it would be about places near-ish home for you.... what I did this week within 2 hours of my own house.

That could be really cool!

I also have a very travel heavy 3 weeks coming up. Next week is again commuting daily from Cumbria to Manchester all week.

The week after that is a here, there and everywhere week in Cumbria and then week 3 is Cumbria to Andover via St Andrew's and back to Cumbria in 2 days midweek, squeezed round meetings on Monday and Thursday back in Cumbria.

Gracious me, you're going to need a vacation!!

Oh, you guys, this looks like a dream come true! CW, thank you for the heads up about Crazy Tourist. That looks really interesting! I love places like this where there’s not a lot of crowds and there are fun things to see. It just sounds like a dream come true.

One of these days I’m going to make my way over there and plant myself for 3 to 6 months and visit all the places like Chichester and Arundel.

Oh my, you two are just trying to find new ways to tempt us back to England, aren't you?!?...

They don't have try too hard to find new ways, I'll be back!

I go to sleep and all kinds of plans happen. Lol. I had a few days in Canterbury in 2018 - and am very interested in more of Kent, in particular. I think I would need to stay at least 2 weeks. I can’t say “next time” because I think it will just pop up at the right time. But I CAN say “some time”. So get that thread going! Ha!

I was thinking about this and it occurred to me... you could write a trip report! Only it would be about places near-ish home for you.... what I did this week within 2 hours of my own house. That could be really cool!

Excellent idea, CW! Gerry, please do! I would love to hear about places like this.

I was thinking about this and it occurred to me... you could write a trip report! Only it would be about places near-ish home for you.... what I did this week within 2 hours of my own house. That could be really cool!

In my case that would be extraordinarily uninteresting and really shows the difference between this ongoing question of "living like a local" and being a tourist/visitor. It would be more boring than watching paint dry.

The week after next is a case in point. One thing is the length of journeys (you would struggle to keep up with me). But also I am focussed on going from Point A to Point B as swiftly and efficiently as possible.
So that week, amongst others-
1.-Trip to a place called Warden, near Hexham. I have things to do at Warden then need to visit Hexham Cemetery and (if I can squeeze it in, Hexham old an new Hospitals- not for anything medical). Each way that is a near enough a 4 hour journey, there is zero tourist interest that day and I am actually bypassing lots of places that are of tourist interest including the next door village of Newborough.
The only interesting thing is I might get to Evensong at Carlisle Cathedral on the way home. That trip may actually have to be diverted to Featherstone Castle- but not for the Castle, rather to look at a gatepost (!!) and an allegedly collapsing monument in the middle of a remote field.

2- Trip to Sedbergh- I have a village Church to visit in the middle of nowhere and need to visit the Methodist Church in the town. There are 3 or 4 places a tourist would go to on the way, and at Sedbergh they might visit the Parish Church (for the tapestry) or the Public School, the craft and book shops in town or Farfield Mill or follow the Quakers trail locally (there isn't a formal trail, but a lot of Quaker history and sites). On the way back I shoot through the interesting town of Kendal in 10 minutes flat (a tourist could spend the day there), and through Keswick in under half an hour (just a PNB stop). That is about 4 to 4 1/2 hours each way.
3- Trip to Skirwith for lunch at the Village Hall- lunch is a by product of it being the only day each month I can access the village hall to look at something not of the slightest interest to a tourist. 3 hours each way. As a local I just go there and back. As a tourist there is a lot else you would do on the way- none of which I need to visit currently- including Acorn Bank watermill, gardens and house. I go straight past the front door, and then wind back through the Eden Valley.
Outbound I have a 5 minute stop in Penrith- a tourist would spend hours there.

I've been following this thread since I have a very dear friend that lives in Chichester and we spent several days with them last summer before walking the Cotswold Way together. We did touristy things like attending Matins at the Cathedral, walking to the locks and then on to the beach, attending a play, and visiting the Roman Palace at Fishbourne. During previous visits we've attended an apple festival at West Dean, a play at the Chichester Festival Theatre, walking to Bosham to see the tapestry, and gone down to Portsmouth for the day.

However, I find it equally interesting to be part of their daily lives--attending a service to honor the dead at the church where one of their daughters is buried, visiting their allotment to see what they have growing, a trip to Lidl and trying to decide if it's the same as Aldi (apparently not), a talk at their library by an author who is also doing a rewilding project, seeing a movie at their local small cinema where they volunteer, and a sparkling water and elderberry syrup tasting in their conservatory to see if we could taste the difference between syrups made with two different color flowers. And we've had equally interesting experiences when they've come to visit and done things that are part of our daily lives. Visiting both Trader Joe's and Costco in one day comes to mind. :-)

I guess what I'm saying is that if you're a visitor/tourist with a sense of curiosity, then just about anything can be interesting. In reading your account Stuart, I wondered if this is part of your job, and if so, what it is that you do. I'd be happy to look at gateposts, monuments (collapsing or not), small churches in the middle of nowhere, and a lot of other things, some of which we did do as we walked the Cotswold Way. I probably should have majored in cultural anthropology, but since my university days are behind me, I travel, read, and talk to people instead. And the whole idea of getting off the beaten path is helping shape my plans for next year's trip.

Wonderful to read this! I like Chichester a lot, and i absolutely love Goodwood.
Dear friends who i often stay with live very close by on the beach in Pagham.
It’s also very quick and easy to get to Arundel from Chichester. And for anyone reading this, the little village of Bosham on the coast is lovely. It’s just 2 miles from Chichester.

@Leslie- I am at risk of derailing TTM's thread which I don't want to do. But yes it is part of my "job" (in quotes- as it is unpaid) recording war memorials. The Castle was used as a Prisoner of War camp during WW2 and what is on this gatepost is a tablet recording that fact. The last condition report I have seen dates from 2005 so it is well overdue a visit.

I didn't think I could physically get there by bus, but when Mardee was on the wall a few weeks ago it came to light that there is a foot bridge across the River Tyne from Haltwhistle which gives access to a cycleway on a closed road to the Castle (a 4 mile riverside walk), then there is the bus back to Birdoswald Roman Fort. The monument relates to a son of the family of the Castle who died in WW1. It was placed in this field (on the Maiden Way- a Roman road from Kirkby Thore in Westmorland to Carvoran- which is now the Roman Army Museum) as that is where he said farewell to his wife and sons, as he went to war- never to return. When Mardee was here the approach to the bridge access also had the most wonderful daffodil display. My London office have been notified of the dire state of the memorial.

The Maiden Way was later used as a Drovers Road, and part of it is now on the route of the long distance walk The Pennine Way. Years ago I went to the monument when I walked the Pennine Way. Visitors to Hadrian's wall never have enough time to explore secondary matters like that (nor do any guide books mention them). At Kirkby Thore there is an impressive surviving Roman milestone which everyone drives past on the A66 without seeing. I would imagine that the Maiden Way is the kind of place that Peter Carney (Rick's recommended guide) would take you to. But generally off piste and very minor places like this (with or without a guide) is what a local knows of. And where a local would take you to if you had time. In the same way as no one on this forum seems to go to Bewcastle, but that should be a part of a visit to the Wall for anyone with a car, or who engages a guide. Google if you want to know why. When Mardee was here it very, very seriously crossed my mind to take her (and Sarah) to Bewcastle when we diverted to Lanercost. I would then have taken them on to Newcastleton (a planned village built after the Clearances) on a wide circle to Brampton- I was just way too fatigued on the day. The Clearances were more than a Highland matter where they are most often associated with.

Likewise Hexham Hospital (the old one, now demolished) was a war memorial hospital. The new one isn't but the war memorial boards have been relocated there. When Mardee was here, my preparations for her visit reminded me of that outstanding need to check on them. It also brought to light that my pictures of the memorial stone at the site of the Old Hospital have vanished off the system.

Back to TTM now, and normal business.

Well I am having great fun reading all this - even though I am long gone!

Stuart, that's a fascinating story. I remember talking about it but this gives so much more information. Thanks for sharing it!

Thank you Stuart for such a thorough and fascinating reply. Already looking into Bewcastle and Hadrian's Wall for our 2027 trip!

Thanks for posting an interesting trip report. Now I want to go to Chichester!

How did you like Fishbourne? I wanted to include it on our last trip, but couldn't make it work with our schedule - plus Covid!

How did you like Fishbourne

Apart from seeing the mosaics from one wing of the palace at Fishbourne, I loved the story about how the town came together with painstaking, laborious volunteer time to unearth them. And it's fascinating to know there is so much more history, some of which they've reburied for protection.

There's also a really nice exhibit showing the layers of history, among which were found layers of mosaics from different eras of construction and renovation of the palace.

How did you like Fishbourne?

I like mosaics, but am less of a museum person than CWSocial, and I really liked it as well. It’s not huge, so it isn’t a long stop - we probably spent a couple of hours. Lots of signage and lots more underground that hasn’t yet been excavated but you can see the scope of it.

It had a nice car park if you are driving, but we took the 56 bus from Chichester and had a 3/10 mile walk from the Roman Way stop. When we left, we took the 700 bus with a 5/10 mile walk to the Salthill Road stop - on to the Bosham stop (but not into Bosham town) and then on to Emsworth).

Excellent trip report with lots of great information!
Thank you for posting it.

I've never heard of this, but the opening service last night has just cropped up in my You Tube Feed-

The ***Southern Cathedrals Festival* (a festival of sacred music) happens at this time in July every year, rotating between Winchester, Chichester and Salisbury Cathedrals- https://southerncathedralsfestival.org.uk/

The equivalent of the better known (to me) Three Choirs Festival which rotates between Hereford, Gloucester and Worcester Cathedrals in late July- I know that one because of it's strong links to Edward Elgar and Ralph Vaughan Williams

Thanks for the info on the choral festivals - this is going on my list of reference information. I don’t know that I would plan to be back in England in July; but if I am, one (or both) of these would make a great focus to plan a trip around.

Enjoyed reading about Chichester. Did you use Google Maps to figure out what bus you needed?

I sure did! We took Uber to and from Goodwood House, buses everywhere else nearby, trains to some Arundel and Winchester/Basingstoke.

The 700 Coastliner bus was pretty handy to a lot of the villages and sights. And on all the buses we could simply tap credit cards to pay.

Thank you CW!

And other reason to have data - we could follow along on Google Maps to see where we were relative to where we needed to get off. So no worries on missing our stop.

Well, no worries if "we" were paying attention. Which sometimes "we" weren't, so it's a good thing that 1 of "we" (not me) was!!

I am laughing a lot.