Trotton bed & breakfast, South Downs

Planet

The house was originally a 60’s bungalow that we extended by building a 2 story extension on the side of 6 years ago. The extension needed to be in keeping with the original part of the house. The bricks that were used to make the bungalow were made locally in those days; they are no longer that commonly made in the area so we had to the bricks for the house especially made. We also made sure to use hanging tiles that match the bungalow and the rest of the houses in the area.

We have a small garden surrounded by big fields; there are moles living in our garden and deer and pheasants sometimes wander in as well. Birds come and eat the bird feed that we put out and squirrels also follow suit. You often see gold finches, woodpeckers, all kinds of tits and a variety of very small sized birds that are very pretty. We have some bramley apple trees in the garden and I make my own apple chutney using these. I also grow my own tomatoes.

There is a bridle path that comes very close to the house so it’s easy for people to walk or cycle here. I like to encourage walkers to stay with us, so I am happy to take people from their starting point and pick them up at the finish if they're walking along the South Downs Way for instance.

We do our bit by composting and recycling and we installed wood-burners for heating in order to save on oil.

People

The local community is rather nice, but is a bit of a spread out farming community. The local pub hosts a meal for a special price of £10 on the first Friday of the month to encourage us to meet up and bring us all together which is nice. We also have a local annual fate at the big house and there is a charity plastic duck race in the river. My husband is a parish counsellor and I drive the community bus on Fridays. The community bus is a free charity bus service for the elderly that takes them to and from Midhurst as it’s not that easy to get out of the village without transport.

There are some nice local pubs in the area. The Three Horses in Elsted is really old with a lovely garden that has a beautiful view as it looks out onto the downs. There’s another pub called the White Horse Inn in Rogate which I’d also recommend.

We go to Midhurst for our food where we use the local butcher and other shops. There is a farm nearby where we drive up to the wooden shed in the drive, leave our money and get our eggs.

There are plenty of activities to do in this area of the South Downs National Park. Getting out into the open air and walking the South Downs Way is a fulfilling activity as you see the landscape surrounding you. Other attractions include National Trust properties such as Uppark House and Gardens or head to the historic market town of Midhurst and visit Cowdray Ruins and Cowdray Park. Goodwood race course hosts various festivals or you can watch the races, play golf and even get married there. In Singleton there is the Weald and Downland Open Air Museum that has over 45 agricultural buildings and old houses dating back to Victorian times that you walk between; this is a nice activity and a good walk as well.