South Downs B&B, Midhurst, England

Planet

Living in The Downs being in touch with nature is part and parcel of everyday life. We put tremendous effort into maintaining our garden so we and our guests can enjoy its serenity. We are surrounded by a three or four foot well trimmed hedge and other plants so the manicured lawn feels like a real haven. With the hose-pipe ban water conservation is integral for the upkeep of the garden and I collect water from a rain butt positioned on the shed. My hanging baskets are beautiful. They are arranged by the experts at the Rotherhill Nursey who each year provide me with a lovely selection of bulbs that bloom into stunning flowers. We have also introduced all the modern necessary amenities into the business to make our negative environmental impact decrease – we have half-flush facilities on all our toilets, recycle all waste and compost natural materials into compost for use on in the garden.

As we welcome a lot of walkers it is important to note that you do not need to travel here via car. We are on the bus route from Chichester and many people like to get off at Cocking – just under 3 miles away – and enjoy a relaxing amble to Midhurst. On this route if you take a left off the main road onto Pitsham Lane you are suddenly onto winding country-lanes surrounded by woodland. This is always a perfect start to a trip to the countryside.

People

My wife runs a local woman’s fashion shop, Stepping Out. It has been described as an Aladdin’s Cave as it is quite small but manages to stock a lot of very unique and bespoke attire. In this way she buys clothes from and supports many local artisan designers. Via the shop we endeavour to support some local charities and we collect in a money box and sponsor people doing events for charity. Recently we have been supporting Dreams come true – a charity that allows ill children to experience some joy in their life and go on a trip of a life-time (swimming with dolphins for example).

Any visitors to Midhurst should of course experience the atmosphere (and sample the ales and food) at one of our many local pubs. Our favourite is the Wheatsheaf. As we effectively offer self-catering accommodation we also recommend our local butchers, Edwards, so guests can cook themselves a tasty lunch and dinner/support our local businesses (obviously the butchers source their meat from local farmers so it really does do a lot of good).