Manhood Peninsula: Sidlesham, Witterings

Today, a friend and I made a circuit of the Manhood Peninsula, that is, the area between Chichester and Selsey. We loaded our bikes onto my Thule cycle carrier (once I remembered how it works) and drove down and parked at the RSPB Visitor Centre at Sidlesham. Parking is free, but if you intend getting back late, don't park in the overflow car park since this is locked around 6pm. A map of our route is below.

We followed tracks and quiet roads most of the way. We entered the new reserve at Medmerry via the gate near Earnley, then followed the track along the embankment down to the shingle bund on the beach. Avocets were nesting on the pools. A track behind this bund avoided the unrideable shingle on the top, but eventually we had to push our way along the shingle till a footpath gave access to the residential road behind.

This brought us to Bracklesham, where we stopped for lunch at Billy's on the Beach, a recently refurbished cafe overlooking the Solent. Then we pressed on along the sea front to West Wittering, covering the last few hundred yards along the hard sand beach, which was fun. From here we picked up the Salterns Way to our next stop for tea at the Boat House Cafe at Chichester Marina.

Our pace had been somewhat leisurely, so we decided to shorten the route, missing out Chichester itself, instead making a direct cut to Hunston along the Chichester Canal: the canal website makes clear that cycling is permitted. The path is rather narrow but has a good surface.

From North Mundham we returned to our car along the signed cycle route 88, which ambles pleasantly along quiet country lanes, in contrast to the very busy main road alternatives.