Join us on a winter walk around the village of West Dean in West Sussex, and the rolling countryside of the South Downs. West Dean is located approximately 6 miles north of Chichester.

Due to its cinematic nature, this video is best watched on a large screen, such as a TV, to fully appreciate the visual detail and immersive aural experience we try to convey.

00:00 Intro
00:16 Intro drone flight
01:07 West Dean village
03:09 River Lavant
03:51 St Andrew's church
06:00 Up the downs
07:45 River Lavant - downstream
09:37 Centurion Way
11:01 More bucolic scenes
12:18 Back to the village
13:13 Outro drone flight
13:44 Outro

==Our filming equipment==
Camera: Sony A7S iii
Lens: Sony FE 16-35mm F4 G PZ
Gimbal: DJI Ronin SC2
Microphone: Sony ECM-XYST1M stereo
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Camera: Sony A7 iv
Lens: Sony FE 100-400 F4.5 GM
Monopod: 3LT Legends Alana
Microphone: Sony ECM-XYST1M stereo
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Camera: Sony RX10 iv
Tripod: Manfrotto MT190GOC4 190 Go!
Tripod head: Manfrotto 500 Fluid Head With Flat Base
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Drone: DJI Mini 3 Pro
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West Dean is possibly best known, these days, for its gardens and college. It does, however, have history dating back to Norman times when, in 1086, it was listed as a manor with hunting grounds in the Domesday Book. In C17, a Jacobean style manor house, West Dean House, was built beside the medieval church of St Andrew. In the early C19, the house was enlarged, and landscaping of the park and major planting of the arboretum took place. Having gone through various owners, in the 1970s, the house became West Dean College, and opened as a centre for education and training in conservation, and in the visual and applied arts. More information may be found here https://www.westdean.ac.uk/founder.

We did not visit the gardens, but more information may be found here https://www.westdean.ac.uk/gardens/.

St Andrew's church dates back to the C11, most likely pre-conquest. As with all buildings of such longevity, it has undergone many modifications and updates over the centuries. More information may be found here https://sussexparishchurches.org/chur....

We started our walk in the vicinity of the church and college. We are respectful of people's privacy, so the drone shots of the college itself do not show the house in detail. From the church, we wandered around the lanes that make up this delightful West Sussex village, and then along the River Lavant. We are happy to advise that the village store is a treasure trove of traditional delights and everyday staples!

Leaving the village, we headed south up the north side of the South Downs. Here there are wonderful downland views, so typical of this part of Sussex.

Though not a particularly good video clip, we were pleased to finally capture a Goldcrest 06:10 and again 10:31 (they do not stay still for even a second!). We also saw a Goshawk but were unable to get any usable footage. As you will see from the video, we were treated to a range of birds including Rook, Common Buzzard, Grey heron, Little egret, Blue tit, Great tit and Fieldfare.

At its furthest point, our route took us back to the River Lavant, from where we returned along the Centurion Way. This is now a path, and follows the route of the dismantled Midhurst branch railway line.

Back to the village and a little loop around fields on the north side of the A286. This wooded area was, as was much of our walk, alive with the sound of birdsong, and we hope we successfully captured this for your enjoyment.

Aside from the initial climb out of the village, this walk is fairly easy going, so suitable for most ages and abilities.

We make no apologies for including quite a few clips of our little dog! She is not well, so we need to ensure we make the most of the time we have with her.

All background (excluding the train!) and natural sounds were recorded during our time filming.

We hope you enjoyed watching as much as we enjoyed walking. If you did, please remember to click the thumbs up (like) button, and leave a comment.

For more videos like this, subscribe to our channel (it's free):    / @walkingwithjohnanddiana  

John & Diana

Music: https://bensound.com and https://pixabay.com/music