A glorious circular walk that combines beautiful (and rare) lowland heath, the imposing scarp slope of the Downs and rolling agricultural land in-between. What’s more, August is the best time to be out exploring our heaths, as the heather will be a blazing carpet of purple. From the car park at Iping Common, the route first heads across Mitchell’s Common to Minstead. It then turns towards the villages of Didling and Treyford at the foot of Downs. Both are famous for their churches – Didling. for its tiny shepherds’ church and Treyford for its two lost churches. The pretty village of Elsted provides the perfect lunch spot: a picnic beside the village cricket pitch with views over the Coombe, followed by a quick drink in the beautiful garden of the Three Horseshoes pub, overlooking Beacon and Pen Hills. Drunk on spectacular views, you will be pleased to know the afternoon route, via Dumpford and Iping Common, is easy-going and shorter than the morning.