Dark Skies Festival Reclaim The Night!

Join Rural Strides to Reclaim The Night at this free stargazing event!

Too many long, cold, dark nights are spent indoors when it is perfectly possible to be outside enjoying the night sky and stillness of darkness. So, why not add a little adventure to your weekend plans by joining us for this short, evening walk. Organised to coincide with the SDNP’s 2024 Dark Skies Festival, a night walk is the perfect sensory experience. Deprived of our dominant sense, vision, it is an opportunity to tune into the evening soundscape. You may also be able to pick up on particular night time smells.

Providing there is no cloud cover (always a gamble) Older Hill should also provide the ideal location for some amateur star-gazing. Orion the Hunter is one of the easiest winter constellations to spot thanks to its distinctive Belt.

However, this walk is also about taking us out of our comfort zone and into the woods/across the common after darkness. To make this step into the night as safe and reassuring as possible, the chosen route is short and mostly sandy/flat underfoot. With it being short, it will be perfectly possible to do this walk in welly boots, if you wish. A torch of some description will be a necessity.

No dogs please on this walk.

This event takes place as part of the South Downs Dark Skies Festival 2024.