Friends of Centurion Way

The South Downs National Park Authority are opening a new route through to Singleton Station and beyond to Cucumber Hill.

Please follow this “Full Seam Ahead” link to navigate to the official South Downs National Park Authority introduction to their event.

On the weekend of the 23^rd and 24^th August from 10am to 2pm, a small team from the National Park will be based at Singleton Station. They will be able to answer any questions and share ideas for days-out in the area and onward connections with the rights of way network.

Please be aware that there is no car parking at the Singleton Station site and people are encouraged to walk, cycle or use public transport. The 60 Bus Route runs regular services with stops nearby along the A286.

To find Singleton station, Ian Swann (Chair of FoCW) advises:

• Opposite the main West Dean College entrance (with grand wrought iron gates) is a “Biomass Boiler” and entrance to the Scout Hut.
• From here you can join the former rail bed and then cycle onward to Singleton Station.

The Google map shown below is for reference only, just to show where Singleton Station is located.
Currently, the Google map direction algorithm is giving incorrect guidance and leading people astray from reaching the station.
However, the Google map below does show the correct location but it is best to follow Ian’s written advice above on how to reach the station safely.

For more information see the link below to the official South Downs National Park webpage about the project.

Centurion Way Extension Project – Frequently Asked Questions – South Downs National Park Authority

FoCW will hold an invitation only official opening of the reinstated archway that will take place on the 20th August 2025. Afterwards, South Downs National Park Authority will hold another invitation only opening event. This will be for the Centurion Way route extension to Singleton Station and beyond.

Ian Swann (Chairman of FoCW) provides the following details about these events:

Dear Friends and Supporters,

We are honoured to welcome the Mayor of Chichester, Sean McHale and the Mayoress to celebrate the formal opening of the Centurion Way Arch at 10:30 on August 20th 2025.

• The Arch is situated on Centurion Way just to the north of the rail crossing bridge near Bishop Luffa School

Following the Arch opening we welcome all invitees to ride with us (or make their way on foot or by bus etc.) to the “Biomass Boiler” / Scout Hut entrance opposite the main West Dean College entrance (with grand wrought iron gates).

• From here we will join the former rail bed and cycle onward to Singleton Station for 12:45 for the official opening ceremony and ribbon cutting by the Deputy Lieutenant of West Sussex when we will ride through.

Plan:

• 10:15 Muster at Arch Aug 20
• 10:30 Ribbon cut (Mayor Sean McHale)
• 10:45 Depart for West Dean – Group ride
• 11:50 lunch (bring sandwiches or: WD café, Selsey Arms, WD College Café, Weald & Downland café, Partridge pub)

o            Multiple options for taste / prevention of overload of one venue

• 12:30 depart from lunch
• 12:45 Singleton Station for ride through and light refreshments

o            Access West Dean via biomass boiler / scout hut drive (opposite West Dean College main entrance)

Yours sincerely

Ian Swann (Chair)

 

The Arch is now restored near to Bishop Luffa School with an exotic new livery emphasising the sculptures!

The team from Peter Clutterbuck Blacksmiths and Balfour Beatty started at just after 8 o’clock today, March 13th 2025, and erected the refurbished sculpture and structure with minimal disruption.  Tomorrow should see the final concrete and soil infilled to complete the process.

View of The Arch looking north:  showing the new joining bracket with the reinstallation date of 2025 facing south and the original 1995 installation date facing north

Carley Sitwell and Sarah Sharp eagerly watched the installation progress. They both spoke on camera in the following two videos. There was a lot of construction noise in the first location so we made a second recording taken further South on the path. Both videos are included below. They both cover the similar points but with less background noise in the second recording.

Centurion Way Gateway Arch Restoration and Installation Take1

Centurion Way Gateway Arch Restoration and Installation Take2

Images of the installation work in progress are available in the following gallery.

1 2 ►

Last week brought panic and a flurry of activity. Indeed, concerns from WSCC, lamp-post companies and also with issues of excessive cutting of nearby tree roots, caused doubts that the project could proceed at all.

Julia Smith and Carley Sitwell have now skilfully negotiated an alternative site, about 50 meters further North along the path, where the restored Archway can be installed.

This alternative location appears to keeps everyone happy – Bishop Luffa school, Miller-Linden developers, WSCC, Balfour Beatty and tree wardens. It’s in a clearing where the sun shines down! It really looks a good location!!

The Archway project also benefits from Chichester City Council kindly granting an additional £900 funding.

The new location is already being excavated in readiness for installation of the footings.

Carley has recently visited Peter Clutterbuck’s forge in Southsea and met with the SDNPA.

Julia Smith describes progress as “Exciting!!”.

WSCC and the lamp-post companies have decided the archway can no longer be reinstated in its original position. The concern seems to be about space needed to maintain the lamps (presumably changing the bulbs) and potential damage to the lighting cables when installing the new footings.

In addition, excavations around the remaining “archway boot” on Bishop Luffa’s land, reveal there is too much embedded concrete to contend with and too many tree roots to cut. It also seems impossible to reinstate the archway in its original position without dangerously weakening the surrounding tree roots.

As all our plans to reinstate the Archway hinge on us having obtained planning permission to re-erect the arch in its original position, it looks doubtful the project can proceed.

This is a disaster as Southsea blacksmith Peter Clutterbuck has almost finished his work reconstructing and rebuilding the arch.

We are now considering if the newly restored Archway could instead be erected in Carley Sitwell or Julia Smith’s garden because we now lack permission for it to be installed on a public site.

Work has started today on the footings for the renovated Centurion Way arch at the railway bridge with our WSCC appointed contractors. It has taken five years of work and fundraising to get to this point. Super exciting! The concrete footings will take three weeks to set and so we are on track to get the arch restored, gilded and back up in March. In conjunction with the South Downs National Park, plans for an information board are in progress and will follow.

We are still fundraising so if you can support please donate via GoFundMe at https://gofund.me/c039016c

Centurion Way is now the permanent home of a scale model of the Solar System

For those that remember, back in 2021 there was a temporary scale model of the solar system along Centurion Way…well it’s back, and this time permanently!

Starting with The Sun, just under the bridge at Brandy Hole copse and finishing with Pluto, by the slope down to West Dean, this 6.5km route has markers placed for each planet, at the distance they would be in relation to each other at a scale of ~928,000,000:1.

On top of each marker is a QR code which takes you to the interactive ‘Centurion Way Solar System Scale Model’ website, which has pictures of each celestial body to the same scale, as well as lots of fun facts.

It’s a great way to encourage kids interested in space to go out on a walk or for a cycle, and to appreciate relatively just how far away the planets are from the Sun, and us!

More details are available on the following website.

https://solarsystem.eastbroyle.org/

Images of parts of the Solar System model installation are shown below

Ian Swann and I paid a visit to Peter’s forge/workshop last week with Richard Farrington, the original arch sculptor. It was such an amazing feeling walking down a narrow alleyway behind Osborne Road in Southsea and entering a tiny courtyard full of old bits of metal of many sizes, to find the two

key people of the Arch Restoration Project comfortably chatting away in the sunlight discussing the finer details of the arch construction. I had been looking forward to this visit ever since the FOCW had engaged Peter Clutterbuck to carry out the reconstruction of Richard Farrington’s original Gateway Arch to Centurion Way in November 2022.

It was an exciting and really interesting morning and lovely to meet Peter’s team of two, John Duffield and Patrick Mannerings, (not forgetting Mouse the long haired dachshund) who assist Peter in the creation an exceptional variety of structures in such an amazingly small space. There are so many examples of their work all over Portsmouth, in the surrounding areas of Hampshire and much further afield.
Do have a look at their website, Peter Clutterbuck Blacksmiths – https://peteclutterbuck.co.uk . We are very lucky to have such a competent and inspirational team restoring the Centurion Way Arch.

Carley Sitwell

Below is a picture of Carley Sitwell with Richard Farrington (Sculptor and creator of the original archway), Peter Clutterbuck (designer craft blacksmith restoring the Archway), John Duffield and Patrick Mannerings (Peters team of forge blacksmiths).

Below are examples of some of their work