The Serpent Trail & the western heaths

Everyone knows the chalk Downs to the south of us. Fewer visitors realise that the low, sandy hills to the west and north are something rarer still: lowland heath, a habitat now scarcer in Britain than tropical rainforest is worldwide. The greensand ridges around Midhurst carry some of the best of what remains, and the Serpent Trail exists to show it off — a 64-mile route that winds, snake-fashion, from Haslemere down to Petersfield, looping through the heaths of the western Weald. Several of its finest stretches are within a couple of miles of the estate, so you can sample it in an afternoon rather than a week.

About two miles west of Midhurst, either side of the Elsted road, lie Iping and Stedham Commons — a Site of Special Scientific Interest cared for by the Sussex Wildlife Trust, with a small car park on the road between the two. This is open, rolling heather country, crossed by pale sandy paths that dry out within an hour of rain. In late July and August the whole common turns purple and hums with bees; in winter it is all rust and silver birch and enormous skies.

For birdwatchers this is one of the best patches in West Sussex, and it rewards timing:

• Nightjar — the heath's headline act. Arrive on a warm, still evening in June or July, wait for the light to die, and listen for the strange mechanical churring starting up from the gorse; with luck a male will float past on stiff wings, white wing-flashes catching the last of the light. It is a genuinely eerie, wonderful experience.
• Woodlark — singing sweetly over the heath from late winter onwards, one of the loveliest songs in Britain.
• Dartford warbler — a scratchy song and a long-tailed silhouette on top of a gorse bush, resident all year but easiest in spring.
• Stonechats, tree pipits and hobbies fill out the summer cast.

In late June and early July look down as well as up: the commons are a stronghold of the silver-studded blue, a small heathland butterfly that emerges in hundreds and rarely flies more than a few yards from the heather it grew up on.

North-west of Midhurst the National Trust looks after two very different Woolbedings. Woolbeding Common is open access — high heathland with sunset views across to Blackdown, the highest point in Sussex, and a fine place for an evening walk at any time of year. Woolbeding Gardens, down by the Rother, is a different proposition: an immaculate modern garden around a private house, open only on Thursdays and Fridays from late April to late September, and by advance booking only. There is no parking at the garden — visitors book a slot, park at the Grange car park in Midhurst and ride the Trust's free minibus. It sells out, so plan ahead; it is worth it.

• Dogs — welcome, but the heath's special birds all nest on or near the ground, so keep dogs on the paths and on leads from March to September. Adders live here too and bask on sunny paths in spring — another reason to keep noses out of the heather.
• Underfoot — sandy and quick-draining; this is the walk to choose the day after heavy rain, when the chalk is a skating rink.
• Waymarking — the Serpent Trail is marked with a purple serpent logo; short circular walks from the Iping Common car park are easy to improvise.
• From the estate — the heaths make an easy morning by bike, and the same families of heathland birds turn up around our own hides, so an evening on the common pairs well with a dawn in a hide.