Time to learn some more old Sussex. ⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ Have you ever heard the word 'bostal'? ⠀ ⠀ If you have, it was probably on a steep lane or path because that's exactly what it is: 'a small path leading to a hill.'⠀⠀ ⠀ 📷 Alex Holden 📍 Butser Hill

The ancient Stopham bridge, near Pulborough, boasts almost six centuries of history. A remarkable example of medieval craftsmanship, it has weathered floods, conflicts, and modern traffic. ⠀ ⠀⠀⠀ 📷 Jamie Fielding

Did you know Sussex has its own dialect? Once widely spoken, it's mostly gone the way of the dinosaurs. ⠀⠀ But we think it's time to bring it back. We're starting with...Dumbledore! Not a wisened wizard but old Sussex for bumblebee! 📷 Jan Knowlson

The official South Downs National Park 2026 Calendar is available now! 😊 And it's a beauty - so many glorious shots of this wonderful landscape and its wildlife. Get your calendar here 👉 www.civicaepay.co.uk/BHCCEstore/e...

There ant no place like Sussex,⠀⠀ Until ye goos above,⠀⠀ For Sussex will be Sussex,⠀⠀ And Sussex won't be druv."⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ Happy #BonfireNight! If taking part in tonight's festivities, have fun and take care. ⠀ ⠀ 📷 Peter Warren ⠀ ⠀ #SouthDowns

Drum roll please! 🥁 Our popular Advent Calendar Quiz is back soon for the chance to win a luxury South Downs hamper! 😊 Sign up now to ensure you're ready to open the first door 🎄 👉 southdownsnationalpark.adventcalendar.com 📷 Ian Brierley

Autumn bliss. 📷 Sam Moore 📍 Foxhole (Cuckmere) Cottages, Seven Sisters

The nights are drawing in fast and that can only mean one thing - it's South Downs dark skies season! 🌙 🎇 Our astrophotography competition returns with the chance to win £250! 🔭 Find out more 👉 www.southdowns.gov.uk/dark-night-s... 📷 Man vs Galaxy by Lorcan Taylor-Hood

As we gear up to the start of Bonfire festivities, be sure to check those wood stacks for hedgehogs. ⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ (and please remind others as well). 📷 Sarah Wolmersley #SouthDowns #BonfireNight

Hands up if this is your kind of morning view?⠀ ⠀ 📷 Evita Bird⠀⠀ 📍 Forestside⠀

Welcome to November! ⠀ ⠀ Did you know Guy Fawkes was once employed as a footman at Cowdray House in Midhurst prior to the Gunpowder Plot? 📷 Carrie Davidson

The big day is finally here...it's the deadline for entries to our photo competition! 🫨 Please email over all your entries before midnight! 🌙 🎃 Thanks to everyone for taking part and best of luck! 👉 www.southdowns.gov.uk/care-for/pho... 📷 Snow on Wolstonbury Hill by Matt Goddard

Happy Halloween 🎃 📷 Jamie Fielding⠀ 📍 Bedham Church ⠀ #SouthDowns #SpookySeason

Ol’ Sary Weaver lived at Upwaltham and was a village wise woman in the 1800s. Local lore tells of her being a witch who could turn herself into a hare. 📷 Richard Murray

Have you taken an amazing wildlife picture in the National Park within the past 10 years? 🦎 🍄 🦉 You could win up to £150 by submitting it to our photo competition! 😊 But don't delay...the deadline is midnight this Friday! 👉 www.southdowns.gov.uk/care-for/pho... 📷Previous winner David Jeffery

Perfectly seasoned for #SpookySeason 📷 Anthony Hurren #SouthDowns

Heathlands hold more than just wildlife… they hold whispers of the past. At Longmoor, some say you can still hear the ghostly tramp of Roman soldiers marching along the old road through the heath. Dare to listen this Halloween? 📷 Ron De'Ath #SouthDowns #SpookySeason

Just four days left to be in with the chance of winning £250 in our prestigious photo competition! 📷 If you've never entered before, why not give it a go?! 😉 The deadline is midnight, this Friday! 👉 www.southdowns.gov.uk/care-for/pho... 📷 Devil's Dyke by Andy Flowerday, a previous winner

High above Treyford you’ll find the mysterious Devil’s Jumps – five ancient burial mounds steeped in folklore. 📷 Oliver Gammon

Bepton New Barn. Nature reclaiming spaces once settled by people is a common sight in the South Downs, offering a glimpse into past interactions with the landscape 📷 Anne Purkiss #SouthDowns #SpookySeason

Halnaker tree tunnel is a natural cathedral of colour. Once part of the old Roman road, there's no better place to soak up the beauty of the season. 📷 Mark Rowe #SouthDowns #AutumnBliss

Do you know the legend of Ascapart? According to the saga, Ascapart was 30ft tall but the smallest of his land and was defeated after his club – made from a whole tree – was swung at Sir Bevis of Hampton and became stuck in soft ground. 📷 Mark Antony Haden Ford

#TBT to earlier this year when the newest section of the Centurion Way opened. The new section extends the Centurion Way northwards, past West Dean and to Cucumber Farm, going past the old Singleton train station, which has been renovated as part of the extension. #SouthDowns #CenturionWay

Racton Monument is said to be one of the most haunted spots in the South of England with reported sightings of flying bricks, manic laughing and ghostly apparitions. ⠀⠀⠀ 📷 Nathan Hill

Barn owls aka ghost owls aka demon owls. It is thought they got these nicknames due to their 'ghostly' colouring and high-pitched shrieking, which is a little unnerving. 📷 Jeremy Bullen #SouthDowns #SpookySeason

*JOB ALERT* The National Park has an interesting career opportunity for a Development Management professional with experience in an Enforcement Team with an interest (but not necessarily experience) in minerals and waste. Learn more and apply 👉 bit.ly/3IQLkTq #jobs #recruitment #planning

Crisp mornings. Crunchy leaves.⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ Autumn can be a pretty special season, wouldn't you agree?⠀ 📷 Sam Moore⠀ 📍 Queen Elizabeth Country Park #SouthDowns #AutumnVibes

You've heard the one about the Devil resting under Devil's Dyke after being foiled by an elderly woman when he tried to flood the Weald, right? 👿💤 ⠀ Just don't run backwards seven times around the humps while holding your breath. ⠀ ⠀ 📷 Jamie Fielding #SouthDowns #SpookySeason

October is a perfect stargazing month 🔭🌌🌠⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ Here are our top tips for making the most of the South Downs International Dark Skies Reserve ⤵️ ⠀⠀ 📷 Richard Murray 📍 Cowdray Ruins, Midhurst #SouthDowns #EmbraceTheDarkness

The clock is counting down to the deadline of our annual photo competition! 📷 You could win £250 for a breathtaking shot of the National Park and/or £150 for an amazing wildlife picture 🦉 All entries must be in by midnight on 31 October! 👉 www.southdowns.gov.uk/care-for/pho... 📷 Emma Varley

It's a view that never gets old. ⠀ ⠀ If you're walking along the coast just remember that cliff falls happen at random. ⠀ Soak up the views but please enjoy well away from the edge and base, and keep your dog safely on the lead. #BeCliffAware

A perfectly seasoned Friston Forest. 📷 Sam Moore #SouthDowns #AutumnBliss

We were delighted to welcome BBC reporter Fiona Irving to the National Park to tell her all about our work to restore ponds 🐸 🪲 There used to be well over 1,000 of these ponds across the South Downs, but there's only around 10 per cent left. The report is due to be on BBC South East tonight!

Some say if you walk around Chanctonbury Ring seven times anti-clockwise ("Widdershins") you might summon up the Devil...or a druid...or a lady on a white horse...or Julius Caesar and his army...or... ⠀ ...the list goes on. 📷 Sam Ellis #SouthDowns #SpookySeason

There are many spooky stories connected to Cowdray Ruins. ⠀ ⠀ The Grey Lady is the ruins’ most frequently seen spook and she manifests so often that her usual haunting route has been coined the ‘Lady’s Walk’. ⠀ 📷 Lloyd Lane #SouthDowns #SpookySeason

Have you entered the South Downs photo competition yet? You have until 31 October to get your entries in. Enter 👉 www.southdowns.gov.uk/care-for/pho... 📷 Michael Steven Harris 📍 Chanctonbury Ring

Alfriston in East Sussex was once the centre of smuggling along the south coast. It's believed that many of the local ghost stories that abound were conjured up by smuggling gangs to protect their contraband from any potential snooping eyes. #SouthDowns #SpookySeason

You've heard of the Long Man of Wilmington but have you heard of the Black Dog of Wilmington? Legend has it a Ghostly Black Dog with bright red eyes can be seen stalking Windover Hill above the Long Man. ⠀ 📷 Verity Stannard #SouthDowns #SpookySeason

Is this the most haunted spot in the South Downs? ⠀ Stories of Kingley Vale tell of the Kings’ Graves or Devil’s Humps as the tombs of Viking leaders buried in 894, with the yews marking the battlefield site, stained red with the blood of dead warriors. 📷 Chris Doyle

Here's our response to today's announcement from the Government on water neutrality. 👉 southdowns.gov.uk/national-par... #planning

Entries to this year's South Downs photo competition close on Tuesday 31 October. There's a top prize of £250 for the winning entry along with special youth and wildlife categories. Full details 👉www.southdowns.gov.uk/care-for/photo-comp 📷 Ron De'Ath 📍 Queen Elizabeth Country Park

In the spring, Stanmer Woods is alive with bluebells and wild garlic adorning the paths. However, once #SpookySeason rolls in, it becomes something darker and foreboding. Credit to photographer Finn Curry for capturing the woodland at its most eerie and haunted.

There's no business like sloe business. Despite the charms of its fruit, in folklore blackthorn has a sinister reputation, connected with tales of doom and witchcraft, with witches supposedly using wands made of blackthorn. #SouthDowns

It's not #SpookySeason without a spider or two. 📷 R.Kiernan 🕷️ Garden spider (Araneus diadematus) #SouthDowns

Who's excited about leafy autumn trails? With over 3,300km of footpaths, bridleways and byways, there's loads of great opportunities to make the most of the Autumn. Check out some of our suggested walking routes 👉 www.southdowns.gov.uk/get-active/south-downs-walks 📷 Sam Moore 📍 Friston Forest

Fly agaric. Stunning to look at but poisonous. It can be spotted on lowland heath around birch and pine, where it is thought to have a mycorrhizal relationship - sharing nutrients between tree roots and the fungi itself. 📷 Olivia French #SouthDowns #AutumnVibes

'Tis the season...🎃⠀ ⠀ 📷 Emily Summers-Mileman⠀ 📍 Rogate ⠀ #Autumn #AutumnVibes

🍂 Autumnal bliss 🍂 Stay up to date with the latest news from the South Downs National Park by signing-up to our newsletter. Hear about upcoming events, ideas for days out and competitions 👉 www.southdowns.gov.uk/join-the-new... 📷 Andrew Tullett 📍 Arundel

Did someone say 'Spooky Season'? 😱 📷 Jamie Fielding Photography 📍 Blackdown #SouthDowns #SpookySeason

Is that September done with, really? As we turn to October, it's time to break out the heavy sweaters (if you haven't already), get the hot chocolate in and fully embrace the season. 📷 Michael Harris 📍 Petworth Park