The Cuckmere Pilgrim Path is a 14 mile walking route through the South Downs National Park supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF). To share the route more widely, provide a user-friendly way to navigate the path and to augment the already printed fold-out leaflet, this website is the first stop for pilgrims looking to take the journey. The final development and design includes galleries, GPS map data, an interactive map, downloadable resources and information on the heritage along the way.
The budget for the production and maintenance of the website did not amount to much in the funding. Therefore an easily maintainable and quick to develop solution was needed. The site runs on WordPress using custom post types to organise the content and ensure that future edits by the site owners can be made and directed easily in the templates.
Design wise, we wanted to convey the beauty of the national park through striking landscape photography and the use of bold hero images. Drone photography was commissioned of the churches along the route and these give a real context to the sights you encounter in the open landscape.
The path can easily be done in a day and it comes highly recommended should you find yourself in the South Downs. I put my boots on to take on the challenge on a roasting spring day and was surprised at how quiet the route was in the middle of the week, only encountering a couple of other walkers. There are plenty of stops along the way including a number of excellent pubs and shady spots under some very old (1600 years!) yew trees.