But today the significance is greater than usual.

Today we cross the border heading north on our way home.

17. Groombridge and the Medway Valley

Distance: 5.82 miles
Ascent: 182 metres
Duration: 1 hour 46 minutes

13. Hartfield, Withyham and Five Hundred Acre Wood

Distance: 3.74 miles
Ascent: 154 metres
Duration: 1 hour 11 minutes

3. Airman's Grave and Duddleswell

Pooh should be ashamed. A sign on the edge of Five Hundred Acre Wood insists that visitors are not welcome. Try telling that to the Chinese tourists I met at Poohsticks Bridge asking for directions to the House at Pooh Corner.

And now the answer to my question is now clear. Today's are going to be my last Sussex Walks for a while. I've managed to complete all the walks on the eastern page of the West Sussex book, and all those on the western page of the East Sussex book; twenty-eight in total, exactly half of the walks in the combined volumes.

5. Barcombe Mills & the Ouse Valley

A final quick walk to round the afternoon out, taking in two sides of the Sussex Ouse. Almost everybody else I saw was walking their dog, and it's easy to see why: this is simple, enjoyable strolling.

16. Belloc's Mill

Distance: 4.01 miles
Ascent: 106 metres
Duration: 1 hour 6 minutes

6. St Leonard's Forest

Setting off from the village of Shipley at dawn, I soon crossed a deer fence into the Knepp Castle Estate. Across the field I could make out shadowy figures pacing back, then tangling together with a clatter of antlers. It was a sight that almost caused me to return to the car immediately: nothing else could top it.

On the second walk a very different sound filled the woodland. The roar of engines and the smell of two-stoke from the motocross circuit were a world apart from the tranquility of the first walk. Wild life of a very different kind.

15. Beachy Head and Long Down

Distance: 6.80 miles
Ascent: 376 metres
Duration: 2 hours 10 minutes

19. Friston Forest, the Seven Sisters & Cuckmere Haven

Distance: 4.17 miles
Ascent: 182 metres
Duration: 1 hour 14 minutes

7. Cuckmere Haven from Seaford

Once again I've prised Emma from her desk, this time with the promise of salty air. We now know the date we'll be leaving Sussex, so felt the need to see the sea one last time, and where better than by the Seven Sisters? The next time we're near saltwater it'll be when we're settled in our new home. Not long now.

23. Arlington and Abbot's Wood

Distance: 9.46 miles
Ascent: 342 metres
Duration: 2 hours 45 minutes

20. Mayfield and Wadhurst Park

Distance: 7.75 miles
Ascent: 234 metres
Duration: 2 hours 22 minutes

18. Blackboys and Waldron

For today's walks I'm off the downland and deep in The Weald instead. That means I've exchanged lofty close-cropped grassy expansed for muddy, intensively-farmed landscape.

25. Cuckmere River and Norton Top from Alfriston

Distance: 4.86 miles
Ascent: 238 metres
Duration: 1 hour 26 minutes

9. Firle Beacon and Charleston Farmhouse

Distance: 8.62 miles
Ascent: 368 metres
Duration: 2 hours 34 minutes

21. Alfriston, Long Man of Wilmington and Jevington

The Long Man of Wilmington must be one of the country's most famous white hill figures, said to be the tallest figure of a human in Western Europe. I passed it towards the end of this equally epic walk, and near the beginning passed a smaller chalk figure that I'd not known before: a white horse facing the village of Littlington. On the stretch of path joining the two I found my favourite figure though: a simple chalk drawing of downland on a fence post, annotated with the words "choose love".

27. Cissbury and Chanctonbury Rings

Emma's been working hard during the Christmas and New Year period, which is why I've done most of these walks on my own, but she wasn't able to resist the thought of linking the two hill forts at Cissbury and Chanctonbury. We've been to both before, but never connected them on foot.

26. Download walk from Telscombe

Distance: 12.58 miles
Ascent: 510 metres
Duration: 3 hours 51 minutes

28. Lewes, Balmer Down and the River Ouse

My worst ever experience with cows was on the stretch of the South Downs Way climbing from Cricketing Bottom to Mill Hill near Rodmell. Our write-up from that day doesn't mention the herd that refused to get out of the way, the bull that subsequently ran at us, and the frantic fence-hopping that ensued, but I remember it well. Walking in the opposite direction today I met a similarly recalcitrant beast and used the same technique to exit the field but at least this time I wasn't so panicked by the experience.

But don't let this put you off this stretch of the Downs. The lofty path above Standean in particular is a delight, with the sea on the horizon and miles of rippling countryside ahead.

7. Devil's Dyke

I wasn't surprised to see paragliders throwing themselves into the air at Devil's Dyke, but the number of them on this cold winter day took my breath away, as did the stiff climb up from the village of Fulking. A lovely circular walk to end the day.

Distance: 10.06 miles
Ascent: 502 metres
Duration: 3 hours 1 minute

27. Ditching Beacon and Wolstonbury Hill

Distance: 8.76 miles
Ascent: 295 metres
Duration: 2 hours 29 minutes

22. Blackcap and Stanmer Down from Ditching Beacon

I know Ditching Beacon very well; it used to be a favourite haunt when I lived with Mum and Dad. Nothing's changed in the direct vicinity, but the distant view is different now. Looking towards Brighton the i360 now dominates the town and in the Falmer direction the Brighton and Hove Albion's new stadium asserts itself rather too much amidst the download scenery.

26. Bramber, Beeding and the Downs Link

Broadly following the line of the River Adur, this morning's walk felt almost East Anglian in character with wide flood plains and a broad horizon.

13. Wolstonbury from Hurspierpoint

Wolstonbury Hill is just east of where the A23 crosses the South Downs. It's a hill I've seen many times from the road but never climbed. The view from the top across the Weald towards the North downs is tremendous, but I didn't have time to linger today if I was to be down before sunset.

24. Sussex Border Paths from Fletching

The Greenwich Meridian bisects Sussex, so on this walk close to the East/West Sussex border I crossed it a few times, and weaved around the Greenwich Meridian Trail, a relatively new long distance path which I'd love to walk one day.

23. West Hoathly and Weir Wood Reservoir

Distance: 4.99 miles
Ascent: 168 metres
Duration: 1 hour 35 minutes

9. Horsted Keynes and the Bluebell Railway

Distance: 4.92 miles
Ascent: 163 metres
Duration: 1 hour 35 minutes

10. Ardingly Reservoir

The Bluebell Railway is the theme that links these three walks. The heritage railway runs steam trains on a line stretching from East Grinstead near the first walk through Horstead Keynes on the second. That's where you'll also find the grave of Harold Macmillan. While I heard the trains today, I didn't actually see them. Perhaps it's not the best time of year for bluebells.