About The Guided Walks

Starting at Stedham, we immediately take a break to have a look round St James’s church with its ancient yew tree. We then strike north past Stedham Mill and pass through several woods, skirting around at least one of the large hammer ponds used in the now long-gone iron industry.

After a well-earned (probably late!) pub lunch we return to base at a leisurely pace, following the Rother Valley as closely as we can, stopping at churches in their delightful riverside settings and admiring the beautifully constructed bridges we cross.

Start: Nothchapel Village Hall. OS Grid Ref SU953295.
Post Code GU28 9HT
Directions

From the  Village Hall we head off to the North through thick forest and past an extra-large mill-pond. We then head South over open farmland, eventually reaching the Furnace Pond at Ebernoe and the long-disused but well-preserved brickworks nearby. A little more woodland walking finally brings us to the pub at Balls Cross. After lunch we head vaguely North again, passing through the ancient forest of Ebernoe Common and the worryingly-named Wet Wood, followed by a short stretch of lane to take us to the end.

Start: Fittleworth Village Hall. OS Grid Ref TQ012189.
Post Code RH20 1JB
Directions

Note: There is no pub lunch option on this walk so please arrange a packed lunch.

"The Mens" is a dense ancient woodland which appears to be largely untouched by human hand. There are towering beech  and oak trees and also numerous straggly-looking holly trees making the most of the light coming through the dense canopy. There are many other tree varieties including ash, birch, hazel, hawthorn and most notably the wild service tree, whose presence indicates the great age of this wild wood. For fungi enthusiasts, there are three species of russula present, for which this is the only known site in Britain. There is a great diversity of breeding birds including nightingale, woodcock, wood warbler and all three types of woodpecker.

We set off north from Fittleworth, following the Serpent Trail through sweet chestnut coppice. We emerge and cross a field to enter more mature woodland. There are occasional clearings, apparently illicitly hacked in medieval times for a bit of extra grazing. One of these, Badlands Meadow, is notable for its great variety of meadow flowers and herbs. We reach a little lane and cross to take an unmarked path leading into the Mens. The wood now looks truly wild, with the many fallen trees just left where they lie to return to nature. One of them can be selected as a convenient seat for our lunch stop by a babbling brook.

On our return, we leave the woodland for a while to find the remains of Pallingham Furnace which was fueled by the woodland which once covered much more of this area. We then return to the woods and wind our way along the steeply sloping west side of the Arun valley. There are occasional glimpses of the little river, still tidal over 15 miles from the sea. Eventually we emerge from the woods and make our way back to the hall.

Start: Slindon College. OS Grid Ref SU960084.
Post Code BN18 0RH
Directions

Note: This is an extended walk of about 14 miles (23K) with no shorter alternative route.

It is the great platform just over Barl'ton, whence all the world lies out before one. Eastward into the night for fifty miles stretched on the wall of the Downs, and it stretched westward towards the coloured sky where a full but transfigured daylight still remained. Southward was the belt of the sea, very broad, as it is from these bare heights, and absolutely still; nor did any animal move in the brushwood near me to insult the majesty of that silence. Northward before me and far below swept the Weald.

So, therefore, though myself be crosst
The shuddering of that dreadful day
When friend and fire and home are lost
And even children drawn away -
       The passer-by shall hear me still,
       A boy that sings on Duncton Hill
Hilaire Belloc, The Four Men (first published 1911)

Hilaire Belloc, poet, politician, writer and historian, was born in France to a French father and an english mother in 1870 and moved to London as a child. His widowed mother moved to Slindon when he was 8 and he developed a lifelong love of Sussex. He left to attend school and university but returned to Slindon with his wife and family before moving north to King's Land, Shipley, which became the family home for the rest of his days.

We set off round Slindon where there are many places of interest, including Belloc's childhood homes, then head north to the summit of Glatting Beacon. We then follow the trail along the top of the scarp slope, passing several ancient earthworks, then drop down to Barlavington (Barl'ton) then on to a well-earned lunch at the best pub in Duncton.

The return trip takes us along parts of the South Downs Way and Stane Street, through Gumber Farm, a typical downland sheep farm, then past another Belloc residence at Courthill Farm to bring us back to the college.

Start: Station Road, Rudgwick (car park at far end).
OS Grid Ref TQ085334.
Post Code RH12 3EX
Directions

This walk takes in parts of the Sussex Border Path  and the Wey South Path, with splendid views of the distant South Downs and plenty of water features, both ancient and modern, along the River Arun and the Wey-Arun Canal.

From the car park we step straight onto the site of Rudgwick Station, closed by Dr Beeching in 1965. We head north up the track bed, now part of the Downs Link, then head west along the Sussex Border Path. This was devised in 1989 and follows existing rights of way in order to follow the county boundary as closely as possible. North of Rudgwick it runs precisely along the Sussex-Surrey boundary along a high ridge, so that you can discern the distant blue hills of the South Downs, while behind you lies the bleak wasteland of Surrey. The route is mainly through woodland until we emerge at the delightfully-named Old Songhurst Farm, from where we are just three fields away from lunch at Loxwood.

On the return leg we follow the River Arun and the Wey-Arun Canal, passing locks, mills and even an aqueduct before striking across open farmland with what seems to be a major llama colony.

Start: The Village Shop, Graffham. OS Grid Ref SU931177.
Post Code GU28 0QD
Directions

William Cobbett was a journalist, farmer and political reformer who undertook a series of journeys through England on horseback, writing down what he saw in the book Rural Rides, published in 1830 and still in print today. Here is a flavour:

The apple trees at Donnington show their gratitude to the hill for its shelter; for I have seldom seen apple trees in England so large, so fine, and, in general, so flourishing...the hill, you will observe, does not shade the ground at Donnington. It slopes too much for that. But it affords complete shelter from the mischievous winds. It is very pretty to look down upon this little village as you come winding up the hill. From this hill I ought to have had a most extensive view. I ought to have seen the Isle of Wight and the sea before me and to have looked back to Chalk Hill at Reigate, at the foot of which I had left some bonnet-grass bleaching. But, alas! Saint Swithin had begun his works for the day, before I got to the top of the hill. Soon after the two turnip-hoers had assured me that there would be no rain, I saw, beginning to poke up over the South Downs (then right before me), several parcels of those white, curled clouds, that we call Judges' Wigs. And they are just like judges' wigs. Not the parson-like things which the judges wear when they have to listen to the dull wrangling and duller jests of the lawyers; but those big wigs which hang down about their shoulders, when they are about to tell you a little of their intentions, and when their very looks say, " Stand clear!” These clouds (if rising from the southwest) hold precisely the same language to the great-coatless traveller. Rain is sure to follow them. The sun was shining very beautifully when I first saw these judges' wigs rising over the hills. At the sight of them he soon began to hide his face! and before I got to the top of the hill of Donton, the white clouds had become black, had spread themselves all around, and a pretty decent and sturdy rain began to fall.

We set off east through gently undulating pasture, eventually crossing the main road at Duncton to pass through Burton Park with its tiny Norman church. A well-surfaced woodland trail, past some ancient and seriously-gnarled sweet chestnut trees, leads us to the business end of Burton Mill Pond. The pond is noted for its birdlife and you can expect to see Great Crested Grebe, Tufted Duck and many more. We then take the path to the east side of the pond, over a swamp (a dragonfly-spotter's paradise known as the Black Hole), back to Burton Park, then on to Duncton ("Donnington") for lunch at The Cricketers.

After lunch we join the West Sussex Literary Trail, down a track to the old mill, now a fishery, where we might catch sight of a kingfisher on the take. After a brief detour to see what remains of the apple trees Cobbett may have been referring to, we continue on the trail as it climbs up "Donton Hill", past an old lime kiln and an enormous chalk quarry, to the South Downs Way. An optional detour takes in the highest summit on the Sussex Downs at Crown Tegleaze. We rejoin the Way for about half a mile then turn down one of the many paths which criss-cross the scarp slope in this area, leading us back to Graffham.

Start: Nothchapel Village Hall. OS Grid Ref SU953295.
Post Code GU28 9HT
Directions

"You came, and looked, and loved the view
Long known and loved by me,
Green Sussex fading into blue
With one gray glimpse of sea."
Alfred, Lord Tennyson

Tennyson built Aldworth House on Blackdown as a summer retreat, and died there in 1892.

We park at Northchapel Village Hall, from where we can see the dark wooded slopes of Blackdown to the west. Our walk takes us along undulating farm tracks for a couple of miles to warm us up for the stiff climb up the eastern slope, where we can just see Aldworth on our right through the trees. All too soon the "fun" is over and the trail flattens out, passing through patches of heathland and stands of Scots pine, until at last we reach the stone seat at the Temple of the Winds. Here, on the highest hill in Sussex, the landscape does indeed fade into blue as we look out on the Weald and the distant South Downs. On a clear day the sea can be glimpsed 20 miles to the south.
After briefly retracing our steps we hurtle steeply down a sunken track and head southeast, with an occasional backward glance at the looming southern escarpment, at last reaching Lurgashall and lunch.
The pace is now expected to drop as lunch goes down and we ease our way over open pasture to return to the car park.

Start: Opposite the former Redford Post Office - now a coffee shop. OS Grid Ref SU861262.
Post Code GU29 0QF
Directions

Here in the far northwest of the county, the South Downs are not even visible from the low-lying land which is surrounded by wooded slopes or hangers. Where greensand meets clay there is a line of springs which give rise to the many streams in the wide valley.These eventually coalesce into the Hammer Stream which somehow finds a way through the southern ridge to join the Rother near Chithurst. All this water would have helped to power the iron industry which thrived here in the 16th and 17th centuries.
Going even further back, Milland lies on the course of the Roman Road between Chichester and Silchester. It is about a day's march from Chichester and there is a way-station at Weston's Farm whose outline can be discerned when the sun is low.

From the start, we head east to skirt Older Hill, then north through some young woodland with an interesting collection of home-made deer towers. After crossing the lane and passing the St Luke's churchyard we meander through fields and meadows, eventually reaching the imposing Milland Place with its substantial millpond. A stiff but quite brief climb brings us to the top of the ridge, which has been visible since we started, then on to Tuxlith Chapel and, just a few metres away, St Luke's Milland. From here it is all downhill to lunch at Milland.
Depending on how extravagant lunch was, there is a choice of routes. We can stagger southwards past the Roman way station and ease our way up the hill to Queen's Corner for a breathtaking view. The slightly longer alternative takes us westwards across farmland before joining the Serpent Trail and heading back east, gaining a sighting of the South Downs for the first time. We cross the Hammer Stream and soon reach a graveyard, all that remains of the Church of the Good Shepherd, demolished in 1982. The route is now gently rising to Queen's Corner and then Titty Hill, from where the path winds through some swampy woodland and back to the start.

Start: North Stoke. OS Grid Ref TQ023108.
Post Code BN10 9LS
Directions

This walk takes in rolling arable, mostly treeless, downland, with many ancient earthworks. Burpham, our lunch stop, is worthy of note:

...it is a village which leads nowhere - you cannot go through it to get somewhere else. If you go there by mistake you have to turn back again. Beyond Burpham there is nothing but the bare Downs and a "Lepers' Way." That is one reason for the secrecy of Burpham. The other is that it is built on a sort of downland cliff, the cottages all more or less have an air of hanging on by their thatched eyebrows, there is practically no room to set another bee-skep into Burpham.
Esther Meynell, Sussex (Hale, 1944)

We set off east up a good solid gently-sloping track then, still climbing, make our way south along a ridge with Arundel Castle clearly visible to the south and the old flint mines of Harrow Hill to the east. Eventually we reach some woodland where we can enjoy the dappled shade of beech as we now head west. Shortly after turning north again we leave the shade and cross a deep valley to arrive at Wepham, then a short walk down lane and footpath brings us to Burpham and lunch.

After lunch, it becomes apparent that we do not in fact have to turn back again as there are many footpaths which could take us where we want to go. We descend a steep path to take us under the chalk cliff, then follow the river, an offshoot of the Arun, until we reach the main river across the railway. We then follow the river northwards, passing over an impressive suspension bridge to bring us to the finish.

Start: Cobden Hall, Heyshott. OS Grid Ref SU896180.
Post Code GU29 0DJ
Directions

Sussex has over 3000 hectares of heathland. As you might guess, heathland is characterised by the presence of heather, but it is often interspersed with bare ground, acid grassland, gorse, bracken, bog and scattered trees. The main focus of this walk is Ambersham Common, a Site of Special Scientific Interest. Besides being the home of some rare insects such as the robber fly, the digger wasp and the bog bush cricket, there is diverse bird life including nightjar, woodlark, Dartford warbler, stonechat, tree pipit, redstart and nightingale.

We set off north past the pond, soon joining the Serpent Trail which zigzags vaguely east to cross Heyshott Common then Ambersham Common. We leave the main trail for a while to wander around some of the many sandy tracks which make this place popular with polo ponies and athletes in search of somewhere nice to train. We rejoin the trail to skirt round Graffham Common, then emerge into open fields to cross the old railway and join the little lane leading to lunch at Selham.

Suitably refreshed, we carry on east for a little while, back over the old railway, then zigzag westwards across the densely-wooded Graffham Common. Rhododendrons, so expensive at the garden centre, grow like weeds on the common and require strict management. We pass some ancient burial mounds on Gallows Hill. Eventually we emerge from the woods and join the lane back to the hall. Cobden Hall is named after Richard Cobden, businessman and reformer, who was born near here. But that is another story.