Not a Sprint
I should explain myself. I didn't plan this very well but I'd landed on something quite local to have a look at the woods near Bolnore and to try and navigate south just west of the A23. I'd wanted to get to the coast. I knew it was a long one but it turned out to be a bit longer than I'd wished
There is something deeply unsatisfactory about crossing the dual-carriageway to the west of Burgess Hill, not least because I haven't particularly warmed to some of the destinations over the road. Once you've made it through, it is difficult to feel enthusiastic about the small settlements and relatively flat landscape. I wish someone could prove me wrong and it was in an effort to prove it to myself that I did this. Time and effort were the judges and they were harsh. Even so, there were some revelations. I explored more of Cuckfield Park, with woods that were a bit more interesting than the dog-walky reserves of Bolnore. I saw a some of the Pickwell Estate with its stately redwoods and rhodos and I approached a high point of the Downs from the utterly contrasting nadir of the alluvial Wealden mudstone below.
Refine this walk. I suggest slash it in two and you'll find the contrasts and length more pleasing. I'm glad I made it to the Dyke because I required elevation. Just a shame I had to continue against my will.
Haywards Heath is an easy and swiftconnection train north of Burgess Hill. I got a 5B back from Hangleton to Hove station and a direct train headed for Victoria. I figured the walk from the bus stop to Hove rather than Brighton was ever-so-slightly shorter. At 27 miles, any additional walking was prohibitive.
Leave the station and turn right and right along Perrymount Road. A footpath is on the left that will take you to Clair Park. This, I am informed, is the last vestige of the original Haywards Heath and holds a quite surprising mix of mature trees, from Scot's pine to London plane. Go south and leave the park to continue in this line along Trevelyan Place. On Church Road, turn right towards the Church. The bell struck seven on my approach. Follow the path south at the western side. You can enter now Victoria Park over the B2272. I climbed the steep embankment on the right to see what was at the top of the slope before descending again to the southward path. This embankment is made from the spoils of the very short Haywards Heath Tunnel, just north of it.
On to Drummond Close then Sunnywood Drive. I noticed some very striking modernist houses here and discovered they were designed by Soviet architect Berthold Lubetkin in the 1936. While some of the eight have been altered by rendering and pitched roofs, their distinctive forms look for all the world like staring indifferent little faces. Turn right at the end on Ashenground Road.
Ashenground and Bolnore Woods are managed as Local Nature Reserves. As such, there are a few paths to explore and access from Bolnore Village. The 'village' was built in the early 2000s and I found it difficult to imagine the woods as ancient when thronging with morning dog-walkers. There is even a section of the bridleway which is lit a ground level for your benefit. Ancient remains in these, Pierces and Catts Woods, have been found and if you wander, as I did, you will find yourself on the line of a Roman road which extends from Bedelands in Burgess Hill and beyond.
If you do a good explore and return north on the western edge of Bolnore, you will rejoin the bridleway on Bolnore Farm Lane. This takes you to Beech Hurst Gardens and the byway of Bolnore Road. Enter the park. The grounds were donated to the town by the previous owner. The house was demolished in the 50s and by 1954 the miniature railway was up and running. Exit the Harvester car park and cross the road. Take the footpath just after the junction and it will go round the houses, spitting you out on Sherwood Drive. At the end, turn left on Lucastes Lane and up the steps via the footpath on Hillside walk. Continue on Blunts Wood Road and left to enter the wood itself.
This area can be further explored, as there are many permissive paths other than the bridleway that take you here and through Paiges Wood and Meadow. The bridleway leads out on to Broad Street. Going west, you pass Warden Park School, join Courtmead Road and what is the High Weald Landscape Trail. This is your route to Cuckfield Church and Cuckfield. The churchyard has a rather wonderful view out to the south. I arrived just a little early for breakfast and so loitered with intent.
Cuckfield has many old buildings. Much is made of the fact that Cuckfield shunned the railway in favour of it being routed via a relatively inconsequential heathland to the east. Haywards Heath, once called Hayworth has some minor but significant civil war history but it seems little else happened in this 'hedge enclosure' until the railway arrrived and allowed it to grow. Like Burgess Hill, it took a while for it to come together as a place. The new town was recognised in 1887. As such, Cuckfield retains some oldy worldness. It is worth pointing out that Cuckfield is on a hill and so the line chosen for the railway probably had more to do with the cost of engineering than public opposition.
Refreshed, take South Street and the footpath opposite the junction with Newbury Lane. This moves you through Cuckfield Park. I've been a bit unsure about access to what remains of this ancient deer park. Cuckfield Place is south of the hedge. For the purpose of seeing more, go north on the footpath and join the northward leg of the Landscape Trail before switching back at the bottom of the slope and the edge of New England Wood. Back on the Trail, I noticed a permitted entrance to the wood and found my favourite wood, so far, on this walk. This reserve was established in 1980 to save it form holiday camp developers.
It seems I could have walked quite a chunk of this but I emerged into a field and followed a well-walked path to rejoin the Landscape Trail and the Sussex Diamond Way. There are connections through to Cuckfield and Whitemans Green, which might be useful for other walks.
Go south on Deak's Lane and follow the signs to exit onto and join Broxmead Lane going south. Turn left into Long Wood and stick with the trails to come out on Pickwell Lane. Stay with the Landscape Trail and follow the road to Pickwell Farm. You'll find yourself walking through gardens planted in the same manner as Wakehurst. Rhododendrons and redwoods have to be suffered, followed by an avenue of planes and copper beeches before reaching the front of Pickwell House on the Pickwell Estate. Go left on Buncton Lane and find the path on the right to make your way through to the square tunnel under the A23.
Once under, cross the London Road and join Ryecroft Road in to Bolney. Leave the Diamond Way on The Street and turn left. Playing fields and a cafe are on your left. On the right, the footpath carries you towards Bolney Wine Estate. You can stop here also for the cafe and shop or ignore the signs and continue to Bookers Farm. Go left and you will find more potential boozing at the driveway to The Cider Tap at Old Mill House Farm. I was sorely tempted but pushed on, around an old orchard and down and over the Cowfold Road.
A busy stretch west brings you to another path on the left going south. Observe the landscape change. The flat clay lowlands appear to be great for the grape and the horses. What follows are small paths and bridleways that string in a zig zag between some quite elderly farmsteads, all too slowly, or just right, depending on how you feel. You are to come upon the watery clay that is home to the branches of the Adur, including Burgess Hill's own Herrings Stream. While the north south alignments may represent ancient drover's roads and cultivation patterns, the rights of way are limited and follow them you must.
Go west on the edge of the field and east on the bridleway. At the road, turn right to Purvey's Pit and east again. Wiggle south for a longer stretch. If you are still following, you are heading to Twineham Grange. On your right is a not-so-concealed giant Bolney substation. The cables from the Rampion Offshore Windfarm are routed here and the physical embodiment of the energy we demand to power AI searches such as, 'give me a recipe using the leftover broccoli stump and yesterday's pasta in my fridge.' Bearing east and right on Bob Lane, you pass Twineham Grange Cottages and follow the road round. The footpath continues on the corner by squeezing past the brick gate post.
I kind of wished I'd popped in on St Peter's Church at Twineham but I didn't even spot it. It's nearly all there is to see in these parts and I failed to appreciate the local Tudor bricks. Twineham Place and Great Wapses Farm are met arround the banks of the Herrings Stream. An eastward walk from the latter is over a lumpy field and almost to Twineham Lane.
Switch back southwest over another lumpy field. This was familiar on a path walked on a previous walk. The path crosses the grassland behind the Firsland Park industrial Estate to join the Henfield Road. This is a little busy and The Wheatsheaf might have been a final temptation. Hungry as I was, I was aware that I had much to travel before I could rejoin civilisation. Forgoing this option with a Brazilian twist, go left and south on a gratifyingly long stretch to Blackstone, another barely-there place on a sandstone knoll. The path merges with Blackstone Lane.
My feet were ready and so I resolved not to continue to the coast but finish on a high at Devil's Dyke. This meant an eventual steering east and away from Edburton. It turns out it would benefit me little. At The Blackstone Academy Cricket Ground, at Woodmancote, turn right to Woodmancote Place, the one time home of Edward the Protector. He also lived at Syon, where we visited the other week.
Passing over the driveway and around church, which struck 4, go through the Lych gate, turning left at the road. There are bus stops here for the 17 and 100. I could have made my escape here but chose to climb the hills now apparent in the south. Wolstonbury has been visible for some time but now the Downs are more easily seen. Cross the road and traverse to Horn Lane. Disconcertingly, go west for a while. Console yourself with the fact that this is the longest section of the Roman Greensand Way that still functions as a road. It is continuous with the path through Oreham Common. It is not until you join the footpath south that you might feel you are getting somewhere. A bunch of Duke of Edinburgh walkers were resting. The view is uplifting in every sense.
The farm helpfully offers an alternative path to avoid the 'curious young horses', if you so wish. I did. At this juncture, I was not up for curious horses. After Lower Edburton Farm and Nettledown, go east to align yourself to The Dyke. The concrete road was giving me Kingston Ridge vibes. The path south takes you further south past Perching Sands Farm and down the drive of Perching Manor Farm to the Edburton Road. Now avoid Edburton by going east and at the Shepherd and Dog, have yourself a fat coke. My phone battery had died by this time but thankfully I made correct choices after this.
The final push is up the path next to the pub garden, It is a straightforward walk to the top, with only a sprinkling of boy cows. From the top I saw possibly the clearest view I ever have but you'll have to take my word for it because I have no photographic evidence. The Devil's Dyke Pub is there for your tea time and if its after the end of June, the bus to Brighton is available all week and not just the weekend. It was Friday, before this time and so I was bitterly disappointed.
With effort, walk back alongside the road to the Hangleton Bridleway. Cross the golf course, following the posts to cross the A27 via the footbridge. This took me along the Dyke Railway Trail to the bus stop on Hangleton Way. Luckily the bus I needed arrived almost immediately.
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