Are You Sure?

KNEPP CASTLE TO SHOREHAM-BY-SEA VIA ASHURST, STEYNING AND BRAMBER

This is a gap-filler of a walk going south. For all the being directed by the traversing of unwalked paths, a very acceptable route was achieved. There is a triumvirate of powerful visual companions, as you follow the Adur to the sea. Presiding, are the wooded hill of Chanctonbury Ring, the mighty architectural monolith of Lancing College and the dereliction of the Shoreham cement factory and chimney. There are also a duo of ruined castles, a site of rewilding and a local nature reserve.

The walk and the river cut through the Wealden clays which have evidently shaped the flora, land-use and history of the area.

The Knepp Estate is rather clumsily reached by a train to Horsham via Three Bridges and a bus back down the A24. It's a bit frustrating for a place only the other side of Henfield. Timed for an excruciatingly early start, minimised a journey time to about an hour twenty. Return can be done with a direct train from Shoreham to Burgess Hill, a much more acceptable prospect.

A bit of squally rain had freshened things up considerably and the walking gods had provided just enough sunshine to dry me between the showers. Dramatic skies and a stiff breeze set the scene for the a fitting estuarine finish.

I was grateful of the company of one other, at the lonely bus stop of Partridge Green Turn. The traffic is very unaccommodating of pedestrians but cross you must, with extreme caution and visibility. Almost opposite, Take Castle Lane. Just a little to the south of this stands the remains of the 12th century old Knepp Castle. It has been a ruin for a long time and just a single tower remains. It was once a motte and bailey construction but largely served as a hunting lodge in a deer park. Incidently most of the walls were robbed for hardcore when the turnpike road, and now A24, was built in the 1700s.

Exmoor ponies littered the route, variously scratching themselves and foraging under the trees. For ease of navigation, follow the red signs within Knepp  This differs a little from the public footpath. The Kitchen and shop might provide sustenance but these were not open on my early arrival. The toilets, however, were and very welcome. Walk behind and through the car park take to the to inbound road. I may have made my first slightly illegal move by entering a Old Rough Wood on the left and hopping the fence adjacent the A24. My aim was to get opposite the footpath leading away east. Crossing is not fun. May be it is more acceptable at the Worthing Road Junction. Either way, prepare to be honked at by lorry drivers for just being there.

Once the wild and dangerous stuff is out of the way, continue east at the edge of the field, cross a footbridge and go south at Rookcross Farm on Rookcross Road. Bear left into Middlebarn Wood. Turn left on your exit. Once directed to the intersection of a hedge and a field boundary, go through it and now go south. I hesitated here, weighing up the option of visiting a former convent. I decided against this and began my flow to the south. Following the field boundary, you are suddenly over a stile and presented with the open field. This was ploughed and my second illegal move was probably acceptable. I chose to follow the edge of the field to join another going south.

At the prominent oak, go to left a little, over a footbridge and into the next field. A field walk was unavoidable but more doable on this occasion. To your right is the memorably-named Flat Dossers wood. You might not be aware but the once popular TV archeology of Time Team has sprung back to the present via a Patreon-supported youtube channel. Watching this is one of my guilty comforts. Its turgid TV but presenting excited human beings that fire my imagination, with a window on the knowable, unthreatening completeness of history. So it was that I precoccupied myself with the often-pursued practice of a field-walk daydream. Maybe a Roman fibula, some medieval tableware or pre-christian funerary urn. Instead, I got bricks. A whole chronology of Southwater-made bricks presented itself in a few metres.  Some later outliers took me closer to home with Keymer bricks from Burgess Hill.

Cross the road that leads to Posbrook's Cottage and bear a little to your right. Follow the fingerpost that directs you onto the grass, to the right of the hedge.

South now takes you through the centre of a giant solar farm and over the Honeybridge Stream. Navigation is easyish as you have few choices. A few dogs were enjoying fetching a rag doll toy on this path. They stopped for a scratch. Take a left at Brookwood Farm and through to Church Lane and Ashurst. Unsurprisingly, this road leads to the church where you will find one of only five or six vamping horns in the country.

At the corner of School Lane is the cute little school on the edge of the recreation ground. I headed to the back of the goal to look at the view. The church had explained that 'Ashurst' relates to the wooded heights of ash and from here, you can appreciate the view of Downs. It is easier to see from the next field. Now turn right on Steyning Road and don't be scared of walking through the gate at Blakes Farm. Follow the signs to the New Wharf Campsite. You are very close to the Adur but join the bridleway going south. Make choices in the south direction. You are now on the right side of a low hill, just above the flood plain. There is a trig point just to the west of Shelleys Cottage. Head round on the road until you are going east. Views of the Downs are to the south and west.

Descending, you join the Downs Link bridleway which follows some former railway lines. A lady left her house in her peachy slacks and got into her peppermint car. She stopped on the road to offer me a lift. She must have known how bored the Downs Link can make me feel. Follow Wyckham Lane to the bridge, just before the sewage works. It was about lunchtime and so I thought I'd make a little detour in Steyning for lunch. I promptly took the wrong path in the form of the bridleway and didn't notice until a bit later. The footpath, presumably, at the other end of the bridge takes you a shorter route. The bridleway takes you to a crossing over the A283 at the north side of town. At least the southward connecting footpath is straightforward. Either way, join Tanyard Lane to hit the High Street.

After eating, join Church Street and School Lane. Keep going east in pretty a much a straight line until you reach the flood plain again. Take the footpath north. There is some work going on, on the adjoining footpath. You can go east to meet the Adur. I found I could just walk on the outside of the fencing although this was not obvious from the signage.

Now follow the river south, Bramber Castle and its earthworks are on your right. At The Street, cross the bridge and enter the South Downs National Park on the opposite bank. After a little while, take the footpath on the left and to the Dawn Crescent. Keep going east to the High Street and onto the Henfield Road at The Risng Sun. Now turn right. You are on the Monarch's Way. Keep on it as you leave the road and ascend in a satisfying line up Beeding Hill. Leave the Monarch's Way and keep going. You won't reach the top but an arguably greater thrill is to be had. Descend into Anchor Bottom on your left. The wind was blasting freshly and in the right direction to allow me to sit for a moment on the bench and enjoy the cyclists coming up the South Downs Way. Stay towards the left of the bottom and you will see the access land gate onto Dacre Gardens. Turn left and then opposite the bus stop you might spy the path through to the banks of the Adur. We're on the Downs Link again and just behind the old Shoreham Cement Works. The quarry is behind the building.

Now for the final cheat. Take the track through the road and vault the gate. Now carefully backtrack towards the cementworks but cross when you see a gate on the right side. This is more access land but without a useful exit. Follow the track in this bottom, turning left at the chestnuts. A hidden sheepy bottom. I spotted an open gate on the right and used it to go north to skirt the field and rejoin a footpath going south. I did all this because I wanted to check out this area and you can never be quite sure of the paths IRL. You can avoid my cheats altogether. I suggest, climb back up Anchor on the ridge to backtrack next to the quarry and go south on Mill Hill Road.

It's now south all the way to Erringham Farm, through the horse field and in to Mill Hill Nature Reserve. Now within access land, there was nothing stopping me from clambering upwards, surrounded by vegetation. Just on the right side of accessible, I felt like I was taking a rodent's eye view of the place. You can see the trig on the upper edge of the reserve before entering a wood and descending onto the western edge of the hill.

Great views of the Adur and its meanders are present, all the way to the sea. Exit at the car park and take Mill Hill over the Shoreham Bypass. Immediately turn right on the land split by paddocks, also named Mill Hill. A path takes you alongside the A283. Cross the road and join the path on the final stretch of the river. You're welcome.

Once under the railway bridge, the choice is yours. Go for an ice-cream on the beach or head back to the station. I weebled my home. No ice-cream.