Robust Rambles

Section 24 Out

Faygate to the old Royal Oak (Friday Street near Rusper)

Walk Details

Walk Instructions

With the Holmbush Inn on the left, walk up the road towards the railway bridge. Just before the bridge cross the road to a footpath going off right over a stile. Go into an enclosed path with a wire fence on the left and the railway beyond. Follow this along to emerge onto the edge of a playing field. Keep forward with the fence still on the left along the top of the playing field and into the field beyond.

In a short distance look for a stile in the fence leading to a railway crossing. Cross the railway and enter a wood. Bear right on a very straight path to a pond. Here bear right around the pond to a footbridge into a field. Go forward along the bottom edge of the field with woods on the right. At the far end turn left up the side of the field with trees on the right. At the top corner bear right and continue along the bottom of the next field. At the corner ahead pass an oak tree onto a grassy track. Turn left uphill on this. Emerge onto a field edge and keep on up to the top corner. Go through a metal fieldgate to a roadway.

Turn left along the road for 50 metres then go right over a stile by a pole barrier. Bear slightly right up to a wood and go forward on a path up the side of the wood. Cross a broad green track, then, in 50 metres, turn left on a clear woodland path. In 20 metres turn right and go on down an obvious path.

At the bottom of the hill turn left for 50 metres, then right, across a ditch and uphill on the same forest track. At the top of the rise go ahead on the level for 50 metres, then, by a rhododendron bush, turn left downhill. At the foot bear right to a footbridge and climb up into a field. Bear right along the edge with trees on the right.

At a metal fieldgate, turn left and follow the field edge with a wire fence on the right to the far corner and a stile by a double metal fieldgate out to a road. Turn right on the road for 100 metres, around a bend. Look for a stile on the left and cross into a narrow enclosed path.

Cross a footbridge and stile and continue between wire fences. At the end emerge into a field. Bear diagonally left across the field passing a house on the right. Reach a stile and metal fieldgate at the far side of the house. Do not cross but turn around so that the stile is behind. Now go diagonally right up and across the field to a metal fieldgate in the top righthand corner. Here cross two stiles into a headland path between two wire fences and a line of trees. Follow this for ½ mile. On entering fields keep on in the same direction over several stiles to emerge onto a road over a stile by a metal fieldgate.

Turn right on the road. At a sharp left bend, turn right off the road into the drive to Baldhorns Park. In 20 metres turn left through a wooden fieldgate and go over a brick bridge then up by a tennis court. Over the top of the rise enter a wood and follow a pleasant path through a wood to the top end. Cross a footbridge and climb up to a field corner.

Go diagonally right across the large field to a treeline at the far side. On reaching it turn left along the field edge and exit onto a road over a stile in the top corner. Bear left on the road past a house then immediately turn right up and enclosed path between hedges. Continue by a long garden fence to a stile. Cross and go through a gateway onto a rough rubble farm track.

Drop downhill to a corner of woods. Here ignore a cross path and keep forward along the edge of several fields with the woods on the right for ½ mile. Eventually pass under power lines and reach a corner. Go ahead through a wooden swing gate into a wood. Cross to the far side and exit through another swing gate into an enclosed path.

This leads to a garden. Go down then up to a road. Turn right along a short distance to arrive at the former Royal Oak pub (now closed) in Friday Street and the end of the section.

From the Royal Oak go back down the road by the car park and turn left through the pub garden. Go down and up the far side to enter an enclosed path and go on to a gate into a wood. Cross to a gate at the far side and emerge into a field. Go forward a short distance to meet power lines.

Here turn right up a grassy path following a line of trees going up the centre of the field. Over the brow continue down to woods at the far side. Enter the woods and go steeply down to a stile footbridge, then steeply up the far side. Cross over a stile into a field and a crossing of paths. Go forward bearing slightly left to a wooden fence and go on up with the fence on the left.

At the top, join a gravel track by Nunnery Farm and go forward on this, around to a gate and on to meet an asphalt drive. Turn right on this, through buildings, and on for some way. Pass through Curtis’s Farm buildings and on out to meet a road. Here turn left for ½ mile to a T-junction. Turn left a few paces then go right through a gap in the hedge to a vast field. Go straight ahead on the highest ground towards a tall tree in the distance. On reaching the tree bear slightly left down to a corner of a building just showing.

In a corner just to the right of the building go through a wooden swing gate and forward on a rough drive past a house on the left. At gates bear right down to a stile into paddock and continue down to a stile at the bottom and steps to a road. Turn right on the road for ¾ mile.

Eventually pass a road turning off left. Go forward a short distance further to a sharp bend to the left. Here, by cottages on the right, go through a gap into woods. Follow the path as it drops down parallel to the edge of the wood on the left. At the bottom of the wood, enter a field.

Bear right around and down the edge to a stile and footbridge at the bottom corner. Cross into a field and continue straight down to stile/footbridge/stile combination in the bottom hedge. Over this turn sharp right along the top edge of the field, then left down the side with a fence on the right.

At the bottom corner, by a house, cross a stile and go through trees to a stile into a horse pasture. Go straight downhill to a stile in front of the bottom hedge. Go on through a gap in the hedge over a bridge to a stile into a small field. Bear right across to a final stile onto a concrete drive. Bear left on this drive between houses to a road.

Turn left up the road passing the Frog and Nightgown pub on the left. In 200 metres, where the road slopes down just before a farm, turn right over a footbridge and stile and follow the fence on the right around to a second stile.

Cross this and follow the top edge of a long field with a fence on the right. At the very end, cross a stile and bear left through trees to a large field. Continue straight across, not parallel but bearing slightly right away from the hedge on the left towards distant roofs.

At the far side go through a gap in the hedge into a rough pasture. Turn right to the field edge then forward along the side with a railway on the right towards business units. At the far corner, in front of a building, the path swings left then right through units to a road (instead of swinging left, there is a well-used gap in the fence down the side of the building to an access road past Faygate Station and out to a road, this appears a better walk).

Turn right on the main road. Cross the railway bridge to return to the Holmbush Inn and the start of the section.