Section 23
Wivelsfield to Ansty
Walk Details
Walk Instructions
FOLKESTONE TO FARNHAM ROBUST RAMBLE
Section 23 Out
Wivelsfield to Ansty
Map: OS Explorer 122 Brighton & Hove; 135 Ashdown Forest; 134 Crawley & Horsham
Distance/Time: 6 miles/3 hours
Start: The former Royal Oak in Wivelsfield on the bend in the main road.
Comments: A section of rather devious paths with much new housing in the area. The section around Burchett’s currently involves some difficult road walking needing great care. Otherwise much interest and constantly changing perspectives. Many stiles. THE ANSTY CROSS PUB IS CURRENTLY CLOSED SO TAKE PROVISIONS. THERE IS A RECREATION GROUND JUST NORTH, UP DEAKS LANE, AND A PETROL STATION WITH A SHOP.
Start with the site of the former Royal Oak on your left, at the bend in the main road. Look north and walk up the main road. Soon turn left down the drive to the Baptist Church.
Pass the church on your left, and enter an enclosed path between wire fences. Cross a stile and then a footbridge. At a Y-fork, bear right, over to trees, and go along with the trees on your right.
Keep along to the end of the field, then go through a gateway and continue by the trees. Where the trees end there is a stile, on your right, by a metal fieldgate.
Cross the stile and turn immediately left, to follow the hedge on your left. Follow the hedge all the way round to the top of the field, and a stile by a metal fieldgate.
DO NOT CROSS but bear right, still following the edge of the field, with trees and a hedge on your left.
Eventually, reach another metal fieldgate, with a stile on your left. Cross over to a green lane. Follow this lane for a good way, to eventually, cross a concrete farm bridge. Reach and cross a stile by a fieldgate.
Here, three paths meet. Ignore one on the right and another straight ahead, instead, bear left, to go diagonally up a pasture, to a metal fieldgate and stile in the top corner (just left of houses).
Over the stile, go up an enclosed path. Exit via a metal kissing gate at the top. Cross a drive and go through a second metal kissing gate. Turn left on a grassy way, down to a stile by a tree.
Cross to another threeway junction. Take the middle path, bearing diagonally left, down the centre of the meadow.
At the bottom, cross a stile and a concrete footbridge, up into an enclosed path, to emerge at the end, onto a farm track. Go left a few paces, and then right, up a drive.
Pass through farm buildings. At the top, go left, on a narrow path behind a garage.
Pass a pond on your left and meet a driveway. Cross this, to go through a metal fieldgate, and then on, downhill, with a treeline on your right.
At the bottom of the field, cross a stile onto a sunken path (actually a bridlepath). Turn right, then immediately left, over a stile, into a field. Go on down by a hedge on your left.
Soon, go left, through a gateway, and turn immediately right, by the hedge on your right, down to a bridge.
Cross and go up to a lone bush ahead. Turn right, to follow the hedge on your left, to a stile by a metal fieldgate, by farm buildings.
Cross to a second stile, and turn left, on a farm entrance drive. Go down to a road.
Turn right, to walk under a railway bridge, then go carefully up the road a short distance. Turn left onto a bridlepath behind a large log.
Go along this gravel track for 200 metres, to a footpath going off right, on an asphalt drive. Go uphill on this drive, towards farm buildings. Pass through the buildings and on, between fields, to woodland.
About 25 metres into the woodland, turn left on a clear gravel track. Keep on this for a good way, through trees, then bear right, downhill, along the edge of the woodland on your left (keep on the obvious track; do not take any turnings left).
A LOT OF NEW BUILDING NORTH AND EAST. CHECK ALTERNATIVE WAYS TO BURCHETTS TO AVOID ROADWALKING
On approaching buildings, turn left. The track soon swings sharp right. Do NOT turn right but continue straight ahead, leaving the track and walking along the bottom edge of a field, with thick bushes on your left. The way is rough and overgrown.
At the end of the field, cross a stile, onto a busy main road.
Turn right up this road for ½ mile. The traffic is very dangerous. There are walkable verges but the going is rough. As the road goes steeply uphill and bends, cross to the other side, where there is a very narrow verge. DO NOT WALK IN THE ROAD. STAND STILL IN HEAVY TRAFFIC.
At the top of the hill, a pavement begins by Burchetts. Keep forward for 100 metres. Just past a pretentious gateway with double gates, turn left through a metal kissing gate into a field. Go forward with a fence on your left, to a corner, where the path diverges.
Bear left, to pass a barn on your right (all this different to OS map). Soon reach a metal fieldgate. Go through and bear left, across the field, to a corner of wooden fencing, just left of another metal fieldgate.
Continue with the wood fence on your right, to pass through a metal kissing gate. Keep on by the wooden fence, down a long pasture.
Halfway down, turn left, across the field, to another metal kissing gate in the far corner. Through this, follow the fence on your left, around a large sheep pasture, bearing right and downhill, with trees on your left.
At the far bottom corner, cross a stile into a wood. Walk downhill on a clear track, ignoring any side tracks, to reach a grassy space at the bottom.
Here turn right on a gravel track, over a stream. Stay on this main track, rising all the time.
Eventually reach the brow of the hill. Here turn left, down to a stile on your right. Cross into a field with a house in the distance.
Keep along the edge of the field with a fence on your left. Where this ends, bear right, up the field, just left of the house, to a stile onto a concrete track.
Turn right down this concrete track (ignore a path off left), then go on up a grassy track at the edge of a field, with a treeline on your left and a hedge of brambles.
At the top of the hill, bear left, through a gateway.
Gradually descend, bearing left at any junctions, and eventually reach a stile in a corner.
Cross ito a sloping meadow, and go diagonally right, across to a house in the bottom corner.
Leave the field by a metal kissing gate, and turn right, down a driveway. Just BEFORE a bridge, turn left on a footpath into woods.
This path crosses a footbridge and climbs into a field. Go on along the edge of the field to a stile in the corner. Do NOT cross, but bear left, to continue up the field.
Go through a gap into the next field.
Keep forward for some way, always with a hedge on your right.
Eventually reach a gravel track. Go forward on this all the way to the centre of Ansty and the site of the old ‘Ansty Cross’ pub at the end of the section.
FOLKESTONE TO FARNHAM ROBUST RAMBLE
Section 23 Return
Ansty to Wivelsfield
Map: OS Explorer 122 Brighton & Hove; 135 Ashdown Forest; 134 Crawley & Horsham
Distance/Time: 6 miles/3 hours
Start: The crossroads and roundabout at Ansty Cross.
Comments: Farms, fields and forests with plenty of stiles.
From the road junction by the petrol station in Ansty go south a few metres along the A272, then turn right on a minor road called Deak’s Lane. In 100 metres look for a bridleway going off left along the bottom of Inholms Wood. Follow this down and around the back of housing to emerge onto a main road.
Cross and continue, on a track through Butler’s Farm, then down, across fields and through woodland, to a minor road. Turn left, passing woods on your left. Opposite Hilder’s Farm, two paths diverge off left. Take the path on the right and go straight across the field to a road.
Turn right on the road a few paces, then left onto a path along the bottom edge of Brewhouse pond. Then bear diagonally right, up a large field to a hedge at the far side.
Dogleg left and right, along the bottom of a wood to emerge on a road at Harvesthill.
Cross to a bridleway. Pass between farm buildings, by a willow tree on your left, and continue down a shady lane for some way.
Where the bridleway swings left, go right, upto and through, a metal fieldgate, and turn immediately left, along a rough field edge with a hedge on your left. Keep along to a corner.
Here, ignore a stile on your left, and go forward, over a stile by a metal fieldgate, into the field ahead.
Keep forward with trees on your right, to the far end of the field. Leave through a gap, and turn right, on a concrete track.
Keep on this track for some way, uphill (ignore a footpath off left).
Eventually, the concrete track swings sharp right. Here bear left, into a field through a metal fieldgate, then turn immediately right, along the field edge, with trees on your right.
Where the woods end, turn right, still along the field edge, and at the next corner, turn left, to continue down the side of the same field, to a stile by a barrier of car tyres.
Continue ahead, and at the end of the field, cross a stile, onto a bridleway, and turn left.
By a lake on your right, follow the track to the left, and continue to follow it, easily, for nearly a mile.
Eventually, at farm buildings, the track becomes a concrete drive, leading out to a road, at the entrance to Hookhouse Farm.
Turn right along the road for 100 metres, then cross, to turn left along a bridleway, which is actually a private road.
Follow this for ½ mile, passing Holmbush Farm on your left. Soon reach a cottage on your right. Go forward, by a new gate, to cross a road.
Just past two trees, turn right, onto another farm track, which is also a public footpath.
Cross a stile, by a gate closed across the track, and go forward, gradually downhill, under power lines.
At the foot of the hill, enter trees and skirt a lake on your left. Cross several footbridges and emerge at a T-junction. Ignore a stile straight ahead into a Nature Reserve. Instead, turn left, to soon pass through a gap into a field.
Turn right and walk up with a hedge on your right, to the top corner, a pond is ahead.
Turn right to a wooden fieldgate by a stile. Cross and turn immediately left, around bushes, to pass the pond on your left, to a stile into bushes.
Go ahead to a field. The way lies straight up the field to the very top left corner (because the first section is rather marshy, walkers have gone to the right a short distance before setting off up the centre of the field).
Ignore cross paths and eventually reach a stile leading to a railway crossing in the top corner. Cross with care. Go ahead to a main road.
Turn right, for a short distance, looking for Theobald’s Road going off left. Turn along here for ¼ mile, passing detached houses, and, finally, Theobald’s Farm.
Now the track soon swings left. Leave it and go forward to a stile by a metal fieldgate, and enter a field.
Go up the field by trees on your left. Where the trees end is a Y-fork. Bear right here, across the narrow field, to a corner of hedge opposite.
Again, bear right, to follow the hedge on your right, to a stile in trees ahead. Go through to a field.
A new path goes straight ahead, across the field, to a T-junction; there is a stile and a track, beyond a hedge, at the far side (if this new path is not available, turn left, to follow the edge of the field, with a hedge on your left, all the way around, and over, to the far side, to reach the stile, in the far hedge; cross onto a track).
Turn left on this track, and go down, towards farm buildings. Cross a stile, by a wooden fieldgate, onto a drive.
Follow this drive down, to a sharp right bend. Keep on the drive, around to the right (ignoring a stile and fieldgate on your left). Stay along the drive, finally out, to a road, at Ote Hall Farm.
Cross the road, to a stile, and follow the hedge on your left, down to a concrete bridge. Go over and straight up, towards woodland (ignore crosspaths).
On reaching the woods, just before new housing, turn left, along the edge of the field, with woods on your right, to the corner of the field.
Go through the hedge, onto a wide path and turn left downhill. Stay on the main path, downhill, then up, to pass a house on your right. Ignore a turning right, and keep forward on a narrow path, through scrub.
By a stagnant pond on your left, ignore a path off right, and bear left, still in bushes. Go forward, to soon reach a minor road. Cross to a path opposite.
There are many tracks here, but keep forward, towards the traffic sound of a busy main road.
If you are in the correct place on reaching the road, cross with care, and turn left for a short distance, to a footpath bearing slightly right, away from the road (if you are too far north and near a little row of houses called Bankside, again, bear right, to the main road).
Follow this path along a field edge, with trees on your left, to a stile on your left. Cross this and keep along the path, straight ahead, for a short distance, to emerge on the bend in the main road, opposite the site of the old Royal Oak pub and the start of the section.
