Robust Rambles

Section 22

Sayers Common to Henfield

Walk Details

Walk Instructions

GREATSTONE TO GILLINGHAM ROBUST RAMBLE

Section 22  Out

Sayers Common to Henfield

Map: Explorer 122 Brighton & Lewes

Distance/Time: 5 miles/ 3 hours

Start: The Duke of York, use car park with permission or on road nearby.

Comment: This is a delightful walk with generous countryside. There are many stiles, some mud even in summer and much very long grass which makes for slow going.

With the Duke of York behind, cross the main road and go up the side road opposite passing a play area on your left and a small playing field over on your right. Continue for ¼ mile.

Ignore the first path off left and continue along the road. Just before a telegraph pole find a stile in the hedge on your left and cross into a field.

Go up the side of this large field, with a fence and hedge on your left. At the top exit through a gap and turn left along the edge of the next field with a hedge on your left.

At the next corner follow the hedge to the right and go up the side of the field. At the very top bear right, still with hedge, and soon sharp left. Immediately look for a stile hidden in the hedge on the left by a section of wooden fencing. Cross and follow an enclosed between hedges.

The path soon opens out to go down by horse paddocks. At a junction of paths and gates, turn sharp right to go along the top of a paddock, with hedge on your right, to a wooden gate at the far side.

Through this turn left down a rough vehicle track which becomes an access road as it passes through new business units out to a road.

Turn right on this road a short way then left into a side road called The Street. A short distance along, pass a school entrance. Immediately turn right down a narrow asphalt path enclosed between hedge and a wire fence.

Ignore an alley off left and continue to bottom and a junction of paths at the bottom of the school grounds. Turn right here along the edge of a field with the school up on your right. Continue on across the open field, uphill towards trees.

Keep to the right of the trees and on to the top corner of the field. Cross a stile(broken) and continue down the field ahead, bearing slightly right. Reach the side of the field by two trees and continue down to a corner. Local walkers continue straight on down here to a junction of ways by metal field gates at the bottom. The proper path turns right at the corner for 20 metres then left down by a telegraph pole to the same place at the bottom.

Here turn left along the bottom of the field eventually dropping down out of it to go down to a stile onto a junction of a concrete farm track and a road. Turn right up the concrete track to North Park Farm.

Where the track swings right into the farm, zig-zag left, then right, over a stile into a river meadow. Follow the top righthand edge for ¼ mile. Going is slow if the grass is long and there are boggy patches (it is obvious that the path used to run on a bank in the hedge on your right, but this has been destroyed by cattle so don’t be tempted on to it). At the far end, bear right up the bank, to a footbridge and over to a second one. Turn left to a stile out to a road.

Turn left on the road and in 30 metres, immediately after the road has crossed a wide stream, turn right over a low stile into a garden. Walk straight away from the road, following power lines across the garden to a wooden fieldgate at the far side. Go through then zig-zag left then right through another fieldgate. Keep with the power lines across a paddock to a stile and on to a wooden fieldgate at the far side.

Go through this gate and on with a hedge on your left. Go through a metal fieldgate and continue to the next corner. Pass a smashed stile (possibly crushed by a tree) into an enclosed path in trees, then over a chained footbridge (to keep out cattle perhaps) into a large field.

Cross the field aiming just right of farm buildings and eventually leave the field over a stile and plank bridge to a road. Turn left on the road for some way. Where it swings right go straight on up a rough track.

Ignore a path off left and keep forward. Where the track swings left into stables, turn right through a gap in the hedge and walk around the top edge of a field with a hedge on your right.

Follow the hedge where it swings right then left past a house then left again down the side of the field. Look out for a gap in the hedge on your right to exit the field onto an enclosed path. This soon reaches a wooden gate and steps to a road.

Cross to the metal fieldgate and stile opposite. Go forward on a sunken, overgrown path for nearly a mile.

Eventually go through a wooden kissing gate and continue on a clear shady path. At a house the path becomes a road. Continue on down it.

At a crossing of tracks, turn left on a grassy way below a house and on into a sunken footpath. This is very muddy in parts. Cross a footbridge and keep on to a junction of paths by a great log on the left at a field edge.

Here turn right downhill to a footbridge. Cross and continue uphill past a pylon. Drop down to cross a stream, then follow the track as it swings right then left uphill under power lines. On reaching a hedge on your left, turn left along the hedge towards farm buildings.

Go down through the farm on the access road. On reaching woods, turn right by a pond onto a wide earthen track. Continue on this for some way, ignoring a path off right. Eventually emerge by a house (ignore path off right).

Go forward on a road passing houses on your right. Near the end where the road swings away left, continue straight on, on a gravel path, towards a lamp post and bollard. Go on to enter a narrow alley which emerges into Henfield High Street. Turn right for some way to come to The Plough pub opposite the Post Office and the end of the section.

GREATSTONE TO GILLINGHAM ROBUST RAMBLE

Section 22  Return

Henfield to Sayers Common

Map: Explorer 122 Brighton & Lewes

Distance/Time: 5 miles/ 3 hours

Start: The Plough pub in Henfield

Comment: An enjoyable walk with good views but crops, long grass and mud at certain times of year can make progress slow. There are many stiles. Because of large fields careful navigation is sometimes needed. There are short stretches of road walking but only one needing special care. Horse paddocks produce the usual problems including damaged waymark posts.

With The Plough behind, turn right down the High Street to the first road off right. This is Furners Lane. Turn down here for half a mile. Ignore paths off on the right.

Finally reach Bramley House. A few paces further on, at Field House, turn left, off the road, through a metal fieldgate onto an enclosed path.

After some way, reach a junction and turn right up through a gap in a section of wooden fencing, to another shady path, through trees. Emerge at a footbridge and cross into a field.

Bear slightly diagonally right, up the field ahead, aiming midway between two distant pylons, to a gap in the far hedge. Through this gap continue down the next field, squarely at a pylon on a hill.

At the bottom, cross a stile into a soggy meadow and go on up, still towards the pylon, to a footbridge at the top. Over this, turn right on a grassy way towards Park Farm.

At a metal fieldgate bear right over a stile and continue on a grassy way. On reaching a tradition red tile hung Sussex house, go forward on a tarmac drive (ignore path off on the right). Follow the drive uphill. At the top of the rise, by a timberframed byre, turn right on a vehicle track to a cottage.

Pass the cottage and continue beyond into a large field. Go along the bottom edge with woods on the right for ½ mile.

At the corner of the field, go straight on through a gap into trees to a footbridge and stile into an enclosed path between wooden fence and hedge, past a pond. On reaching a wooden fieldgate at a farm, do not go through, but turn left over a stile and footbridge in the hedge. Continue up the field edge with a hedge on your right.

Soon reach a metal fieldgate and a stile (broken). Cross this and turn left up a farm road. Just past the last house on the right, turn right through a gap in the hedge and over a footbridge into a field. Continue with a hedge on your right.

At the end of the field, cross a stile into a thicket of brambles, at a junction of paths. Cross to a stile opposite and keep on in the same direction. The path actually goes straight across the field about 10 metres away from the hedge on your left. At the far side it reaches a stile in a fence of metal poles by a panel of tall wooden garden fencing.

Cross onto an earthen track around horse paddocks and go forward. Cross a stile into a paddock. Cross to another stile to a further paddock, and on, to a double stile out to a busy road.

Turn left for 100 metres with great care. At a bend reach two drives off right. Turn right along the first, concrete, drive with speed bumps. Pass houses and business units. At the end of the drive, by the entrance to Firsland Farm, turn sharp left up a concrete track for a few paces, to an old wire gate on the right.

Go through and on up by a wire fence on your right to a stile and footbridge into a large field. Continue uphill in the same direction, aiming right of a pylon to the far opposite corner.

In the corner find a gap and go through a wooden gate and bear right into another large field. Cross to the far opposite corner.

Exit through a gap and gate to cross a footbridge into an overgrown enclosed path by the side of a field. Luckily this is a short path and soon bears right through a gap into a very large field. There is a waymark here pointing diagonally right up the centre of the field towards two isolated trees. However there is no evidence of a path.

Go up to the trees. Now turn right to go over to the far edge of the field. On reaching it turn left up the edge to the very top corner.

Here cross a footbridge and enter another field. Bear diagonally left across the field towards distant stables. In the top corner, pass a track and turn right over a footbridge and stile into a field. Go forward along the edge with a wire fence on your right.

At the far end, cross a stile onto a road. Turn right for 50 metres. Just after a bungalow, turn left on a concrete bridleway. Continue on this to swing around a pond to the front of a farmhouse. Here leave the bridleway and turn right on a path on another concrete track across the top of the pond.

Keep along the track (ignore an overgrown path off right) until it swings left at Cobb’s Barn Cottages. Keep straight down to a stile by a metal fieldgate. Cross and soon go over a concrete bridge (much equestrian damage to waymark posts now and no attempt to indicate path).

Go straight up the field ahead to a stile and metal fieldgate in the top corner. Cross and go on to the next corner (broken waymark post here pointing in wrong direction). Go ahead through a gap in the hedge and cross a footbridge into the corner of a field.

The path divides here. Bear left along the edge of the field towards a wood. On nearing the wood, turn right down the edge of the field. Ignore paths going into the wood and keep down the side of the field past the wood and on with a hedge on your left.

Finally reach a gap in the hedge. Go through to cross a footbridge and round to a stile. Cross and go diagonally left over to a Metal fieldgate and stile in the far opposite corner (a very muddy exit as a cattle trough has been thoughtfully placed there to encourage beasts to congregate here !).

Cross onto a road. Turn left and keep along to the far end and a road junction at Sayers Common. Cross to the Duke of York pub and the start of the section.