Robust Rambles

Section 23

Henfield to Ashurst

Walk Details

Walk Instructions

GREATSTONE TO GILLINGHAM ROBUST RAMBLE

Section 23  Out

Henfield to Ashurst

Map: OS Explorer 122 Brighton & Hove

Distance/Time: 3.5 miles/ 2 hours

Start: The Plough pub at the bottom end of the High Street inn Henfield; there are several public car parks off the main street, currently free.

Comment: An excellent short walk with much contrast from fields and farm tracks to strolling the former flood plain of the River Adur. The old railway line to Shoreham is crossed, and there is an excellent pub at Ashurst itself an interesting place as the home of Michael Fairless (this was the pseudonym of Margaret Fairless Barber (1869-1901) who wrote ‘The Roadmender’, also much visited by the great actor Sir Lawrence Olivier. There are several stiles and some fieldgates to traverse. Beware of heavy fieldgates suddenly dropping when pushed off the catch.

With The Plough pub behind, turn right down the main street a short distance. Cross at the crossing and turn left along Church Street.

Pass Parsonage Road off right, and join a raised pavement above the road on your left.  Where the path drops down to the road again, turn immediately right on a private road past Sobell Court.

Cross a small car park and continue on a paved footpath. Emerge by grass, to pass a metal fieldgate and reach a road. Cross the road and go forward across grass to another road (Hudson Way) and continue up it.

Follow the road as it bears left, ignoring paths off right downhill. At the end reach a junction with Meadow Drive. Keep forward along Meadow Drive with high brick walls on your left towards open country.

At the end of housing turn left up the footpath alongside Deer Park (ignore the track to Parsonage Farm). The path soon divides. Bear right to pass a lamp post. At the T-junction of paths at the top turn right. Walk along with a hedge on your left and fields on the right.

At a corner, by a neglected pond, turn right along the field edge. Follow an obvious path up the side of two fields crossing a ditch halfway. At a corner follow the path left to pass a stand of three oak trees.

At the far side turn right, still along the edge, looking for a gap in the hedge on the left over a footbridge to meet the track of an old railway, now a major path called The Downs Link. Cross straight over to a footpath going up a bank into a field.

Go forward on this path between trees, directly away from the railway (this may be a diversion from the OS map). Continue along the top of a sloping field to a T-junction with a farm track by a barn. Turn left, downhill, on this track.

At the bottom of the hill turn right, off the tack, on to a gravel drive to Chates house; there is a stream on your left. Continue past the house to reach a stile in the corner of the field. From here the path drops down to cross two footbridges.

Soon reach a T-junction with the footpath running along the bank of the River Adur. Turn left on this for ½ mile. Ignore an Environment Agency footbridge, soon reached. Also ignore two footpaths off left.

Eventually reach a gated public footbridge and cross the river. At the far side walk straight away from the river to a stile in a wire fence. Cross and continue to a further stile passing a farm on your left.

Over this second stile, go straight across a pasture. At a lone oak tree in mid-field, turn left, uphill, towards the farm. At the top of the rise cross a stile by a wooden fieldgate, and turn right to pass a shed. Keep on to reach a wooden swing gate onto a farm drive. Turn right on this.

In ¼ mile emerge onto a main road. Turn left a short way, passing new Ashurst village hall, to reach the Fountain Inn and the end of the section.

GREATSTONE TO GILLINGHAM ROBUST RAMBLE

Section 23  Return

Ashurst to Henfield

Map: OS Explorer 122 Brighton & Hove

Distance/Time: 4 miles/ 2 hours

Start: The Fountain Inn, Ashurst. Limited parking so ask at the pub if intending to return for refreshment.

Comment: An enjoyable walk with many twists and turns through fields, woods, quiet lanes and river meadows. There are views of the South Downs contrasted with secret and secluded places. There are stiles and some patches that might be boggy after wet weather.

With the Fountain Inn behind, cross the road and turn left. Soon turn right up the side road, School Lane. Keep up the road until reaching the school on your right.

Here turn left on a footpath opposite the school, leading into a playing field. Bear left, diagonally across the playing field (and over the cricket square) towards the far opposite corner. Just left of the corner is a stile hidden by bushes in the hedge.

Cross into a pasture with a pleasant Georgian house and Ha-Ha over on the left. Walk diagonally right down this long, sloping field towards the far, bottom opposite corner (ignore a gateway over on your left by a tall tree halfway down).

Just before reaching the bottom corner, look for a gap in the hedge on your left with a broken stile and plank footbridge. Cross and continue over a rough pasture to a stile and footbridge at the far side. Over this continue to a kissing gate leading to a main road.

Turn right on the road with great care for 50 metres, there is no verge and the traffic is fast. As soon as possible cross to the other side where a verge appears. Soon reach Blake’s Farm and turn left through a metal fieldgate into the farmyard.

Bear diagonally left to metal fieldgates and pass into a small sloping paddock. Continue diagonally left down to a wooden fieldgate in the far, bottom, opposite corner. Walk up a narrow pasture, with a stream on your left, to a wooden kissing gate by a metal fieldgate.

Continue on a well-defined grassy path to reach a stile by a metal fieldgate. Go uphill with a fence and hedge on your right. At the top corner, by a small storage area, turn left along the top edge of the field, ignoring gates off right.

Keep along the top edge of the field to a metal fieldgate at the far end. Go through and straight down to pass the end of a small lake on your right. Immediately turn right through metal fieldgates and past a trough to a tree.

Turn left along the bottom of a pasture with a hedge on your left. At the end of the field, in the corner, is a metal fieldgate. Use this, or a stile a bit further up on the right, to exit onto a cross path coming down through woods. Turn left on this bridleway.

Soon emerge before Bineham footbridge over the River Adur. Cross and turn left at the far side for a short distance to a metal fieldgate, then right, away from the river, to continue on the bridleway, now rather muddy.

Keep on through farm buildings. The path becomes a rough drive. On reaching a crossing with a wide vehicle drive, by Topfield House, turn right along it.

Continue along and down the drive past Frogshole house on your left to reach a metal fieldgate. Through this continue on a grassy way to reach an open pasture.

Go straight on with a hedge on your left. At the far end, hidden behind a bush, is a footbridge. Cross and follow a rough, narrow path between ditches.

At the far end cross a stile and turn left through trees. At the top of a rise emerge into a field. Turn left along the field edge to reach a metal fieldgate in the end corner. Next to it is a stile. Over this turn immediately right over another stile into the adjoining field.

Go diagonally left across the centre of this rough pasture to the far opposite corner, passing a farm well over on your right.

In the far corner is a stile. Cross onto a meeting of many tracks. Take the third left leaving all buildings behind.

After some way and on approaching a farmhouse just before the track begins to rise, turn right over a stile and down into a rather soggy pasture. Go up the edge for 20 metres to a metal fieldgate on your left.

Go through and turn diagonally right up another pasture to a stile at a crossing of paths in the top hedge. Cross and go up a bank to a corner of a field. Turn left up the edge of the field with hedge and trees on your left.

At the end of the field turn right a short distance to another corner, then left down to a wooden gate. Emerge onto a cross track (the Downs Link old railway again).

Go straight over this path and on, up towards a greenhouse on a rough vehicle track. Bear left then right on this track, to go up the side of a concrete barn. Continue on past a bungalow. At a junction, continue uphill to meet a road.

Turn right on the road. Pass Broomfield Road. Soon reach a footpath off left opposite a tin hall. Turn left up this path between a wooden fence and a hedge. At the end reach a road.

Turn right to cross the road to a footpath enclosed between a hedge and a flint wall. At the end the path becomes a wide vehicle drive. Go straight ahead on this, ignoring all side turns, to emerge onto the main street in Henfield. Turn left down to The Plough pub and the start of the section.