Robust Rambles

Section 24

Ashurst to Ashington

Walk Details

Walk Instructions

GREATSTONE TO GILLINGHAM ROBUST RAMBLE

Section 24  Out

Ashurst to Ashington

Map: OS Explorer 122 Brighton & Hove and 121 Arundel to Pulborough

Distance/Time: 4 miles/ 2 hours

Start: The Fountain Inn, Ashurst; little parking except at the pub; ask if intending to return for refreshment

Comment: A walk of highs, St. James’ church is a gem, and lows. Constant change, from fields, to woods to secluded enclosed paths. However, a very overgrown section which may force a diversion. There are many stiles.

With the Fountain Inn behind, cross the road, to a stile and footpath opposite. Go up the side of the field with a hedge on your right. At the top cross a stile into an enclosed path and follow this for some way over two footbridges to emerge onto a road.

Turn right along the road soon passing St. James’ Church ( a delightful medieval building worth a few moments pause). Continue on looking for a stile on your left.

Cross this into a corner of a field and go up the side of the field with trees on your left. At the top corner, go straight on, to leave the field down a bank. Turn sharp left along the edge of a lower field, still with woods on your left. At the next corner, follow round to the right.

Continue for some way to the top corner of the field. Here turn right still along the field edge. The field gradually rises. At the top, turn left over a stile by a wire fence. Follow this fence to a corner. Here turn right along with a hedge on your left for a short way. Reach a corner and a junction of paths.

Turn left through a small wooden gate into a narrow path between tall wire fence and bushes. This is a long path with much growth of hawthorn, brambles and holly. If you have secateurs you might get through. The second half improves. (If the path is impossible do not turn left through the gate but keep on up the field on the other path. Keep on into another field by a hedge. Turn left towards Brookwood Farm. Reach a T-junction with a bridleway and turn left on this to follow it through the farm and out to a road. Turn left on the road for some way looking for a plank bridge on your right into a field. These instructions are taken from the map and have not been walked).

If you make it to the end, cross a stile out to road (OS Map 121 now needed). Cross the road to a plank bridge into a field by a pond. Go straight across, to a gap at the far side.

Turn left on a tractor track, with a hedge on your left. Keep on the track, bearing right by a house, to reach a T-junction. Turn right, past a trough, and continue along the field edge with a hedge on your left. At the end corner of the field, drop down through a gap to the field beyond and a junction of paths. Ignore the path going sharp left and instead, go on across the rather boggy field, bearing slightly left. Reach and cross a long footbridge in trees and emerge into a field corner.

Go ahead up the edge of the field for 10 metres to a junction of paths. Turn left here, on a grassy path, across the field towards a farm.

Go through a tall wire gate at the far side and continue along the top edge of a pasture with lake below. Pass the farm on your right. Stick along the field edge as it zigzags past the farm and stay with it as it drops downhill to a bottom corner (ignore all gates onto the farm site).

In the bottom corner find a metal kissing gate and, through this, go on, over a footbridge, to another kissing gate. Continue up through woods. In 100 metres bear left to a kissing gate and follow the field edge beyond to yet another kissing gate by a metal fieldgate at the far side.

Through this continue as before up the next field with a hedge on your right. Reach another kissing gate onto a track into woods. The track swings left. Do not follow it. Go straight over and down a narrow path into the wood.

Go downhill to a kissing gate and footbridge into a valley bottom. Turn sharp right on a muddy track for 10 metres, then turn left up a grassy bank by the side of a small wood alongside a ditch (there is no obvious path although there is a wooden fingerpost hidden in a bush).

At the top corner of the wood is a metal kissing gate. From here strike out across the open field ahead. Cross the line of an old stream midway and keep on again, parallel with power lines on your left, to another metal kissing gate at the far side.

Enter a path enclosed between hedge and fence. Soon reach and join a wide gravel drive down to a concrete cross track. Go over to a stile and continue up the grassy track ahead.

At the end of the wood do not go on up the drive, but look for a stile on your left. Cross this and turn right to follow the fence on your right uphill past the farm to a further stile. Cross into a pasture and continue up under power lines to a stile at the top.

Over this bear diagonally right down and across the centre of the field to the far opposite corner. Cross a stile into a path enclosed between fences. Emerge to pass a house on your left. Ignore a junction with a bridleway and go forward on a concrete drive by a wooden fence.

At double metal fieldgates, turn left on a wide tarmac road. In a few metres, bear left off the road, up a grassy way. Follow this for some way alongside the busy A24. Ignore a path off left and shortly after turn right over a footbridge over the A24. At the far side follow the path to a T-junction. Turn right down and around, to soon meet a residential road. Cross to the path opposite and follow this to a main road in Ashington.

Turn left for ¼ mile passing the village shop to eventually reach the Red Lion pub and restaurant, over on the right, and the end of the section.

GREATSTONE TO GILLINGHAM ROBUST RAMBLE

Section 24  Return

Ashington to Ashurst

Map: OS Explorer 122 Brighton & Hove and 121 Arundel to Pulborough

Distance/Time: 4 miles/ 2 hours

Start: The Red Lion pub in Ashington; on street parking or ask in the pub.

Comment: A mostly gentle walk along field edges and woodland paths. However the landowner has made things particularly difficult at Jessops farm involving crawling through fences and climbing gates. There are endless stiles on this section.

With the Red Lion pub behind, walk across the car park to the main road. Turn right downhill and follow the road under the A24 concrete overbridge.

Immediately through, turn left up the roadway to Broadbridge Farm. In 20 metres, just before a fork in the road, turn right on a footpath into bushes. Soon pass through a metal kissing gate into a field. Continue up the edge to the far side and a footbridge and metal kissing gate into an enclosed grassy path.

On meeting a gravel vehicle track, turn right then soon go left over a footbridge into another enclosed path. At the end cross a stile into a sloping pasture. Bear diagonally left downhill to the far bottom corner, aiming for a large tree.

Find a stile behind the tree. Cross and turn left along the edge of a large field with a hedge on your left, passing two small pylons.

At the end cross two stiles and a footbridge into the next field. Turn immediately right to follow the hedge on your right to a stile at the top. Cross into a wood and continue to a concrete road. Turn left along this for ¼ mile.

Eventually the track rises uphill. Pass a house on the left at the top and immediately turn right over a stile in to a field. Walk along the edge with a fence on your left.

Cross a stile and continue to another leading into woods. A muddy path leads down to cross a stream then up through woods. Ignore all side paths.

Leave the wood over a footbridge into a field. Immediately turn left over another footbridge. Do not go on along the edge of the wood on your left, but turn diagonally right to cross the field towards a hillock with a lone oak tree on top. Skirt the bottom of the hillock and head towards another wood ahead. Look for a metal kissing gate and footbridge leading into the trees. Watch for a very boggy patch just before the gate.

Go up through the wood for some way. When farm buildings can just be seen through the trees, turn sharp left down a bank, then sharp right to a junction of paths in front of a pond. Here go straight ahead up an enclosed path towards Jessop’s Farm passing the pond on your right. There is now a difficult section.

At the top of the path cross a stile onto a gravel farm track. Go straight over to a wooden gate into an area of scrub. Bear right to follow the fence on your right past a neglected pond to soon reach another stile.

Cross to a gravel track and once more go straight over to continue on a narrow enclosed path. At the end is no stile but a gap in the fence which must be crawled through. Go forward on a gravel drive.

Where this swings left drop down to the right to go through double wooden fieldgates. Immediately turn left to a further wooden fieldgate. This is locked and has a notice warning of bull in field (there wasn’t one; it is illegal to display notices in this way). The only way forward was to squeeze through the fence or climb the gate.

In the field ahead soon reach a wooden power pole. Here bear diagonally right to a gateway in the far opposite top corner. Go through and continue to a stile by a metal fieldgate and on by a wire fence to a wooden swing gate just before a hedge. Turn right through the gate.

Immediately turn left and go through a wooden fieldgate to follow an enclosed path between hedges. Meet a rough drive and turn left along it.

Where the drive turns sharp left towards a road, turn right onto a bridleway through trees. In 50 metres turn left over a stile by a metal fieldgate. Go up the side of a field to a stile in the fence ahead.

Over this cross a drive to another stile and enter a rough pasture go past a pond on your right to two more stiles and a footbridge into a large field. Go up the side with a hedge on your right.

At the top cross a stile by a metal fieldgate. Walk up to meet a farm drive. Cross straight over to a stile by a metal fieldgate. This leads into a grassy area with a tall garden hedge on your left. Walk up along the hedge to a metal fieldgate at the very end. In the hedge on the left is a very overgrown stile.

Cross this and go up the field edge a short way to a corner then turn right still along the field edge with a wooden fence on your left. Midway along is a stile (with a misleading fingerpost) on your left. Cross the stile and bear diagonally right uphill to a stile in the top far corner.

Cross onto a road. Turn right on the road for 100 metres. Look for a stile in the hedge on your right. Leave the road over this stile and continue up the field edge to a stile in the top corner. Do not cross but turn left, along by a fence on your right towards farm buildings.

Cross a stile by a metal fieldgate and pass between two barns to a gravel drive. Turn left on this down to a road. Turn right on the road past Ashurst School and playing field. Keep on to the end at a junction with a main road. Cross to the Fountain Inn and the start of the section.