Cuckoo Trail & Pevensey Levels Circular

eastsussex.gov.uk

Cycling in East Sussex: Avenue Verte Route Guide Cuckoo Trail & Pevensey Levels circular This circular ride offers a much gentler Glide gently downhill through mature excursion than those exploring the woodland and admire the wonderful High Weald further north. The parts of metal sculpture either side of Cattle the route crossing the Pevensey Levels Creep bridge depicting trains, bikes, are as flat as anything you will find in horses, walkers, dogs and wild the whole country. animals. Children will love the Wildlife Polegate – Herstmonceux Art Trail – a series of carved wooden tableaux depicting creatures such as Go east from Polegate crossing the hedgehogs and squirrels. The Cuckoo A27 by bridge before entering the Trail takes you right back to Polegate. Pevensey Levels, a landscape of deep drainage channels, tall reeds, and Places of Interest → contented cows munching the lush Hellingly Church The church of St grass in the rich pastures. The horizon Peter and St. Paul has a rare circular looks like the rim of a saucer, just churchyard of Saxon origin known as rising above the flat fields crossed a cric. Standing seven feet above the on the ride. The buildings and domes surrounding houses it is held in place surrounding Herstmonceux Castle by tall brick walls. Its circular form is appear on your right. believed to represent the Celtic symbol Ginger’s Green – Horam for immortality and was raised above The main hill of the ride comes at the ground level to keep the dead dry. north edge of the Levels, climbing Pevensey Levels The area was formed 60 metres as you cross the A271 by a build-up of shingle across to Ginger’s Green and on to Stunts Pevensey Bay, which was reclaimed Green. Refreshment stops have in the Middle Ages to create a broad been in short supply since leaving plain of pasture land with dykes Hailsham but this is remedied in and isolated farms. It is now an Cowbeech. Several crossings of the internationally important wetland tributaries of the Cuckmere River for wildlife. mean a series of ups and downs on Herstmonceux Castle Location of a your way through Beestons and Marle fairytale castle, Science Centre and Green to Horam, where you join the former Royal Observatory telescopes. Cuckoo Trail. It was from the Observatory’s atomic Cuckoo Trail – Polegate clocks at Herstmonceux that the Year-on-year the trail becomes a more familiar ‘six-pips’ were sent by land- interesting ride. New sculptures are line to the BBC for broadcast to mark built and new interpretation boards the start of each hour. give you background information Cuckoo Trail Originally part of the about all that lies around you. Polegate to Eridge railway, which Woodland management opens up was named the Cuckoo Line after the new views and creates habitats for a tradition that the first cuckoo of spring variety of flora and fauna. was released at Heathfield Fair. It was

2 closed as part of the Beeching Cuts Green then several shorter ones in 1968 and reopened as a leisure between Stunts Green and Horam route shared by walkers, cyclists Refreshments and horseriders in 1990. The trail is 14 miles long, from Heathfield in the Horam, Hailsham, Cowbeech, north to Hampden Park, Eastbourne, Polegate in the south, and forms part of Tourist Information Centres National Cycle Network Route 21 and Lewes Tourist the Avenue Verte London – Paris. Information Centre: 01273 483448 Starting point Eastbourne Tourist Information Office: 0871 6630031 Polegate (calls charged at 10p per min from BT Distance land lines) 23 miles / 37 kilometres Cycle Hire and Shops Off road/rough sections Heathfield: The Cuckoo Trail is a well-surfaced Cycle Revival: 01435 866118 traffic-free railway path Eastbourne: Grade Cycleman: 01323 501157 Eastbourne: Easy / Moderate Phoenix Cycles: 01323 729060 Major climbs Polegate: One main climb (60 metres) – from Kontour Cycles: 01323 482368 the Pevensey Levels up to Stunts

3 Cycling in East Sussex

Cuckoo Trail & Pevensey Levels circular Avenue Verte

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A259 A Road

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C Church Jarvis’s Hill Wood E N LA AM Pub Stunts SH IL Green CH House of Interest

Take Care! 7 6 Herstmonceux 2 A Ginger’s Green Herstmonceux Follow Road Sign as Marked A271 Park Wood Car parking Hellingly

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Polegate Stunts Green Cowbeech Horam Hailsham Polegate

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2 Hankham A A 27 A27(T) B (T Polegate 22 SHEPHAM ) B 47 21 LANE 04