Working in Partnership to Protect the South Downs South the Protect to Partnership in Working W ander the Wide Green Downs Green Wide the ander Email: [email protected] Email: .uk Telephone: 01243 558716 01243 Telephone: Ford Lane, Ford, W Sussex BN18 0EF BN18 Sussex W Ford, Lane, Ford Victorian Barn, Victorian Business Centre Business Victorian Barn, Victorian South Downs Joint Committee Joint Downs South The South Downs W Downs South The ay National Trail Officer Trail National ay or contact: or Photo: Bill Jenman © Countryside Agency Countryside © Jenman Bill Photo: www .visitsouthdowns.com www.nationaltrail.co.uk 01243 558700 or go to go or 558700 01243 F or more information go to to go information more or information please phone please information East Hampshire. Hampshire. East F or more or (AONB’s): Sussex Downs and Downs Sussex (AONB’s): Outstanding Natural Beauty Natural Outstanding designated as two Areas of Areas two as designated The South Downs are Downs South The The South Downs South The or visit www.sussexwt.org.uk www.sussexwt.org.uk visit or wildlife sites to e to sites wildlife xplore please ring (01273) 492630 (01273) ring please xplore For more information on the Trust’s work and work Trust’s the on information more For come and discover our best nature reserves. reserves. nature best our discover and come countryside and welcome you to you welcome and countryside 1400ha (3500 acres) of Susse of acres) (3500 1400ha x West Sussex. We look after about after look We Sussex. West conservation organisation in East and East in organisation conservation Sussex Wildlife Trust is the leading the is Trust Wildlife Sussex Wildlife Trust Wildlife x Susse www .buses.co.uk. frustration, if possible please travel by bus, by travel please possible if frustration, very full. To avoid disappointment and disappointment avoid To full. very P lease note that all of the car parks get parks car the of all that note lease Beacon and in the village. the in and Beacon parking at the bottom of Ditchling of bottom the at parking car park at Ditchling Beacon and free and Beacon Ditchling at park car There is a National Trust pay and display and pay Trust National a is There and Wales and If you drive, please park considerately park please drive, you If . Brighton and Hove buses 01273 886200. 01273 buses Hove and Brighton in England in Brighton (1/hr, Sun only in winter) - winter) in only Sun (1/hr, Brighton Circular Walks around Ditchling Beacon Ditchling around Walks Circular 79 bus to Ditchling Beacon from Beacon Ditchling to bus 79 Trails W eek ends and Bank Holidays; Bank and ends South Downs Way Downs South National e Ther Get to w Ho Photo: Bill Jenman © SWT © Jenman Bill Photo: NATIONAL TRAIL Three Walks A Short Walk About 3 Miles (41/ This leaflet offers you NATIONAL TRAIL 2 three walks of varying km), 2 hours length. You can enjoy including a climb today’s beautiful wildlife back up the hill. and landscape, following From the Beacon this takes you to Ditchling village routes ordinary people and back along routes used since prehistoric times. have used for thousands Ideal for a Sunday outing with a pub lunch. of years. A Longer Walk The timings are 9 miles (14km), 5 hours approximate and exclude including a climb back up the any long stops for lunch etc. You can get lunch in hill. Ditchling (pub, café, From the Beacon north to shops). We suggest you Blackbrook Wood and back via take something to drink if the village. Great for wildlife and the weather is hot, historical interest. Particularly especially if you are doing good in spring but expect mud. the longest walk. After rain, or in winter, parts of The South all the walks can be muddy, Downs Way so wear appropriate footwear. The long walk can be National Trail particularly muddy but it is The South Downs Way is a well worth it! 100 mile (160km) route for walkers, cyclists, and horse Underhill Lane allows you to cut riders, and runs from the out the climb up the hill, but the historic English capital of views make it well worth the effort. Winchester to the white chalk cliffs of Eastbourne. A Stroll. It is one of a family of National Trails, About 3 miles (41/ km), 11/ hours 2 2 offering visitors the From Ditchling Beacon car park this takes chance to travel you through the Ditchling Beacon Nature through some of Reserve along the ridge of the Downs to the finest scenery Jack and Jill Windmills. Superb views. in England and Wander the Wide Green Downs Wales. Circular Walks around Ditchling Beacon NATIONAL TRAIL A Westmeston Church dates from the 11th Century B Look ahead to Blackbrook wood on the horizon as you follow the ancient drove road northwards C Blackbrook wood is an ancient woodland, saved from destruction by developers in the early 1990s with the help of the Wildlife Trust. A carpet of spring wildflowers shows the benefits of coppicing (regular woodcutting, allowing the stumps to regrow to form the next crop) D A ford and a footbridge cross the stream Things to look out for by a pretty cottage E Ditchling Beacon Iron Age hillfort. The earthworks can still be seen today. Sadly much of the southern part of the fort has been destroyed by ploughing, however. Over 1600 years later Ditchling Beacon was part of a chain of bonfire sites used to send a signal along the coast when the Spanish Armada approached F Jack and Jill Windmills date from the 1800s. Jill is open from May to September, afternoons only. See www.jillwindmill.org.uk for more info G The sunken path or Bostal dates back over 6000 years to the Stone Age H Ditchling is a very attractive old village with a good pub, shops, and places to stay I Chalk was excavated here during the late 1800s for agriculture and to make burnt lime for building mortar etc. Remains of four limekilns are also in this area The ghosts of long gone shepherds downland herbs, flowers and butterflies to thrive. Across the South KEY: Bridleway Until about WW1, sheep were grazed on the open Downs only 5% of the original chalk A Stroll Downs watched over by a shepherd. In those days Other routes with grassland remains. public access there were no trees or fences on the Downs like there A Short Walk Kestrels hover, glide and circle as they are now. Each evening he would take his sheep off the National hill and fold them onto the ploughland at the bottom of search for voles and beetles in the A Longer Walk Trail grassland. Spotting its prey, the bird the slope so that their dung would fertilize it. The walks Footpath in this leaflet follow the ancient routes to and rapidly drops headlong with folded from the hill that the shepherds have used wings towards the ground. for thousands of years. Skylarks’ loud, continuous All maps reproduced from or based upon 2005 Ordnance warbling song is the Survey material with permission of the Controller of Ditchling Beacon HMSO (c) Crown Copyright reserved. Unauthorised sound of summer along reproduction infringes Crown copyright and may lead to Nature Reserve the Downs. They nest on prosecution or civil proceedings West Sussex County Council Licence No. 100018485 On the Nature Reserve traditional grazing the ground, favouring areas with short grass and has been re-introduced to restore chalk Map reproduced from the 2004 1:25,000 Ordnance Survey grassland. The short, warm turf few trees. Explorer series Map 122: Brighton and Hove maintained by livestock is perfect for Text: © Counrtyside Agency Photography: © David Plummer www.davidplummerimages.co.uk except where stated..