South Downs
Cooksbridge to Lewes
Start
1 Cooksbridge railway station (car park at station; much bigger one at
Lewes station)
GR: TQ400134
Cross A275 and turn R for 160m. Just after lane on R turn L along L-hand side of drive (by house called Nursery Cottage) beside hedge on L, continuing along enclosed path. Cross residential road and continue along path to field and across railway line. Turn R, then L in next field to Hamsey Lane. Turn R then L down Whitfeld Lane (Sussex Ouse Valley Way – SOVW – joins from L). Lane bends R, then reaches a R turn.
2
Route continues ahead along SOVW but worth making short detour to visit nearby Hamsey Church – L over bridge and along lane to end, then retrace steps. Follow riverside path to next junction and turn R under railway, then R again along track through trees to Offham, bearing L up to A275.
3
Cross with care and turn L to bridleway turn on R. Follow this uphill into woodland at top. Turn R through bridle gate and immediately L and continue through trees, bearing L up path to edge of open downland at field corner. Keep R initially alongside woodland on R, then up open slopes to beacon atop Mount Harry. Continue along escarpment via Blackcap to junction with South Downs Way (SDW).
4
Turn L and follow well waymarked SDW southwards (soon forking L) to/ across A27 via road bridge.
NB: SDW drinking water tap on wall outside Housedean Farm.
5
Continue uphill on SDW and along top for a few miles to Mill Hill, descending to Cricketing Bottom. Turn L along valley track, then R uphill and down to Southease. (Another SDW drinking water tap outside church.)
6
Continue along lane to historic Southease swing bridge (info panel about it).
7
Leave SDW and turn L along west bank of river (Egrets Way – surfaced path – runs parallel to it below on L). After 1.5km, path continues as SOVW, leading to Lewes. Last section is alongside Railway Land Nature Reserve, from where there is a path to the Pinwell Road entrance (map on display board in reserve if needed), very near Lewes station and its car park.
8
Finish
Lewes railway station GR: TQ416098
the very good reason that it was so poorly served. But I’ve certainly made good use of it since, especially for linear rail walks, with a choice of stations covering this eastern end of the South Downs providing scope for a variety of different walks. Sometimes it’s just a matter of getting off and heading wherever fancy takes you...
Today was just such an occasion. En route from Cooksbridge to the Downs on this fine, sunny day, I decided to make a brief detour to visit Hamsey Church on the way – a beautiful old church situated on a knoll in a curve of the
River Ouse, and well worth a visit (my first). A short and attractive stretch alongside the river itself – part of the Sussex Ouse Valley Way – followed by a track through the trees below the disused Offham chalk pits above (an information panel and leaflets at Cooksbridge station tell you more about this once busy quarry) led me to Offham. Then it was up onto the Downs and along the grassy escarpment via Mount Harry and Blackcap to the junction with the South Downs Way.
In spite of my aversion to the noisy, albeit safe, crossing of the A27 a few miles to the south, I decided to follow the South Downs Way in this direction, since I’ve walked the stretch to the west much more frequently. It’s a lovely section until the A27, where the traffic din is all too intrusive. You have to endure about 10 minutes of it, until the SDW turns under the railway line and, mercifully, it fades. After a steady climb up grassy slopes you’re back on the ridge again with skylarks singing overhead.
And today I spotted my first swift of the year – seldom seen these days.
Having made good progress along the top, enjoying the warm sunshine and views, I reached the charming village of Southease with time in hand. The picturesque church on the green has one of only three round towers in Sussex, all in the Ouse valley. There’s a little train station nearby, again with an hourly service, which is a long-established favourite with walkers, being right on the South Downs
Way. But it was too fine an evening to waste and I enjoyed a beautiful riverside walk back to Lewes. Egrets, herons, gulls and swans provided company, with the added bonus of an accompanying cuckoo call – another rarity in this part of the world these days.