Strolls in Sussex: Two Rings to Rule them All

Weather: Warm and Sunny

This was a simple but very pleasant walk between two Iron Age hill forts in West Sussex. What made it extra special was that I could do it with my wife and being that it was pretty much on the level on wide tracks we could do it side by side discussing what we saw on the way. On hillier routes Liz normally complains that all she sees is a rather large backside...

Anyway... we started the walk by walking around the ramparts of Cissbury Ring, the largest hill fort in Sussex which dates back some 5000 years. From the ramparts you get fantastic views out to the coast and across the Sussex Downs. It was lambing season and everywhere you looked the lambs were gambling and bleating in a very cute fashion. It also gave me an idea for a game to play on walks - lamb bingo. Each lamb tends to have a number on it to match it with its mother so it would be easy to carry a bingo card with you and when you see a lamb or ewe with the appropriate number you can tick it off on your card.

I am not a number, I am a free lamb

After walking around the ramparts (a group was actually jogging round which I felt was a bit extreme) you return past the small car park (I would like to point out that the track out to the ring could have been better signed we kept getting lost in the little village before finding the correct track) and along a wide chalk track with Chanctonbury Ring in the distance.

Chanctonbury Ring by Jeremy Blighton

Like the Long Man at Wilmington, we were inspired to do this walk by our shared love of the ancient landscape and our etching by Jeremy Blighton.

The walk is easy as all you need to do is follow the wide track, keeping the tree capped hill of Chanctonbury Ring in view.

Eventually you reach a signpost marking the junction with the South Downs way - something we seemed to cross with somewhat scary frequency on many of the main roads we travelled on our holiday. If I was going to walk the South Downs way I would be concerned at the number of times I had to cross bury dual carriageways - especially if it was towards the end of a long hot day. I remember the same thing happening on the London LOOP, after you've walked twelve miles in the rain or sun there is very little left in the tank for rapid acceleration!

Chanctonbury Ring is smaller and covered with a cap of trees giving it a much more mysterious feel to Cissbury Ring and proved to be a more than acceptable picnic stop before we returned along the same track, this time with a view of Cissbury Ring to guide us back to the car all the while red kites circled around on the strong thermals.