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.

Strolls in Sussex: The Long Man of Wilmington

Weather: Warm, Sunny and Breezy

Sussex is a county I've not visited since I was a lad, growing up on the south coast of Hampshire. We used to visit relatives in the Chichester area but we never ventured much further east. Having timed our visit during the only week of good weather we seemed to get this Spring I decided to make the most of it with a six mile walk around one of the most striking landmarks in the area - the Long Man of Wilmington. One of the reasons I wanted to do this walk was that we have a etching of the long man by the artist Jeremy Blighton.

The Long Man of Wilmington by Jeremy Blighton

The view at the start of the walk

The walk starts with a stunning view of the Long Man, which is something like a film trailer showing all the best bits leaving you disappointed with the rest of the film. However I was not to be disappointed by this walk.

After walking up close to the feet of the Long Man (which is now made of concrete blocks painted white rather than being carved out of the turf) you head up and along the face of the escarpment and then down a chalk track to a road. This section was very busy with people flying kites, walking dogs and riding bikes at breakneck speed down the rather rugged track. They were all very polite and managed to avoid me in their pursuit of speed.

After a short road section beside several buildings built in local brick and flint and black painted woodwork the path climbs steeply onto the ridge. The landscape here is very open and I was very glad for my hat as the sun was strong and reflected brightly from the chalk of the path.


The path runs through the Lullington Heath Nature Reserve and I had a moments terror when I reached the far end of it and checked the map on the back of the reserve sign. According to that I had walked at 90 degrees to my intended path and was miles away from where I should have been!

I had two choices: 1. Go back to the pond at the heart of the reserve, about an hour or so back from where I stood or 2. Trust my judgement and my map reading and head on.
Fortunately I trusted my map-reading and a couple of hundred yards on there was the junction with the South Downs Way.

The next section has fantastic views into a coombe which had kites and buzzards soaring on the updraughts, it is always exciting to see birds close up and from above! You then continue above the Long Man getting a strange perspective on the figure and in spring the fields still show the chalky soil between the rows of grain just starting to grow.

Arty shot of fields

The track soon starts to descend and you rejoin the path that leads up from the car park. The walk is well worth doing, lots of open space, interesting sites and fairly easy navigation. The Giant's Rest pub had stopped serving food by the time I got back to it so be prepared for this.