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The South's toughest circular route bar none! ***The Alternative South Downs Way*** - 135 miles Smaller 99 mile 12,500ft Brighton Circular GPS map
Blue Route is the South Downs Way Red route is the Alternative South Downs Way. Makes a great there and back trip! TRAVEL LOG OF ROUTE SUMMER 2002
Introduction This route as been devised to use as little of the South Downs Way as possible. It utilises less well-used tracks to the south of the main route. The ride starts at Petersfield, as the old route did, it and heads east from there. There was no real point in starting at Winchester, as anyone who has done the South Downs Way before knows that this end of the way is a mish-mash of road and easy tracks. The route is less direct than the South Downs Way often having to zigzag north/south to connect some of the bridleways. The mileage comes close to the official trail because of this. I first thought of this long distance trail whilst writing up some of the routes for the website, it was just a question of joining up all the circulars on the site and patching them all together to make a fully-fledged route. I rode the route in the summer of 2001 after the foot and mouth, incident and have just completed it again during the Jubliee Weekend June 2002. The route. 1. Start Queen Elizabeth Country Park car park. Head south along the Bridleway skirting the woods. At the junction with the South Downs Way, go straight on south running parallel with the A3. This will be the last time you use the South Downs Way for 80 miles!. Follow the Bridleway south alongside the wood until you reach a road; turn left along the road to Chalton. Go though Chalton and cross a railway, where the road bends around to the right, carry straight on along a very rough road to Cowdown farm.
Go out onto the road and turn left then right at the next 2 road
junctions, after 30-yard turn left onto a small road and follow this to a
Bridleway at the top of a road climb. Turn right onto the track and follow
this south, keep going past until you reach a road, turn left and follow
the road around downhill to a Bridleway turn off to you left. At Bridleway
x-road turn right and follow down to a road, go straight across the road
and follow this Bridleway to
2.
At
Follow this Bridleway to a road/carpark, go straight across the road and follow the Bridleway skirting to the south of the radio masts. Go out onto the road and turn right along the road and turn left onto another road, past Goodwood racecourse. Follow this road to where is bears slightly to the right, take the Bridleway alongside the road and keep following it to a road junction. Go back onto the road and head east (straight ahead) for 1 mile along the road, take the 3rd Bridleway to your left just before the car park and follow it downhill to Droke, turn left onto the road, the immediately right onto a Bridleway past a farm yard, follow this Bridleway north uphill onto a fireroad, follow this fireroad north until you come to a 4way Bridleway x-roads, take the first Bridleway to your right and follow this uphill for one mile. Just before you come out onto the South Downs Way take the Bridleway to you right, almost double backing on yourself, go through the wood and out onto a field edge, follow this Bridleway as it drops downhill to Upwaltham. Turn right along the road then left onto a Bridleway that goes behind a farm house, follow this Bridleway uphill into West Wood. At the top turn left onto a Bridleway and follow this keeping right at the next junction. Carry straight on at the next x-road, go through the gate into a field below the radio masts and carry straight on at the next x-roads, ignoring the Bridleway to your right, at the intersection where 5 bridleways converge just below the car park, carry straight on bearing SSE on a Bridleway down through the Denture, carry on downhill and follow the cycle path to the round-a-bout a Whiteway Lodge. 3. Here turn left along the main road and look out for a Bridleway going across a field to your right (after about 30 yards). Take this downhill following closely to the B2138, the Bridleway takes to out a Houghton, where you follow the road down across the river Arun, soon after you cross the bridge take the small road to your right and follow it to North Stoke, keep on this road as it bears around to the left uphill. Take the first Bridleway to your right and follow this track around to you right, which eventually becomes a small road leading into Burpham. Keep going straight on this road to Wepham, where you take the second Bridleway to your left up a concrete farm track, come off this farm track and follow the Bridleway downhill to your right. At the bottom of the hill take the Bridleway into the trees to your left and go uphill out onto a main fireroad track, cross the track onto another better made fireroad and turn left. Follow this straight on through the wood heading east. Take the forth Bridleway to your left (after 1 ½ miles of fireroad) and head north down into Michelgrove. Turn left onto the road and go slightly up hill, look out for a Bridleway to your right and take this go by farm buildings. Keep going straight on at the next farm following the farm road to the south east, come off this after 150 yards and follow the Bridleway east to the main road. Cross over the main road and take the Bridleway heading south, after ¼ mile take the first Bridleway to you left downhill keeping left to another mainroad. 4. Cross this main road on to a smaller road at the other side, follow this into Findon and at the x-roads turn right onto another road then turn almost immediately left and follow this road uphill past houses, at the top, take the Bridleway to your right and follow this gently uphill to a Bridleway x-roads. Turn right here down toward Cissbury ring. At the car park turn left downhill under Cissbury and follow this Bridleway straight on East carrying straight on over x-roads to a small road, go straight across this road to a Bridleway the other side. Follow this straight on to another Bridleway x-roads, carry straight on through the small gate and follow the track around to a cattle grid, the Bridleway here turns off the main track to the right, so follow it along the edge of the field running parallel with the fence to a gate on your right, go through the gate and turn left, after about 5 yards turn left again do to another gate, got through this down to a gate by a small church, go through this gate down to yet one more gate at the bottom left of a small field., go out onto a farm road and turn right, at the road at the bottom turn left and follow this road for ¾ mile past another church, turn right at onto the Bridleway/South Downs Way!!!. 5. Don’t worry as after 5 yards you turn left onto the Down link path, follow this north and carry on over the main road, keep following this to a round-a-bout and turn right along a road into Bramber, follow this road going over the river Adur, over a mini round – a – bout past a garage to another round - a – bout, turn left here and follow the road for 500 yards to a Bridleway/track on your right, follow this Bridleway uphill to a car park and road at the top. Go straight across the road to a Bridleway the other side, go through the gate and follow this Bridleway uphill then down into a valley, climb to a gate, then keep climbing to another Bridleway t-junction, turn right through a gate and follow this track south to another gate, keep going straight on to another gate, and then turn left over a stile onto a footpath, follow this around to your right through some shrub, once you have cleared the shrub, turn left and cycle down a steep hill with not obvious path the a gate at the bottom (by a farm), got through the gate, turn right, then turn left onto a Bridleway, go through the gate and climb carrying on through 2 more gates to a t-junction, turn right here and follow the Bridleway down to a bridge over the A27 by pass. If you want to know the didtance at this point its 53 miles, but who's counting! Do not go over the bridge but turn left downhill to a farm, carry straight on this Bridleway, ignoring the Bridleway to the left and carry on to Skeleton Hovel golf house, carry straight on here and by the gold club house turn left along a track going up to a road, turn left along this road and take the Bridleway across a golf course to your right. Follow this to a road and go straight across going through a gate, turn left at the Bridleway (onto the south downs way for a bit!), follow the SDW uphill for 200 yards and turn off to your right (almost doubling backing on yourself) onto a narrow Bridleway that heads downhill alongside the Devils Dyke, follow this down to a gate, go through the gate and follow the Bridleway to a road, at the road turn right, then immediately right again, double backing on to another Bridleway, follow this uphill to a road, go straight across the road and go though a gate to your left, follow the SDW around to your right. Past a group of farm houses, go through another gate and follow the track up hill, at the next gate turn left off the South Downs Way along a Bridleway which runs north east across the field in front of you, there is no track here to follow to just head slightly left uphill until you reach the fence at the top. A the fence turn left until you reach a gate in some bushes to you right, go through this gate and follow the Bridleway downhill to the main road. Go over the bridge across the main road and follow the road uphill to your left, it turns into a rutted (muddy when wet) Bridleway, follow this for ½ mile to a Bridleway to your right, go through the gate here and almost double back on yourself turning right up a Bridleway, follow this through a gate and drop down the other side of the hill, look out for a Bridleway to your left on the downhill and take this due south to Pyecombe village. 6. At Pyecombe turn left down the road to the main road, then turn right onto a Bridleway, climbing over a golf course, follow this straight on and zigzag across to a Bridleway junction, carry straight on down to Lower Saltdean and take the Bridleway to the left and follow it over the bow of a hill down into a valley, follow the Bridleway up the valley, going through a small gate to your right and carry on uphill to another gate, keep going until you reach a t-junction and take the Bridleway to your right as it double backs onto a road. At the road go straight across onto the track the otherside (currently classed as a footpath!) Anyway, follow this track downhill to an x-roads and take the Bridleway to the left downhill, follow this across a valley and take the next Bridleway to your right past the gate, follow this down to the farm and carry straight on to a road, follow this down hill to where it bears around to the right. Opposite the pub, take the bridge over the road and turn right into Falmer Village, go past the pond and take the permissive Bridleway to your left uphill, follow this Bridleway around to your left and go through the gate, turn right go through another gate and go uphill to a t-junction. Turn right here along a Bridleway, then take the next Bridleway to your left, follow this down hill and carry straight on past a farm building, out onto a track to you left, follow this to where the Bridleway bears right and take the Bridleway through the gate to your left, turn left and follow the Bridleway uphill, at the top turn right and follow the trail straight on as it bears south towards Telscombe village, ignoring the track to your left and right, follow the Bridleway to the top of a road, turn left onto the road and descend into the village, just past the church turn right onto a Bridleway and follow this onto a track past a row of houses, follow this straight on downhill onto a track, go straight across this track onto a Bridleway the otherside, climb uphill to a gate, turn left onto a wide track and follow down in to Piddinghoe. 7. Turn right onto the road and follow this down into Newheaven, at the junction with the main road, turn right and follow the cycle path down to the river, cross the swing bridge over the river and follow the main road straight over he first round -a- bout. At the next round -a- bout, turn left onto B road, after about 500 yards turn right onto another B road and follow into Denton, where the road bears around sharply to the left, keep going straight on uphill and the road eventually turns in to a Bridleway, carry on past the x-roads ignoring bridleways to the left and right, continue on up the hill for 2 miles and take the first Bridleway to the right, after 400 yards turn right on another Bridleway and follow this for 1 ¾ miles, take the 4th Bridleway to your left keeping on top of the ridge through a gate across 2 fields and drop down onto a road. Turn left along the road downhill and take the Bridleway to your right by the side of frog firle YHA, follow this across a small bridge and turn left, follow this path up into Litlington, at the road turn left and take the first Bridleway to your right into a farm, follow the Bridleway uphill, going straight across the x-roads at the top and take the Bridleway through the gate to your right into Lullington Health Nature Reserve, go south to another gate and carry straight on south down the Bridleway into Friston Forest, at the Bridleway x-roads, carry straight on across up the hill to snap hill, carry straight on across the next x-roads to the very top, drop down and go straight across the fireroad and out of the forest. Keep going straight on downhill back into a copse, drop down onto a road the turn sharp left and follow the road around , slightly uphill to the road. At the road turn right and follow it to the main road, go straight across the main road to a path the otherside, turn left and follow the tarmac footpath downhill alongside the road, this will take you down into East Dean Village, turn right off the footpath onto the road and follow it through the village to a road junction, turn right at the road junction and follow it down to the sheep centre, take the Bridleway just past the sheep centre to your left (a drive way) and follow this to a gate on your right, go through the gate and follow the Bridleway carrying straight on south at the t-junction, follow to a farm, at the farm turn left and go through farm yard and follow Bridleway through gate going up the valley, carry straight on a Bridleway x-roads and carry on up hill to road, go straight across the road to Bridleway and follow this up to tri point, bear left on Bridleway to main road, A259. Turn right on this road and downhill into Eastbourne. Collapse, Eat, Drink. |
