Walks around Slindon

Exploring Slindon from 'The Spur'

All the best walks begin and end at a pub, so here is a walk around Slindon and Slindon Common which begins and ends at The Spur on the A29.

From The Spur, walk north along the A29. After a short distance, footpath signs will be seen on both sides of the road. Cross the A29 (carefully) and go up the steps opposite. Continue across the fields past the children's playground into Top Road. Go straight ahead, passing the pottery on the left. In the autumn, you will also see a wonderful display of pumpkins.

At the lime tree, which is surrounded by a seat, turn left into Church Hill. You will pass St. Mary's Church and the duck pond. At the 'T' junction, turn right onto School Hill, which then becomes Reynolds Lane. Continue past the old forge and primary school to the junction with the A29. Cross carefully into Mill Road opposite, with the cricket pitch on the right.

After a short distance turn left (opposite the cricket pavilion) into Bridle Lane and at the end, turn left onto Shellbridge Road. At the junction with the A29, turn right and you are back where you started from at The Spur, where Clive and his staff will no doubt be ready to pull you a well earned pint!

Time: About 45 minutes.

Across the South Downs from The Spur to The White Horse Inn (Sutton)

This is a superb walk, going from south to north across virtually the whole of the Slindon Estate. It covers both slopes of the downs - starting from The Spur pub on the A29 in Slindon and ending at The White Horse Inn in Sutton. An Ordnance Survey map is essential.

From The Spur, walk north along the A29. After a short distance, footpath signs will be seen on both sides of the road. Cross the A29 (carefully) and go up the steps opposite. Continue across the fields past the children's playground into Top Road. Continue along Top Road and turn right into Baycombe Lane, immediately prior to Mill Lane House.

After a few yards, you will see the restored cattle pound on the left. Go straight ahead after this, entering a bridleway through a gate. Continue in a straight line, across cultivated land, open sheep grazing land (the track is very visible and ends in a gate) and ultimately woodland. The land rises gradually. You will see the twin radio masts of Bignor Hill slightly to the left of your route. Eventually (in woodland), you will reach a 'T' junction in the bridleway. Turn left at this point. After a few yards, take the first track on your right. This track almost doubles back on your route, but follow it up the hill until you emerge from woodland into the car park on top of Bignor Hill.

The views from Bignor Hill are superb and you will be surrounded by ancient neolithic burial mounds and iron age hill forts. Stane Street, the Roman Road from Chichester to London, runs nearby and can be traced.

Cross the car park and just beyond the National Trust information plaque, you will see a narrow, chalky track running north and sloping steeply down the escarpment on the northern edge of the South Downs. Take this track and follow it past Coldharbour Farm. Just past Glatting Farm, the road takes a left turn, with a track heading right. Take neither the road nor the track, but look carefully ahead and you will see a footpath running diagonally across the field. Take that, it is a right of way.

Follow the track across the field and cross a small stream at the bottom of a valley. After that, bear slightly right and head up the steep slope opposite. you will soon discover a narrow track heading up through the trees. Take this and you will emerge in an open field (via a stile). Follow the track straight across the field until you reach the back of a row of houses. Turn right and follow the path along the backs of the houses, eventually turning left at an electricity pole, into a narrow passage which comes out immediately opposite the White Horse Inn.

Journey's End

Much the best plan is to bribe someone to pick you up from there. If you decide to re-trace your steps back to Slindon, it is much harder work, as you must start by ascending the steep escarpment.

Time: Exactly 2 hours.

Links

For more ambitious walks, see Walking in West Sussex. Walks 14 and 15 are around the Slindon area. See also the Walking in Sussex website.

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