Alfriston East
Route Summary
I would describe this 15 mile circular ride as "fairly difficult" most year round and "hard" in the winter. It has three climbs, one of which is particularly steep, and another which is quite steep and technically fairly demanding, due to the rutted nature of the track.
Starting in Alfriston and heading Eastwards, it's all off-road with the exception of a couple of places where minor roads are used for a few hundred yards. The ride takes in Friston Forest, Friston, Willingdon Hill, Jevington, and then joins the South Downs Way to return to Alfriston via Windover Hill. There are spectacular views along the way, weather permitting; there's a pub at the end and a pub and tea room about 1/3 way round at Jevington. A couple of options can be taken along the way to shorten the ride. In my opinion, this ride is definitely not suitable for young children.
Map references are from OS Landranger Series No. 199. Alfriston is best found from the A27, at the Drusillas Zoo Park turning.
The Route
Start at "The Willows" Pay and Display car park at map reference TQ 522032, which is on your left, just before Alfriston, approaching from the A27. It's best to arrive early as it gets full around mid-morning. The Car Park charge, as at October 1998 is 60p for 4 hours and £1 for all day. Turn right out of the car park, along the road on which you have just arrived, and shortly, first right into a minor road, signposted Lullington 3/4 m, Littlington 1¼ m. In a moment, crossing the Cuckmere River, you can see Alfriston Church to your right. This is lovely scenery.
There's a T Junction in a few yards and the track you see dead ahead is the return route. Turn right here, signposted Littlington .
In a short while, at another T junction, by a big black barn, turn right, signposted Littlington and Seaford.
In a few yards, turn left at map reference TQ 524025 onto a track signposted Jevington 2½ m. This is a moderate climb and the surface is mostly compacted flint. Shortly you'll cross a minor track (which is not marked on the map). Looking to your right here, you'll see a white horse carved into the chalky hillside. Again, this is beautiful scenery.
The sea is just about visible to your right as you bear left onto another good sized track at TQ 533019. You will still be moderately climbing here over a flint surface. As the climb levels out, you approach a cross roads by a large stone at Winchester's Pond, ref TQ 539019, where there's a sign to tell you about the Lullington Heath Nature Reserve. I couldn't find the pond - I think it may have dried up years ago! (If you turned left here, you'd meet the South Downs Way and do a much shorter ride of about 3½ miles.) Turn right here towards Charleston Bottom.
You'll shortly pass a fenced-in, small black shack on your left which appears to be a weather or air quality monitoring station. Then it's a nice, fast descent through a lightly wooded area and at the bottom you meet about six tracks. I'm afraid that the nice easy track to the right is not for us - we're going to take the third right (almost straight ahead) to go up Snap Hill.
Snap Hill is steep. It's very steep. It can also be greasy. If you ain't got knobbly tyres, you won't make it, whatever the weather! A little over half way up, there's a crossroads at TQ 544006. Ignore the tracks to your left and right and continue straight over, ever upwards, signposted Friston on the marker post.
Assuming you made it to the top of Snap Hill, catch your breath turning right onto a nice, wide, slightly downhill grassy track, signposted Westdean, 1½ m., public bridleway.
Fork right in about ½ mile onto a smaller track, where a blue arrow still signposts you towards Westdean.
Shortly, pass through a small gate (white horse in front of you), cross a field and go through another gate on the other side.
Now you'll join a flinty, stony forestry track, which you follow up a hill and around a sharp 120o bend to the left at TV 531996. Stay with this track, past a bench where you can sit and eat your Kendal Mint Cake and then past a turning on your left which takes you up to a view point. (If you go up to the viewpoint there are two more benches and you can see to your South, the bay into which the Cuckmere River flows at Cuckmere Haven, the headland at Seaford Head and, to the South East, the water tower which you will shortly pass at Willingdon Hill). Shortly, at a large clearing on your left, ref TV 537994, turn right as the track swings to the left. This takes you down a steepish hill on a chalk track and you very soon come to a crossroads with a broader track (marked as a cycle route). Go straight over here.
You're now climbing steeply up Friston Hill. At about 3/4 up this hill, there's a marker post which says "Car Park" straight on. You then enter the right-hand edge of a field where there's a sign saying "Private Gallops" to your left. You're now aiming directly towards a water tower. Watch out for racehorses here.
At the junction with a tarmac lane, turn left and shortly follow it to the right, sharply uphill until you join the Jevington to Friston road. Looking back you'll see that you've been on the road to the Friston Pumping Station.
(You could shorten the ride by about 4 miles here by turning left for 2 miles along this road to pick up the route again at Jevington (see below). However, if you did, you'd miss the most spectacular views of the whole ride.)
Turn right onto the Jevington Friston Road up a short slog before turning sharply back on yourself at the top, by marker post No. 61, into Old Willingdon Road. Climbing gently now, the surface deteriorates into grassy, rutted track and eventually compacted flint. There are some lovely properties on your right and a cracking good view to your left but the best bit is the view behind you, both East and West and it keeps getting better. To your left can be seen Newhaven Harbour (ferries to Dieppe, France) and, in the distance the marina at Brighton. To your right can be seen the old Belle Tout lighthouse (recently picked up and shifted back from the cliff edge where it was in danger of collapsing into the sea). The entire horizon is virtually taken up with sea. It's peaceful and and it's magnificent.
After about a mile of the Old Willingdon Road, it swings sharply to the right and you follow it until you come to a T junction with a big old flint barn ruin opposite you at ref TV 565995 (it's not shown as a T junction on the map).
Turn left here to continue on flint track up Willingdon Hill. In a another mile or so, you'll cross the South Downs Way at ref TQ 576009, where you're at about 200 metres above sea-level. Looking Eastwards from here you can see the outskirts of Eastbourne and the coast through Bexhill-on-Sea (home!), Hastings, and right on the end, Dungeness Power Station. That's a 34 mile view!
Descend gently towards the Car Park (a good pick up point if you want a shorter ride) at ref TQ 579017 where you turn sharply left, about 120o to go down a bridleway signposted to Jevington. This is a go-as-fast-as-you-dare grassy track which isn't completely rut free and is marred by a couple of small gates through which you have to go. The track narrows as it climbs through some woods to your right, through a couple more gates, the last being by a couple of large sycamore trees on your left. Finally a white flint house (and another gate!) signals your arrival at a tarmac lane which you follow for a couple of hundred yards. This is Jevington.
At the end of this lane, you find the Friston to Wannock road - minor but fairly well-used. The renowned Hungry Monk Restaurant is here on your right and just a few yards down the road on your left are some tea rooms. Turn right towards Wannock.
In ¼ mile or so, after a public 'phone box, you'll find the Eight Bells Public House on your left - a Free House. Turn left after this into Green Lane.
You are just about to enter the most demanding part of the ride. The lane gets narrower and muddier. The Weald Way passes shortly on your right - don't take it. You are now climbing all the time, quite steeply, under some trees and there's a deep rut in the centre of the track which you don't want to be in. Unfortunately it's not easy to keep out of it! This bit is, quite frankly, a sod! Fork right shortly, and then right again, to join the South Downs Way at ref TQ 553018.
Still climbing, quite steeply, very shortly fork right again to stay on the South Downs Way, through another gate with scrubby woods on your left. More gates, open fields and glorious views are the order of the day now. Continue along the South Downs Way for about another 2 miles. The largish water feature to the North is Arlington Reservoir - worth a Sunday afternoon walk in its own right. After passing the tumuli and Long Barrow near to the Long Man (a great chalk drawing of unknown origin set into the North Face of the Downs here; you'd have to deviate off the track to find it but it can be seen from the A27 and from Wilmington), there's a manic downhill section over flinty grass, where it's wise not to fall off, like I did once!
Cross over the road at ref TQ 532032 and go quite steeply down a slightly technical descent through a tree-lined track to the bottom, where you go straight over into the lane over the Cuckmere River near where you started. Turn left at the end of this lane, back to the Car Park.
Page last updated 26/04/2002