Tramping round Trumptonshire, Part 2: Chigley and Camberwick Green (My 150th Lead)

The scenery on this sequel won't be as special as in Part 1, but the mosaic of meadows and 'moors' where the Low Weald gently grows into the High Weald is most attractive. The High Weald can be said to begin at Chailey Common where the Wealden sandstone creates heathland and wood pasture. Chailey was also known as Chagley, so the morphing of the place into Chigley makes more sense. Plus, if I promote it as my 150th lead for OutdoorLads and promise to bring cake and get a round at the pub at Wivelsfield Green (the inspiration for Camberwick Green), then you might be tempted to attend. You shouldn't be underwhelmed: this unseen, untroubled area is delightful once we get past the suburbs.

The sights:

Burgess Hill: A sea of swish houses that we'll have to make our way through at the start and end of the walk. Pollards Farm is timber-framed, C16.

Chailey: The tiny and old village centre is too difficult to get to, but we'll spend time at Chailey Common, a separate area where there is Chailey Heritage Windmill, an 1830 smock mill with sails and a fan tail moved from West Hoathly to Newhaven to Chailey in 1865. The machinery is in working order, but it is only open from June to September. There is also the Chailey Heritage School for young people with complex physical needs which artist Alison Lapper and rock singer/songwriter Ian Dury attended. St Martin's Chapel is 1913, by Sir Ninian Comper, and highly original in design.

Chailey Common: East Sussex County Council states: '[This] stretches over 180 hectares and includes Red House Common, Memorial Common, Romany Ridge Common, Pound Common and Lane End. It is dominated by heathers. These include Bell and Cross-Leaved Heather but mostly Ling Heather. There are small colonies of blue flowering Marsh Gentian, Bog Asphodel and Sundew. The heather and gorse provide a habitat for many birds including the Stonechat, Yellowhammer and Linnet...The commons are also home to several of our native reptiles, such as adders and common lizards with many small ponds providing homes for a variety of amphibians. The site is grazed in rotation by Hebridean sheep, Exmoor ponies and Longhorn cattle. They help keep the birch saplings, brambles and rank grasses at bay. There is always at least one of the commons without any grazing animals. Large areas of the common are regularly mown or rolled to manage the bracken. Scrub is also managed using mechanical methods.'

Wivelsfield and Wivelsfield Green: The former is a tiny village, the latter a more suburban outlier. St Peter and St John the Baptist Church, originally C11 and C13 nave, lengthened in C14 and C15 when the tower was built, but heavily restored 1869. Picturesque cottages all around. Great Ote Hall is a tall and impressive but puzzling house of 1600.

The route (please click the link to see the route details including elevations at the OS website):

A mile and a bit of street walking out of Burgess Hill along Keymer Road and Folders Lane will bring us to Ditchling Common. Footpaths heading east will take us to Hundred Acre Lane which we'll walk up. At West Wood we'll veer east along a bridleway to South Road which we'll walk southeast along as far as Heath Farm where we'll turn east. At Beresford Lane we'll head north towards Pound Common and follow a snaking path along it to Memorial Common and Chailey Common. We'll cross the A272 to have lunch on Red House Common near the windmill. We'll then loop to the west and then south, cross the A272 again and walk west across Romany Ridge Common. Footpaths heading west past Wivelsden Farm and Strood Farm will bring us to Townings Place and Slugwash Lane which we'll walk south down to cross Wivelsfield. Footpaths heading west across the B2112 will take us to Great Ote Hall where we'll turn south to use alleyways and roads through suburbia at Worlds End and Burgess Hill to go back to the station.

Dogs:

I love having dogs on my walks and this walk is very suitable for them but there are a number of lanes to walk along and fields with livestock. A dog off the lead must be obedient.

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(Picture credits: Field by Lunces Hall: Photo © Chris Thomas-Atkin (cc-by-sa/2.0); Red House Common: Photo © Simon Carey (cc-by-sa/2.0); Ruscot Mead: Photo © Simon Carey (cc-by-sa/2.0); East along Bridleway to outbuildings and Mercer Wood: Photo © Dave Spicer (cc-by-sa/2.0); Track off Hundred Acre Lane: Photo © Oast House Archive (cc-by-sa/2.0); Romany Ridge Common; Photo © Oast House Archive (cc-by-sa/2.0); Chailey Heritage Church: Photo © Nigel Freeman (cc-by-sa/2.0); Chailey Windmill; Photo © Martin Horsfall (cc-by-sa/2.0); Footpath adjacent to Townings Place: Photo © Peter Holmes (cc-by-sa/2.0); Jack O Clubs: Photo © Simon Carey (cc-by-sa/2.0); View towards Great Ote HallPhoto © Simon Carey (cc-by-sa/2.0); Great Ote Hall: Photo © Simon Carey (cc-by-sa/2.0); All pictures are copyrighted but are licensed for reuse under Creative Commons CC-BY-SA 2.0 and are here attributed to their copyright holders.)