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Walk of the month:Brede Circular |
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A lovely, slightly hilly 5 mile walk in this beautiful part of Sussex. Allow 3–4 hours to enjoy views and variety along the way, following routes on1:25,000 OS Explorer Map Sheet 124 Hastings & Bexhill (your recommended companion on the walk). |
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| 1. From the A28 at Brede, on same side and just north of Stubb Lane (on your right), take a footpath on the right that’s rather overgrown with brambles but waymarked with a yellow sign. Follow the path to a field and continue north, ahead along the right edge of field, slightly up-slope. Go through kissing gate leading into next field and follow its right edge. This kissing gate is the point to which you return on the way back. 3. Enter next field and follow path diagonally over gentle hill. Head for a galvanised gate in a barbed wire fence ahead, then continue through gap in trees beyond. Veer left. Walk just left of the brow of the hill, towards an immaculate, large garden on the other side of a fence. With the garden and fence edge now on your right, follow the fence uphill along a narrow field. At the top, go through galvanised gate with broken waymarker and onto road. 4. Cross the road and turn right for a few steps, then left up a tarmac driveway marked ‘High Field’ and ‘Hollybank’. There’s also a hidden stone footpath marker on the ground. The driveway skirts the edge of Spring Wood. With big black gate in sight, turn left through a gate marked ‘path diversion’. Follow grassy path between two fences. At end, take right fork along back hedges of gardens with view down into the valley. Next to fence on right, after about 80m, there’s a waymarker under telegraph wires. 5. Ignore marked path that follows direction of telegraph wires, take other path downhill along field. Although the path looks straight on map, there’s a right turn out of this field at an opening before you reach Birch Wood at the bottom. Go through the gateway on right and over precarious stile immediately after where the field and view open up. Follow path that cuts off left corner of field, staying right of trees. Over stile ahead and follow the path on the left edge of field, down into the valley. 6. At bottom of slope, cross stile and follow path through meadow towards a wooden bridge. Stay on this side of Tillingham River and turn left. Follow river – under trees ahead is a rather overgrown, rickety wooden footbridge, marked footpath. Cross and pass out into field. Keep following the river. Another wooden footbridge ahead – over a ditch in a hedgerow, still in same direction. At a log cabin on left, pass through galvanised gate and along tarmac path. Turn right onto the lane at end, pass the farm buildings on right, oast house in near-distance on left. Note footpath sign on right, waist-high.
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7. Cross the country lane, turn right for a few steps then left over stile. Follow fenced path, a stream now to your left and fence with houses beyond a field on right. Continue, over a stile, along path, still between river and fence. Pass through small gate & continue – bit overgrown with stinging nettles! At end of path, stile takes you into woods. Trodden path goes left, over an old concrete wall. Path stays near left edge of wood – there’s a footpath marker after a couple of minutes. Cross a stile and exit woods into field. 8. Turn left along bottom field edge, stream on left. Footpath veers left, between two small wooded area. It’s marked and there’s a stile and wooden footbridge over stream. The following fields are long and narrow and enclosed by trees. When you see a large, new house ahead, keep in the same direction – path goes just below house. End of field go through gate and onto track which takes you to a busy A28. Cross road and over stile opposite. 9. Straight on, alongside fence to your right. There are two gates ahead – take wooden gate on left. Cross field – there’s a track through the middle. Footpath forks towards end of field – take the left. Ahead is a gap in the trees and a bridge over ditch that’s not easily visible. Follow path alongside telegraph wires. At left edge of field, under trees, cross the broken stile. The path disappears into the distance up the rolling slope of a field. On top of hill, under pylons, enter woods. Follow rutted track to road. 10. Cross road. Don’t take Goatham Lane apposite, take the tarmac track that passes to the left of a barn-shaped house and oasthouses. Continue downhill along driveway. On the left is a footpath into the woods – go straight ahead. When you come out of trees, go over a stile and watch out for a low electric fence! Along trodden path across field, pass through opening beside gate and ahead again. Another electric fence to cross on far side of field, then through gate. 11. Turn right immediately down into a ditch – there’s a waymarker on the other side of the trees. Follow signpost across field – you’ll see another sign diagonally right, below farm buildings. Turn right up a short slope, through the marked gate between farm buildings. At waymarker before gate, turn left along grassy path. Through galvanised gate. Continue . At next gate is a waymarker. Continue uphill over left edge of field. Continue as far as you can go. In left corner is a marker at small gate. Go through, continue to next gate, by some farm buildings, and through again. Pass garages on left and out through gate onto road. Cross road and turn left for a few steps and over stile on right. Cross the field towards far left corner. Through kissing gate and retrace your steps ahead through field towards Brede.
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