Lewes to Brighton via Rottingdean walk
The less-frequented heart of the South Downs to Rottingdean, with a pleasant walk along the promenade into Brighton to finish
History
This is a list of previous times this walk has been done by the club (since Jan 2010). For more recent events (since April 2015), full details are shown.
Date | Option | Post | # | Weather |
---|---|---|---|---|
Sun, 22-May-16 | A South Downs ramble with an ending in bustling Brighton | 4 | fine and dry | |
Sun, 28-Jun-15 | – Over the South Downs to Rottingdean | |||
Wed, 28-May-14 | Lewes to Brighton, via Rottingdean | |||
Wed, 05-Jun-13 | Lewes to Brighton, via Rottingdean | |||
Sun, 24-Mar-13 | Lewes to Brighton, via Rottingdean | 1 | ||
Sat, 03-Dec-11 | Lewes to Brighton, via Rottingdean | |||
Sun, 25-Jul-10 | Lewes to Rottingdean (short walk) | |||
Sat, 12-Dec-09 | Lewes to Brighton via Rottingdean |
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Sun, 22-May-16
Just n=-4 on this walk which on reflection was perhaps not my finest choice as it probably works best as a summer swimming walk and also because to be frank its not the most interesting section of the South Downs and the last 5 miles is on tarmac or concrete. There were just 2 of us on the platform at Lewes. One SWC regular missed the advertised train, caught another to Brighton and did the walk in reverse. Another got caught up in train problems took a bus to Rottingdean and with my walks companion did I think walk to Southease leaving me to plod on to Brighton where I got caught up in a huge car rally celebrating the British Mini. Weather fine and dry throughout.
Finally I did my bit for nature by saving a lovely slow-worm from almost certain crushing by a car in the lane at Kingston just beyond Lewes.
Extra Walk 134 – Lewes via Rottingdean to Brighton (or Southease)
Length: 18.7 km (11.6 miles). Toughness: 4/10 (to Brighton)
Length: 20.0 km (12.4 miles). Toughness: 6/10 (to Southease)
09:47 Ore train from Victoria (Clapham Jct 09:53, East Croydon 10:02), arriving Lewes at 10:48. A day return to Southease is no more expensive than Lewes and is valid for return from any of the possible destinations.
If you finish at Brighton there are fast Southern trains to Victoria at 10 & 35 minutes past the hour (fewer after 9pm), and Thameslink ones via Blackfriars at 14 & 44 past. Southease only has an hourly train at 09 minutes past (changing at Lewes); the last one is just after 8pm.
The start of this walk is the as Book 2 Walk 24 (Lewes-Saltdean), but after a short stretch on the familiar South Downs Way it turns off into the remoter parts of the downs and makes its way to the attractive seaside town of Rottingdean. If you haven't stopped en route for a picnic you'll find a choice of pubs and cafés for a late lunch when you arrive there around 1.30-1.45pm.
After a good lunch the lazy option is simply to hop on one of the many buses plying the coastal route; the walk notes offer ideas about where to get on and off. A more respectable continuation is to walk at least part of the way along the seafront to Brighton. If you want a sterner test there are directions for an alternative route back over the downs to Southease station. This last option suffers from a lack of tea places and infrequent trains, but you could divert to the Abergavenny Arms in Rodmell and perhaps even continue all the way back to Lewes if you know the Walk 24 route via Northease Manor (or bring Book 2).
You'll need to print the directions from this pdf document.