Non-swimmers who are intending to get the bus to Brighton might want to look at the map for walk 423, which takes you across Telscombe Tye (keeping the dew pond on your right, not your left). The directions (in reverse) are in Section D. It brings you out opposite a good pub and avoids the boring residential trek in to Saltdean!

So we take the Train from London Victoria to Lewes. And on the way back we take the Train from Brighton?

Yes, that is correct, Marc

The Abergavenny Arms say that they have a group of 64 walkers booked in for Saturday lunchtime. They advise that if you want to be sure of lunching there then you should book as soon as possible. If there is room you are welcome to add yourself to my reservation.

17 on a mostly cloudy day.

Mr Tiger’s early lead soon evaporated and was a dry dusty memory by the time the first hill was reached. Nice showing of red campion up top.

Despite news of a booking for 54 walkers at the Abergavenny, there were no problems finding a seat or, for those who wanted, ordering a meal. Or in Mr Tiger’s case, a pint of Long Man Old Man.

Some slinked off to Southease after lunch.

The group I left with were ( as far as I knew) headed for Saltdean and, en route to there, we met a group of approx 54 walkers coming the other way. Abergavenny mystery solved..

The others ahead of me did not follow the prescribed route. Instead of turning left they headed straight on. I’m not one to cast aspersions as you know, but I was wondering whether to report this misdemeanour. Perhaps they were deliberately avoiding the steep climb out of Telscombe or, God forbid, taking a shortcut. (Later, much later, I saw Mike’s note suggesting an alternative end - with a decent pub ‘sigh’). Another mystery solved).

I was overtaken on the proper route by another clutch of diners. After admiring some bladder campion, they sped off.

Eventually Saltdean was reached. There was no-one in the sea. (There had been talk earlier of NOT going in the sea.) My plans for a race out to the windfarm and back were dashed.

From Saltdean I got a bus. Then a train.

Well Mr. Tiger, six of us did walk straight ahead for about 1k until our path petered out, when we returned to the turning and climbed up to Telescombe. After that 3 caught bus from main road, and 3 walked along the seafront to Rottingdean. Here we had lovely tea and cakes in a café and were joined by another walker who had been sitting on the beach. There followed a debate about whether to go for a swim, as the sea was extremely rough. Two of us did try and go in but the waves kept knocking us back, and throwing stones at our feet, so reluctantly we had to give up. We walked into Brighton where there was a frenetic party scene all along the seafront. The scene was calmer past the i360 where we sat on the upper balcony of a bar and shared wine and crisps with lovely views westwards. Then onto Brighton station where we caught various trains home. A lovely day out and great finish to the walk.

I tried shouting and waving. If only I’d had a megaphone and a flag.

18 and a dog

Set off on this South Downs slog

Weather sunny weather hot

As we climbed up to the top

Along and down to the Abergavenny

Who served up ample food but many

Picnicked in the yard of church

And off ahead they did lurch.

2 more joined which made us 20

The cider good but one was plenty

After lunch the group fragmented

Another joined which upped the 20

To grand total 21

This when our walk was nearly done.

At the church: free water, and jam for sale

Of which at least I myself did avail

7 picknickers pressed on to the coast

Where a swim or paddle were enjoyed by most

The Saltdean cafe had no vegan cake

So off the Brighton our way we did make

The train was packed! But no time to rest

If I was to make it home in time to watch a Scottish gold-medal-winning run in Budapest!

Four set their sights on Rottingdean.

It's there in a pub that three were last seen.

8 set off from Lewes in bright sunshine and a bracing breeze turning to hail showers and more prolonged rain in the afternoon . One fast walker soon left the rest of us behind. We seven had a picnic lunch outside Southease church in pleasant sunshine, sheltered from the wind. As we got up to leave, a bank of grey cloud was rising from the south and 2 decided to head for Southease station. Five continued to Saltdean and rainwear was soon donned and put to the test as wind and rain battered us. On reaching Saltdean,four jumped on a bus to Brighton and one went to the beach cafe to look at the swollen sea pounding the shore. The cloud has now lifted and I'm watching the sunset.

I counted14 at the station on a beautiful sunny day with an occasional cool breeze . I was towards the back of the group in the morning so I don't know what happened to everyone, but five of us diverted to Southease church for lunch, a lovely tranquil spot.

Turkeys and llamas were among the livestock spotted. The walk up Southease Hill is marred by a horrible noisy dirt-bike track on the opposite slope, and our local agent recommended walking along a minor road to Telscombe instead of the normal route.

Three pub lunchers (who reported favourably on the Abergavenny Arms) caught us up on the approach to Saltdean where we then walked along the shore to Rottingdean. This was enlivened by the arrival from the sky of two paragliders who made very elegant landings on the beach just in front of us.

At Rottingdean three of us got the bus to Brighton for drinks in the excellent Basketmakers Arms, where three of the others later joined us. A fantastic day out apart from the very busy train journeys.

Lovely walk and great weather. Abergavenny Arms had great food and beer.

A few of us including me walked back to Brighton. First time I'd walked this bit. Interesting and quite enjoyable. Although not likely to repeat in a hurry. One person went into swim, and didnt succeed in the very cold water at Rottingdean.

N was 11, I think.

Fairly good views, on an overcast day. The 1st sister could be seen fairly clearly from the top of the downs.

5 had a great lunch in the Abergavenny. Harvey's Old was on, and went down very well.

The usual splitting into groups meant we hoped we didn't lose anyone.

Three of us enjoyed coffee and a bite to keep going overlooking the sea at the Saltdean Whitecliffs cafe.

I had stayed overnight in Lewes after yesterday's walk (or half walk as I had joined at the lunchtime pub).

11 overcast

6 eschewed the pub on this unusually popular walking day. A dozen walkers marched past Lewes station as we assembled, never to be seen again, and we were joined at our picnic spot at the top of Mill Hill by about 20 members of the Brighton Walk and Talk group, who were convivial company and at least one of whom was a previous SWC walker. Down to Cricketing Bottom, mercifully less muddy than usual, and on to sleepy Telscombe, where the church was locked but the first snowdrops were peeping through. My 1:25000 OS map shows a Youth Hostel there which, according to Gavin, was open 10 years ago when he stayed, but closed not long after. Very pleasant walking weather saw our group of four down to Saltdean, two to catch the bus to Brighton, two to linger over tea and cake before following.

Intend going

Took an earlier train to Lewes for tea at the runaway café. The 9:54 was delayed / cancelled not sure. Set off on an invigorating walk over the downs to Abergavenny Arms, exchanging a couple of texts en route with the late arrival on the delayed 9:54 who soon arrived making it 2. We had a leisurely Christmas lunch before setting off for Saltdean. There was a slight drizzle just at the end of the walk it having been overcast all day.

If anyone is interested, we can try out an alternative ending (the last page), which I plan to include in a new walk shortly.

Here's 2 tips based on local knowledge.

For refreshments, don't overlook the white building with sloping roof which is on your right as you hit the seafront. This is Seaford Sailing Club, but they have a thriving cafe with outdoor seating. Also, when you reach The Salts I'd cut diagonally across the grass, which brings you out opposite Morrisons - turn left and left again for Seaford station. Quicker and easier on the feet!

Intend going.

lewes to saltdean comes up on map so stayed in lewes today, confused. Gavin

The train from Victoria as posted was cancelled so only those boarding at East Croydon made it it to Lewes for the start including DAC who caught an earlier train. 9 including a late starter who joined us for lunch having walked from Southease. Did anyone else catch a later train?

9 confirmed so far, then

Two more just missed the East Croydon connection and probably started half an hour later than everyone else. Wonderful walk, we did the option via Kingston, then up on the downs and cut across to Telscombe via Highdale Hill. The wildflowers on this quiet path were stunning. We had lunch in the pretty churchyard at Telscombe, then down to Southease Youth Hostel for tea. We carried on the South Downs Way, then turned down towards Bishopstone and on to Seaford and got pinot grigio takeaways from the handy bar on the station.

11

A cloudy day with no rain or winds so ideal for this high level South Downs walk. 8 of us walked together until Rodmell where 6 of us had booked a table at the Abergavenny arms with provision for an adjacent table for anyone who joined later having missed the scheduled train. 2 went on without stopping with the intention of trying an alternative ending having thoughtfully suggested we check out the Seaford yacht club at Brightstone. 2 of us would have taken the short cut route to Saltash being limited by worn out knee ligaments but were persuaded to do the full monty to Seaford making for 15 miles. 1 stayed in the pub for pudding and coffee 2 left earlier to include a visit to the excellent cafe bar at Seaford station, 1 left independently and was never seen again whilst 3 of us set off to do the full walk but were unable to keep up with the leading man who left 2 of us with no printed route guide but thankfully an ordnance survey map. I managed to keep up within half a mile but lost the recommended route into Seaford and resorted to my sat nav by road into Brightstone. My slower companion was a mile behind when I lost him so alone I headed for the Seaford yacht club and phoned for assistance from our walk poster who was half an hour behind me having enjoyed a 2 course lunch.

Tea and excellent cakes were consumed served by charming young girls who gave us their business card to include in the walk notes and explained that on Saturdays the cafe is open until 8pm. On Sunday they have a Bar B Q for members until 3 pm then open to the public for afternoon tea etc. A relaxing stress free walk to the station along the promenade ensued where I caught the 19.25 train leaving DAC to seek further refreshments to kill time before his reserved train ticket permitted. Home at 10pm nursing strained knee ligaments. No more 15 mile walks for me trying to keep up with Munro pace Walkers!!

For Brightstone read Bishopstone and for Saltash (Devon) read Saltdean. Glad to see the Sailing Club was worth a visit - it is the only seafront cafe in Seaford. In contrast I went to Saltdean the other day and found the Spanish Lady all boarded up.

7 today plus one dog. Weather was sun cloud hail blowy on top .

A calm, occasionally sunny, day until we reached the jet stream. When we were at our most exposed - on the concrete path above Rodmell - Mother Nature let rip with gale force winds and horizontal hail. For about 20 minutes. So, plenty of fresh air - just a shame it came with ice. Then back to calm, occasionally sunny.

A little mud here and there, but nothing serious

The Abergavenny was full, turning people away, but, luckily, I had sent the rest ahead to secure a table. Meals looked ample.

At walks end, most went to Whitecliffs. Said to be good.

Then it was buses to Brighton

20 sun and windy . We waited under the station awning for 10 minutes for a shower to pass and then walked up onto the downs in bright sunshine. Eight or nine had lunch at the Abergavenny Arms in Rodmell. They were busy with a christening party but served us reasonably promptly with good food. Several of us went to look round the Monks House and the church and decided to return to Lewes along the river. I presume most went on to Saltdean

8 picnicked on top of the Downs and then walked down to Cricketing Bottom and up and over to pretty little Telscombe with its Norman church. Across the common of Telscombe Tye the breeze became stronger and was still blowing hard as 4 enjoyed tea and cakes at the cafe under the cliff at Saltdean.

We walked along the spray-lashed prom to Roedean where 1 brave soul carried on on foot and the rest took the no. 12 bus to Brighton railway station.

Hi. New to SWC. Great site. Can you recommend a walk in the vicinity of Lewes/Seaford/Eastbourne that is well or partly wooded. Thanks for your help.

Hoping to join you for at least part of the walk. Just in case you were thinking of finishing at Southease and getting the train back to Lewes there are no trains on this line tomorrow. Not sure about buses.

37 on this walk, possibly more - but in the maelstrom of Lewes station that was how many I was able to count.

Apologies that the train down went via Brighton due to engineering works: I had not noticed this detail on the timetable. Apologies we did not “do names”, but with the station busy with replacement bus services and such a big turnout, it was hard to find a suitable spot.

A lovely sunny day. The downs looked beautiful. Tuscany, Provence, the Alps - does anywhere look as fair as the Lewes to Rodmell walk on a glorious early autumn day? We descended on the Abergavenny Arms like a plundering army and they coped for a bit and then stopped taking orders, then relented. I think everyone who wanted to eat was served within an hour.

After lunch 14 took a slightly longer route direct to Rottingdean: others did the standard route. Tea was had in various places. At least 15 people swam in the sea at Saltdean or Rottingdean - possibly a record for an SWC walk. The sea was sparkling and nicely lively and not so very very cold.

Later some of us had a seaside drink and then a Thai meal in Brighton. At least two set out to walk from Rottingdean to Brighton.

There were one or two newbies on the walk who we hope enjoyed our chaotic approach and will come again.

It was a big group, so if you have some other experience of the walk you want to share, please do.

The PDF for this walk is password protected. Is that deliberate?

I've just opened it with no problems?

Yes, opening it isn't a problem but try copying a section. I want to create a shortened version with just the walk and copying isn't allowed. On other PDFs here that I've tried it is allowed.

Could you try saving the pdf and then use an on-line pdf to Word converter to make your own Word doc and then edit as required? Bit long-winded though.

I've tried. Asks for the password.

If you look at the document properties you'll see that you can open and print the pdf, but other operations (like copying text) are not allowed without the password. The author has done this deliberately. We're sorry if this causes inconvenience to genuine users, but in the past other people and/or organisations have copied our work and presented it as their own.

Lovely downs walk in bright winter sunshine. The Abergavenny Arms was packed but we got a table and quick service - great nut roast! Then it was up over the downs for more stunning views. The scenery stood out in the crisp colours with trees silhouetted on the folds of hills. We walked on through the remote village of Telscombe, the suburbs of Saltdean highlighted by a grand art deco building, and stopped for tea at the cafe on the front before getting the bus to Brighton station. About 10 on the walk I think.It's a good winter walk because although the path from Lewes was a bit icy it was uphill, and there aren't any steep downhill parts.

10 sunny

Intend going.

I intend to join this walk

9

sun wind

Great day out enjoyed by all over full distance.

12, misty turned to sunshine almost no mud .

Lovely walk in Southdowns to the sea. In the morning we climbed up to the top of the downs in a mist - it was exhilarating and majestic. We were rewarded with excellent lunch at Abergavenny Arms. It was packed with people but we managed to find a nice table and the service was efficient. Sun came out during the lunch but was in and out in the afternoon until we hit Saltdean. We had tea at beach cafe watching the glorious sunset. Some sat outside. It was so beautiful and warm, all decided to walk along the seafront to Rottingdean. At least 4 continued to Brighton and rest took a bus to the train station. A nice day out in good company.