Newhaven Circular walk

Newhaven port and fort, Peacehaven cliffs, Piddinghoe, the River Ouse, foothills of the South Downs, Bishopstone and the ‘forgotten village’ of Tide Mills.

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
Sat, 25-Nov-23		Saturday Walk - A port and a fort and some cliffs, the River Ouse, foothills of the South Downs, Bishopstone and the ‘forgotten village’ of Tide Mills: Newhaven Circular	4	sunny
Sat, 07-May-22		Newhaven Circular - [New Walk]	11	largely dry

Sat, 25-Nov-23 : Saturday Walk - A port and a fort and some cliffs, the River Ouse, foothills of the South Downs, Bishopstone and the ‘forgotten village’ of Tide Mills: Newhaven Circular 4

Thomas G

Length: 24.8 km (15.4 mi) [shorter walk possible, see below]

Ascent/Descent: 365m

Net Walking Time: 6 hours

Toughness: 6/10

Take the 08.54 Polegate train from Victoria (09.01 Clapham J, 09.10 East C’don), change at Lewes (09.56/10.00) onto the Seaford train (involves an up-and-across), which arrives Newhaven Town 10.11.

Return trains are on xx.01 and xx.32 (from Town Station, a couple of minutes earlier from Harbour).

There will be light for walking until 16.30, so if you are deploying a full lunch break, bring a torch or consider a shortcut!

Short Walk:

· A shortcut on the Downs cuts out 3.9 km (some of the best of the route though);

· A finish at Bishopstone Station cuts out the historic interest of the ex-tide mills site on the beach.

This varied walk is intended as an antidote to some of the tougher South Downs Walks; although by no means flat, it never ventures high on the Downs, so it would be a good option if the visibility is poor or rain is forecast. It starts and ends with two very different sections of coastline: an easy climb past Newhaven fort to the cliff tops and a low level walk from Bishopstone passing the well-presented excavations at the deserted village of Tide Mills. In between, you cross woods and fields to Piddinghoe, follow the River Ouse back to Newhaven and head towards the Downs and over hills to Bishopstone.

You head West around Newhaven seafront then up to the Victorian fort, with a section of clifftop coast path to follow. Turn inland (North) through woods and across fields to the attractive (but dry) village of Piddinghoe, then follow the River Ouse back to Newhaven, perhaps stopping for lunch. Cross the river, hold your breath and look away from the retail park, then cross the River Ouse Nature Reserve to the built up areas of Denton (a better lunch option) and South Heighton. Head to the Downs, but not too high and pick up the descent from Walk 2/26 (Southease to Seaford). Head East across the hills to Bishopstone on less familiar paths and back to Newhaven following the Mill Creek, pausing to inspect the well-presented excavations at the deserted village of Tide Mills.

Lunch: The Flying Fish in Denton (13.2 km, food all day from 12.00).

Tea: Plenty of choice in Newhaven Town or by the marina. Check the webpage or the pdf.

For summary, walk directions, map, height profile, photos and gpx/kml files click here. T=swc.395

Judith

25-Nov-23

4 met at Newhaven Town Station including one who last walked with SWC before Covid. The weather was sunny and cold, but not windy. Great views from the Coast Path (now showing on the on-line OS map as the King Charles 3rd Coast Path !?!) of the Rampion Wind Farm and Brighton. The path goes surprisingly close to the rather crumbly looking cliff edge.
The route looks somewhat built-up on the map but brought us from the cliff over the A259 and onto the open country approaching Piddinghoe without my being aware of how close we were to Peacehaven. At this point one walker stopped to take a phone call and although we waited a while at the next junction was not seen again.
Looping around via Piddinghoe Church and the banks of the Ouse, we returned to lunch in Newhaven , one on a bench on Denton Island and two at the Ark – good value and tasty food, served very quickly. We were in and out in 35 minutes but the picnic-er had moved on. The walk up onto the Downs certainly warmed us up and on the way back into town we met the picnic-er who had taken a slightly different route. We decided against the Tide Mills section – interesting but better for a longer warmer day. Though the full moon might have helped. A walk with a good mix of landscapes.

Sat, 07-May-22 : Newhaven Circular - [New Walk] 11

PeteG

Newhaven Circular - New Walk by Mike P

I'm doing this post for Mike, who has written this post and walk. He will be there to check it.

Length: 24.6kms, 15.5miles 5 out of 10

Newhaven gets a bad press but once you’re away from the town centre this new walk is surprisingly varied. It is intended as an antidote to some of the tougher South Downs walks; although by no means flat, it never ventures high on the Downs. It starts and ends with two very different sections of coastline: an easy climb past Newhaven fort to the cliff tops and a low level walk from Bishopstone passing the well-presented excavations at the deserted village of Tide Mills. In between, you cross woods and fields to Piddinghoe, follow the River Ouse back to Newhaven and (after lunch) head towards the Downs and over hills to Bishopstone (some of this will be familiar from Lewes/Southease to Seaford).

If you have a few minutes to spare, for an interesting insight on Tide Mills (‘the hamlet of horror’) and Bishopstone station (the only fortified station in the UK), have a look at The Architecture the Railways Built on UKTV (Series 3, Episode 6).

Trains: Catch the 09.24 Eastbourne train from Victoria (Clapham Junction 09.30, E Croydon 09.42) to Lewes (10.32), then the 10.59 Seaford train (platform 3) to Newhaven Town 11.11.

Return via Lewes from Newhaven Harbour at xx31 & xx59, Newhaven Town one minute later.

Lunch: is at the Flying Fish, Denton, after 12.8 kms. This pub was used for a walk in November and the service was found to be friendly, the food nourishing. A short cut immediately after lunch reduces the distance by 3.9 kms.

Tea: Newhaven and Seaford Sailing Club (21.9 kms) otherwise, you may have to continue in to Newhaven (or wait until Lewes) for post-walk refreshments

T=swc.395

Thomas G

07-May-22

7 off the train (5 via Lewes, 2 via Brighton), met by the walk author, up from Bishopstone, 1 car driver from Shoreham and one car driver from Siebeneichen (Sevenoaks) who had parked at Glynde and walked in from there. After the morning loop, we bumped into walker 11 in Newhaven, who had taken an early train and finished at lunchtime to be back in London early. It was overcast in the morning, and pm we had a couple of rain clouds passing over us: largely dry .
A fine new route, varied with plenty of views along the coastal stretch from Seaford Head to Brighton, many scenic downs and some pretty side valleys, plus some very interesting historic sites in the Castle and the Tide Mill village. Newhaven is navigated through without much offence. All of it without much if any overlap with other walks.
We saw skylarks, egrets and cormorants (the latter two in the Ouse), young rabbits and sheep, plenty snails and a slow worm, and even some bluebells, several good patches of flowering wild garlic and pastures full of buttercups.
4 lunched at The Flying Fish (friendly and with good food), and were joined there by 2 picknickers. Soon after lunch, Glynde man walked on over the Downs, where we turned right.
17.58 train from Newhaven Harbour.