I've said it before and I'll say it again, Trailblazer guides take some beating.
 — Adventure Travel

South Downs Way

by: Henry Stedman & Jim Manthorpe

UPDATES

Updated information

Thank you to all those readers who send us updated information, including William Allberry, Heather Oxley, Joel Newton, Keith Good, Andrew Hilton, Richard Marshall and Rodney Duggua, Nick Price, Trudi & Andy Rintoul,Sue Wood, Anne Conchie, Rachel and Karl-Peter Hammer, Stuart Blackburne, Bea  Delannoy and Olivier, David Cocovini, Susan Corbett, Jennie Hiscock, Susie Lapwood, Malcolm Simister, Jasmin McMillan, Catherine Sharp, Danny Shone, Andrew Stanley. 

The information has not yet been checked by Trailblazer but it will be for the next edition.

 

Updates relating to the 7th edition

January 2023

South Downs Discovery no longer offer a baggage transfer service. 

 

November 2022

p88, Map 7, Meon Valley. After the shortcut under the bridge (after the 2nd chevron) the turn could be emphasised. It's about 120 degrees right and is not sign-posted.

p113, Maps 15a-16. Cadence Cafe just before the A285 (travelling west to east).  Excellent and friendly. May close in winter.

p146, Map 26. I had accommodation at the Jack & Jill pub in Clayton. It is far too dangerous to walk the mile + along the A273. No pavements and non-stop heavy traffic. Perhaps a warning to that effect. I crossed the road to the golf club and ordered a taxi (long delay in arriving as none local). To avoid a taxi return in the morning I walked down Underhill Lane for a few hundred yards before joining a footpath on the right, uphill to the windmills.

 
p165, Map 34, Alciston.  I was aiming for Alciston. Despite looking for evidence of a path to the left I never found one. If there is any way to make this clearer it would be very helpful. In the end after an extra couple of miles I scrambled down to the hamlet.
 

July 2022

Cadence Cycle Club are a newly formed company offering coffee and cake for outdoor enthusiasts. They opened their first site in 2021, and now have four sites along the South Downs Way.


Sites are all currently open all year round-with hours varying slightly depending on the season.

 

May 2022

p154, Lewes. Aleberry B&B. The updated details are: has a Twin/double room only @ £90 for 2 and a single person £70 with private bathroom and light breakfast.

Updates relating to the 6th edition

September 2021

p80, Map 3. A new water point has been installed, along with a bike pump, on the right just before the farmyard turn.

 

July 2021

A walker sent feedback about B&B accommodation in and near Exton and also commented that of course this is a strange year because of the Covid-19 pandemic, and that maybe things will change with these three B&Bs.

p.86. Corhampton. Corhampton Lane Farm is no longer doing B&B. Their website still mentions B&B (back in 2018), but they replied to a message to say that B&B is no longer available. 

Exton. Exton Manor House is not doing B&B this year, but this isn’t mentioned on their website. We don’t know if this change relates to COVID.

The Shoe Inn, Exton wasn’t answering the phone or emails when the walker tried to contact them, but doesn’t appear to be doing B&B at the moment.

 

The nearest accommodation to Exton that they found was The Thomas Lord, West Meon. Another walker stayed in Warford, which is slightly nearer.

 

March 2020

p162 Alfriston.  Alfriston Camping, Pleasant Rise Farm, Alfriston Camping Park, Polegate, East Sussex BN26 5TN. Don't open until April 1st to anyone except DofE groups due to new licence laws.

 

June 2019

p137 Poynings. Letterbox B & B, The Street, Poynings, Brighton, West Sussex BN45 7AQ.  2D en-suite @ £60 per room. WIFI. Walker and cyclist friendly. Close to the Royal Oak pub.Tel: 01273-857125.

May 2019

Map 22 Amberley. High Titten wild campsite, High Tittern Lane, Amberley BN18 9LZ has been sold by the council to private owners and is currently closed. The new owners say they intend to reopen it as a campsite after an "upgrade" - no timescale given. The formerly open entrance now has high padlocked gates and a sign saying private property. Brushwood is also piled in the field and gateway.

p105 Map 16. There is a path from the SDW to Cocking from the big chalk boulder. You show the start of the path on your map but not that it goes to Cocking. It's a useful shortcut.

p135 Map 28,
is slightly incorrect on the righthand side. The path follows the road around to the right and diverges from it a little later than shown on the map to cross the River Adur. There is a path which diverges on the map but it's not the SDW. Further, there is a path diverging off the SDW before the river signposted Bramber but to get to Bramber it's better to use the path shown on the map alongside the river. A walker advises to ignore the signposted path.

p141 Map 32,
could mention the path leading from the windmill Jill's car park down the hill to Underhill Lane. That's a much better way to get to the Jack & Jill pub than the way we went down the road and then on the main road which has neither verge nor pavement.

p143 Map 33
- the paths shown from Underhill Lane to the SDW have arrows the wrong way round. You definitely have to walk up to the SDW from the lane, not descend to it!

p156 Map 38
- the position of Rodmell House is shown incorrectly. It is on the left hand corner of the small road descending directly from the path, on the main road. It's directly opposite road opposite, next to the pub.

May 2019

p86 Meon Springs. We were told by the man there that no food was available. We bought a Mars bar and a packet of crisps for lunch!

p104  Cocking; The Bluebell Inn is closed with a fence round it. Moonlight Cottage provided an evening meal, though we stayed at Dunsfold B & B.

p117  Amberley  The Black Horse has recently re-opened.

September 2018

p88 East Meon.  Pound Orchard Bed and Breakfast, Church Street, East Meon.
GU32 1NH.  Tel 01730823370 or mobile 07957592589.  Easy to find in the centre of East Meon, down the side of Ye Olde George pub and offer reasonable rates.

July 2018

p128 Washington. The Frankland Arms pub has closed in the last few weeks ‘for the foreseeable future’.

 p152 near Rodmell. The Greenwich Meridian is mentioned in the route guide text.  A walker came across the finger post near the start of Map 38 and wanted to share it with other walkers. 

Updates relating to the 5th edition

April 2018

p89 Sustainability Centre

Sustainability Centre (text is on page 89, also Map 9) refused to accept any campers at all as they has school groups in. They weren’t full - this was attributed to “safeguarding” rules … Thankfully in both cases I had rung ahead at midday, so could adjust my plans accordingly but a tired backpacker turning up at the end of the day could find this very awkward.

p116 Houghton Bridge

Foxleigh Barn camping have updated their prices as follows: £12.50 per person per night or £15 per person per night with use of camp kitchen. Only dogs on leads allowed.

p137 YHA Truleigh Hill

YHA Truleigh Hill (text is on page 137, also Map 29)  refused to accept any campers at all as they had school groups in. They weren’t full - this was attributed to “safeguarding” rules … Thankfully in both cases I had rung ahead at midday, so could adjust my plans accordingly but a tired backpacker turning up at the end of the day could find this very awkward.

August 2017

p85 Map 6. The route going from the bottom of Beacon Hill into Exton has changed.  There are some signs for the SDW, but these are only visible if you are going East to West; if you're going in the opposite direction it's worth going to the other side of any styles and gates and checking for signs.

pp90-91 Maps 9 and 10. Upper Parsonage Farm near East Meon is on Map 10 not Map 9, about 20 minutes from Butser Hill, heading away from Queen Elizabeth Country, down the first road to the right. There's a sign on the corner 'Camping'. The campsite is a very good standard.

p162 Afriston.  Alfriston Camping is only £7 per night for camping, and good value with  toilets and hot showers. You don't have to book as it's on a huge field. However the downside is that it can be a bit crowded. But a useful place to stay as there isn't anything else in the way of camping for the last stage of the SDW. The entrance from the road is a bit hard to spot. If you take the road south out of Alfriston towards Seaford, the road swings round to the left, and the entrance is on the right. Tel.: 07591 880129, website: www.alfriston.com.

p136 Saddlescombe Farm, near Devil's Dyke and Poynings.  Wildflour Café has replaced The Hiker's Rest and is open Tuesday to Sunday 10am-5pm and for winter opening hours check their Facebook page (facebook.com/Wild flourSouthDowns) as they have no phone, internet, or mobile phone on the farm.  (Their Facebook page says Wildflour Kitchen at the moment but they are changing it to Café.) They offer cakes, cream teas, cold and hot food such as dhals and chillies all freshly made by them, coffee, tea, soft drinks or they'll refill your water bottle. Outside seating and in case of hot or bad weather, large undercover seating areas.   NB Because of the lack of internet they accept cash only.

February 2017

p116-117 Houghton. Arun Valley B&B, Houghton Farm, Houghton, Nr Arundel, West Sussex BN18 9LW.  Tel: 01798 831142 / 07710 630219   www.arunvalleybandb.co.uk. Also South Downs Bunkhouse, with 20 beds. www.southdownsbunkhouse.co.uk. Tel: 01798 831100.  

p162 Alfriston. Highcroft B&B has closed.

 

September 2016

p86 Map 7. There's a temporary SDW route around Exton as well as the official one. This can confuse walkers as the usual blue acorn way markers are still in place but sometimes there's only a signpost saying 'South Downs Way Temporary Route', or even both versions. The temporary route takes the walker around the south of the village while the official route remains to the north.

p87 Corhampton. The Bucks Head has changed its opening times to the following:
Food: Mon-Sat, 12.00 - 2.30 and 5.30 - 8.30. Sun, 12.00 - 2.00pm.
Bar: Mon - Fri, 12.00 - 3.00 and 5.30 - 11.00pm. Sat, 12.00 - 11.00pm. Sun, 12.00 - 7.00pm.

p117 Map 22 and p123 Map 23. The 'Gate and Info Board' referred to on Map 23  is now just a gate. The Info Board is now positioned on Map 22 where the book indicates the GPS waypoint 075.

p128 Map 26. The Dew Pond indicated here is actually further down the path (walking south westwards) within the right angled corner of the SDW directly opposite where the map indicates GPS waypoint 088.

p134 Map 28. The text at lower left of this map suggests that the walker crosses the field and aims "to right of circle of trees". A reader reports that he cannot see the trees to aim to the right of.

p139 Map 31. There's a good bridleway into Poynings that's not marked on the map. If you follow the SDW down past Saddlescombe Farm (heading west) until you come to the A281, ignore the signposted footpath directly across the road but turn right down the main road instead and after just a few yards the bridleway is clearly signposted on your left. It's marked, although not very clearly, on the OS Landranger map 198 and is a useful route back onto the SDW after a stopover in the village.

p153 Map 37.  The two cattle grids marked on the map on the long concrete track are no longer there.

18 August 2016

p116 Amberley. Two Farm Cottages B&B, Rackham Road, Amberley, West Sussex  BN18 9NT.  Tel: 01798 831266. www.twofarmcottages.co.uk.  The owners used to be at Stream Cottage and have recently moved to run this B&B and they've kept their original phone number. 

Also in Amberley, The Old Bakery B&B has closed.

 

 

8 August 2016

Two readers sent an update on prices for camping, 2 people with a tent :
p136 Trulleigh Hill YHA: £12 pp
p150 Kingston near Lewes. Spring Barn Farm: £12 pp
Gumber Bothy: £12 pp

p160 Alfriston.  Alfriston Camping  £7 pp/night. Has a field for caravans as well.  Facilities include showers and toilets.  www.alfristoncamping.co.uk

 

31 March 2016

p138 Pyecombe. The White House, Church Lane, Pyecombe no longer offers camping.

 

10 March 2016

p116 Houghton Bridge and Amberley  Foxleigh Barn (☎ 01798-839113, pete@foxleighbarn.co.uk) no longer does B&B. They still offer camping between Easter and October for £20 for a two-person pitch and facilities include toilets, shower and camp kitchen. Dogs on leads are accepted.

9 February 2016

p100 South Harting. South Gardens Cottage B&B. The correct email address is: julia@randjholmes.plus.com

 

South Downs Way