1 - From the entrance to Lewes Station, turn right and, at a road junction, left along Southover Road. After about 250 yards, turn right up the cobbled Keere Street to join the High Street and then left up St Anne’s Hill and past St Anne’s Church with its distinctive round tower.

Shortly, at a Y-junction, fork right, signposted to Haywards Heath. At another road junction, go ahead along Spital Road, with the high wall of Lewes Prison to your left.

Where the road ends, go forward along a wide chalk and flint track, and, at a three-armed finger post, fork right, signposted to the South Downs Way. Shortly fork right again along a narrower, tree-lined path marked with a blue arrow on a waypost.

Follow this well-signed bridleway as it gains height steadily and passes to the right of a complex of houses and stables on your left, where the path briefly becomes a tarmac drive and continues, soon beside the old Lewes racecourse to the left.

2 - After passing beneath power lines, the path opens out on to a large National Trust area and continues, unfenced, up to the trig point and tree clump on the summit of Blackcap.

Continue to a gate where you can join and go ahead along the South Downs Way, coming in from the left. From here the main path is tiresomely restricted between fences but, after a few yards, you can side-step through a swing gate on your right to use a much better route within a grassy open-access area at the top of the northern Downs escarpment.

3 - After the best part of a mile, rejoin the South Downs Way through a metal farm gate. After a few more yards, just past the point where the Plumpton Bostall track comes up the hill to join the South Downs Way from behind on the right, fork left through a bridle gate and across a field, diverging at about 30 degrees from the fence on your right.

There is no defined path at first but it becomes more obvious as it passes through a shallow dip and climbs to join another path a few yards to the right of the buildings at Streat Hill Farm.

Turn left along this path, passing well to the left of the farm. When opposite the last house, a bungalow, go through a bridle gate, turn right for ten yards to a stile, then left along a track to a second stile and ahead along a left field-edge.

After about 250 yards, veer half-right across the field where, at the time of writing, the path is indicated by a mown swathe, though there is no sign to indicate the change in direction. On the other side of the field, cross a stile, continue in the same direction to a gate and then follow a clear track obliquely down a grassy hillside and along the floor of a valley, joining and following a right-hand fence.

4 - Go through a bridle gate and walk ahead with a wood on your right. After about 200 yards, go through a gate and follow a wide path, which slants up through the wood. At a meeting of paths beneath power lines, turn right, still along a wide track.

Ignore a left fork and, after about two thirds of a mile, at a Y-junction where there is a finger post, fork left and almost immediately go straight over an oblique crossing track.

A few yards short of a road, ignore a right turn which goes out to the road, continuing on a woodland path which runs parallel to, but well insulated from the road, a little way away to your right.

After about a quarter of a mile, just short of a gate out of the wood, turn right along a short narrow path to join the Ditchling Beacon road. Go left for ten yards, then right over a stile and head out half-left across a field where there is no defined path. Go over a stile, soon in sight, and veer very slightly left across the next field.

5 - Go through a swing gate immediately to the right of a wooden electricity pole, forward along the left edge of a field, through a gap and on between fences, with a good view across the valley on your right to the Chattri, an Indian war memorial.

Go through a stile beside a gate and continue without change of direction across a large field, aiming to pass close to a small isolated tree. Once over another stile, go ahead once again between fences.

At a T-junction just short of the Brighton bypass, turn right and, after a few yards, go left over a footbridge across the main road. Join and go ahead along a path, merging from the left.

Towards the bottom of the hill, go left within a wide grassy strip, passing a small children’s playground. From the far end of this grassy area, a twitten leads out to join a road opposite the Ladies Mile pub and a bus stop in front of the pub offering a frequent bus service (5 or 5A) into the centre of Brighton.

  • Distance/Time: Nine and a half miles/four and a half hours
  • By Car: Choice of parking in Lewes. Bus or combination of bus and train back to Lewes
  • By Public Transport: Train to Lewes. Bus 5 or 5A from Patcham into Brighton. Bus or train from Brighton back to Lewes
  • What’s underfoot: Excellent walking all along good paths or tracks. One steady climb up from Lewes. Minor ups and downs later in the walk
  • Thirsty Work: Pubs and cafes in Lewes. Ladies Mile pub at end of walk
  • So you don’t get lost: OS Explorer Map 122

Click here for a full-sized map of the Lewes to Patcham walk

  • This is Ben Perkins’ final walk for The Argus after nearly 30 years. We would like to say a big thank you to him for all his hard work and wish him all the best for the future.
  • Make sure you join us on October 6 for the first walk from our new East Sussex walks writer John Harmer.