Lewes via West Firle Circular
23.3 km (14.5 miles) · 360 m of climb · Circular
- Starts
- Lewes station
- Stations on the way
- Lewes, Glynde, Southease
- Time
- 6 hours walking time (allow 11 hours for the whole outing)
- Stiles
- 5 stiles
From Lewes station up past the golf course and Mount Caburn to Glynde, through Firle Park to lunch at the Ram Inn in West Firle, west along the South Downs Way to Southease, then flat along the Ouse back to Lewes. It splits into three station-to-station sections (Lewes to Glynde 5 km, Glynde to Southease 11.8 km, Southease to Lewes 6.5 km). The source gives km, with miles in brackets; its pub notes are older than the page (it calls the Trevor Arms at Glynde long closed).
The ground
Rated 7 out of 10: three steepish hills with long, mainly level stretches between. Road walking out of Lewes up Chapel Hill and through Glynde; a tunnel under the busy main road after Glynde; a bridge over the A26 near Southease. The last 6.5 km from Southease is completely flat, mostly on the bank of the Ouse.
Livestock
No livestock warnings. The directions mention cattle grids at Firle Place and on the South Downs Way.
Pubs and cafés on the way
- Ram InnWest Firlemidway
- White Hart HotelLewes High Streetend
The line on the map
The climb from Firle Place to the South Downs Way is routed on the nearest bridleway, which may not be the exact path the walk takes up the scarp.
The route is from Saturday Walkers' Club (Time Out Country Walks 2, walk 25): read it at the source before you go (Page version Sep-23; PDF last updated 12 September 2023; walk last checked 15 October 2010). The line on the map is drawn by Lewes Dogs on OpenStreetMap data (ODbL). With a dog? Lewes Dogs has this walk, with the rules and the livestock.