3 Men on a walk 2017: Cissbury Ring Hill Fort and beyond

Cissbury Ring to Lower Beeding

We have wanted to take a look at Cissbury Ring, an old Iron-Age fort (see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cissbury_Ring ) for some time now but needed a good weather day to do it. This was the day and whilst the loop walk was a tough one on the legs at 12.5 miles it was well worth it.

We parked up at the car park about a mile below the top of the hill fort and walked up the steep hillside to the top of the South Downs, entering the fortifications on the southern side. The enormity of the defensive ditches almost a mile in circumference is amazing and to think it was all hand-dug with primitive tools.

We exited the ring on the east side and followed the path down until we picked up the South Downs Way which we followed all the way to Lower Beeding where the "Rising Sun" awaited our custom for lunch. This was a long walk and we had completed 7 miles before lunch!

The route back took us through the very old village of Bramber with its derelict castle where we picked up the "Monarch's Way" national trail. A board told us that the Monarch's way approximates the escape route taken by King Charles II in 1651 after being defeated in the Battle of Worcester. It runs from Worcester via Bristol and Yeovil to Brighton. This trail took us back to the base of Cissbury Hill and we looped around the base of the hill and back to the car. This was one of the longest walks we have done for quite some time and it felt like it.