South Downs
England
2016

Ditchling Beacon


8. 5. 2016

Peter Schrammel

Weather

sunny

Interest 

***: Nice ride along white chalk cliffs, through historic towns and over the steep South Down hills

Route

Brighton, 29m - Newhaven, 85m - Lewis, 27m - Ditchling Beacon, 248m - Brighton

Elevation gain

448m

Distance

50km

Timing

3 1/2h (1 1/4 + 3/4 + 1 + 1/2)

Stamina 

D

Difficulty 

+: grassy path along the cliffs; last 50m to the summit

Danger 

1: the cliffs are fenced off

Visitor frequency 

d: lots of traffic and walkers

Report

My first exploratory bicycle tour from Brighton led me along the white chalk cliffs towards the east. I followed the grassy paths along the cliffs for most of the way from Brighton Marina to Peacehaven. There`s a fence along the cliffs to prevent people from getting too close to the crumbly cliff edge. In Peacehaven I had to climb over a little pass in order to roll down to Newhaven via Gibbon Road. From there I followed the country road upstream river Ouse to Lewes. I stopped on the High Street opposite of the castle to have ice cream in the sun. Then I left the town towards the west, climbed up the A475 and rolled down again before turning left into the B2116. This road was more quiet now and I could enjoy to fabulous view to the steep northern slopes of the South Down ridge. After a detour into Ditchling village I tackled the steep road winding up to Ditchling Beacon: a bit of Alpe d`Huez feeling, unfortunately only for 120m. The highest point is only a few meters from the parking. The views are extensive from the Seven Sisters, over Brighton and across the flat land towards the north. After a short break I rolled down. There was quite a traffic jam before the intersection with the A27. I continued on the cycle path leading uphill next to the new Ditchling Road and rode all the way back down into the centre of Brighton.



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