The MId Sussex Times July 27th 1978

The pleasure of this six-mile walk lies in the changing countryside it explores: open fields, sheltered woodland, little streams and the parkland of Borde Hill. Beginning at Cuckfield’s familiar clock, the route slips away down Ockenden Lane, leaving the High Street behind for a landscape of hedgerows, farm tracks and footpaths.

There is something especially satisfying about a walk that reveals itself gradually. Here, a descent brings a footbridge over a brook; a climb leads towards Beech Farm; and paths beside woodland offer a more enclosed, peaceful stretch before the countryside opens out again. The succession of gates, field corners and stream crossings gives the journey a gentle sense of discovery.

Beyond Cleavers Lane and Bigges Farm, the route continues through farmland towards Tanyard Farm, then approaches the parkland of Borde Hill House. This movement from working fields into a more spacious estate landscape adds variety and offers good reasons to pause and take in the surroundings. Across the seasons, fresh leaves, summer shade, autumn colour and the bare shapes of winter trees would each lend the walk a different character.

The return towards Cuckfield completes a rewarding circuit, bringing the walker back to the town with a fuller appreciation of the countryside on its doorstep. Allowing about three hours, as the leaflet suggests, leaves time to enjoy the small details—the sound of running water, birds along a hedge and the welcome sight of familiar streets at the finish.