We spent a few days exploring Mid and East Sussex and had a great time discovering things to do and enjoying some lovely walks
We enjoyed a lovely long weekend and stayed in Chelwood Common and explored the local area! If you are visiting Sussex or are looking for some things to do/places to eat then we’ve shared what we got up to on our little mini break!
We enjoyed a trip to Sheffield Park & Garden – this is a National Trust property with acres to explore, stunning trees in the Autumn and a lovely landscaped garden.
Bluebell Railway is only a short distance from Sheffield Park Garden and you can pay to access the platform and see the steam trains as well as the museum and cafe.
We also spent a day in Ashdown Forest which was lovely and parked at one of the car parks and enjoyed a circular walk to The Foresters pub. Ashdown Forest is a wonderful area of open heathland, perfect for long walks, and inspired the stories of Winnie the Pooh where the Hundred Acre Wood is Ashdown Forest. Parking is paid for and there are more than 40 car parks to choose from so check out the ashdownforest.org website for a map of these.
The weather was warm and sunny and we were feeling peckish so we took a trip to the 360 brewery which you can find on the Bluebell Business Estate, Sheffield Park, Uckfield. They were selling pizza which we enjoyed along with our beers in the sunshine!
We took a trip to Ditchling which is a picture postcard village, to the north of Brighton and west of Lewes. We enjoyed tea and cake at the Green Welly in Ditchling – a really cosy cafe and much needed as it had just started raining! We combined our trip with a visit to the Ditchling Museum of Art and Craft.
Walks
We stayed near Danehill and did a circular walk from Chelwood Common. You can view our Chelwood Common walk here, with the walk PDF linked here but please use a map as well as using our directions! It incorporates lots of lovely lanes, through some fields, past some horses, and through some woods, making it very varied!
West Hoathly
We stopped at West Hoathly and enjoyed a walk from the car park (Finche Field Car Park) and walked around the village. West Hoathly is a village with lots of historic buildings including the church which is 11th century. We would recommend walking around St Margaret’s Church and enjoying the view at the viewing platform as it has stunning views! In the village, there is also the Cat Inn Pub in the village. We also did a circular walk from the centre of the village down near Gravetye Manor and back again. Make sure to check out the Heritage Trail which you can find in the village by the Cat Inn in the bus stop.
Before we headed home, we stopped at Pots and Pithoi to have a browse in their shop and stopped in the cafe for a cup of tea and a bagel! We bought some stunning bowls – highly recommend checking their shop out!
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