British Summer Time Part II – Hiking to the Devil’s abandoned ditch on the South Downs
The South Downs are a range of rolling chalk hills that extend for 670 km from the Itchen Valley in Hampshire to Beachy Head near Eastbourne in Sussex. It is a beautiful area and Devil’s Dyke is potentially the South Down’s most stunning feature.
I visited the South Downs for the first time in 2011 when I had just moved to England and I have been back many times since. With the rolling hills overlooking a picturesque, lush green English countryside and even vineyards (yes you heard me right), the area is the perfect place for a day hike.
Devil’s Dyke, near the village of Poynings, is a 100-metre-deep, V-shaped valley, which got its name from the many legends that surround it. One of them is that the devil was digging a trench to allow the sea to flood the many churches in the Weald of Sussex. However, the call of a rooster disturbed him, leading him to believe it was almost dawn. He abandoned his endeavor, leaving Devil’s Dyke in its current shape. The legend says further that he threw the last shovel of dirt over his shoulder, which landed in the sea, thus creating the Isle of Wight.
In reality, Devil’s Dyke formed through erosion, starting more than 14,000 years ago – but I still prefer the story with the devil.
The circular, 20-km hike started in Hassocks. We left the station behind us and turned right on Keymer Road for a little while, before taking a left turn to follow the narrow hiking path that goes along the train line through the forest. I was glad to be wearing my long hiking trousers despite the hot day because many stingy nettles grew onto the path. A couple of steeper and very muddy hills through meadows with and without cattle led us further into the green, British countryside and onto the South Downs. Crossing Brighton Road, we continued a little further on New Way Lane before looping back into the green, and soon we walked along an increasingly deeper valley that it Devil’s Dyke.
With the good weather, the namesake pub located right next to Devil’s Dyke was heaving with people but since most of us had brought their own lunches, we just sat down on the grassy hills facing north of the South Downs. Since Sussex is, apart from the Downs, quite flat, you can literally see for miles.
Reluctantly we left the spot after lunch to loop back on the other side of Devil’s Dyke on the South Downs Way – but not after the obligatory visit to the ice cream van. On the way back, we also passed the Clayton Windmills, known locally as Jack and Jill, and classified as Grade II* listed buildings – meaning that they are particularly important buildings of more than special interest, warranting every effort to preserve them.
As usual, our hike ended with a couple of gin & tonics in the pub near the station, which featured outdoor live music in the lively beer garden.
