Droke Route Profile

That was it, all done.

Distance: 13.5 miles
Ascent: 1,508 feet
Highest point: 781 feet
Lowest point: 254 feet

This was not a great walk. Too much was in woodland, and consequently the Gorse Fox missed the expansive views of rest of the Downs.

Droke Hangar

On the final stretch Gorse Fox passed Lambsdown Bottom as he strode purposefully back towards the car.



This quiet little valley tucked into the Downs was the last mile back to the car. It was like a hidden world. Quiet, peaceful and devoid of other people.

Upwaltham

There wasn't too much to see over the next few miles. Gorse Fox actually considered cutting his planned route short as there was so little to see as he trekked on through the woods.

He stuck with it, however, got onto Selhurst Park Road and followed it to where it met the A285. Crossing by St Mary's Farm GF continued (through the woods) up to Upwaltham Hill.



At the top of the hill there was a hazy view down to Upwaltham and its little church. (Gorse Fox wrote up his walk through Upwaltham on 3rd March 2007).



Walking back down the hill was a darned sight easier than the climb up.

Leaving East Dean

Climbing up into the woods, Gorse Fox looked back at East Dean below.

This was one of the wide open sections of the walk. Acres of oilseed stretched out below the field in the foreground. GF was about to plunge back into woodland, so made the most of these open views.

East Dean

East Dean was a charming little place. Not a sould stirred whilst the Gorse Fox explored.


All Saints Church was built in the 12th Century. Unlike some villages, the church does not dominate the landscape, but rather snuggles quietly on a small rise on the edge of the town. The Corpus tells us that East Dean is not mentioned in the Domesday Survey. It formed part of the prebend of the collegiate church of Arundel, which was given to Chichester Cathedral in 1150.




The Gorse Fox stopped for lunch. Perched on a bench overlooking this old farm building he sat and munched through a pasty, and swigged from some bottled water. What he hadn't realised was that just round the corner was The Star and Garter gastropub. The trouble was that the local ales weren't calling loud enough.



Finishing lunch, GF strolled east for a few hundred yards before turning south across the fields and up into the woods.

this cottage was called "Becketts"

Well that wasn't expected

Passing Newhouse Farm the Gorse Fox strode on towards East Dean. Before he got there, however, he passed "West's" of Sussex, a wood-turner and furniture maker.

The totem pole was a bit of a surprise... GF checked the map and confirmed that he hadn't crossed to Canada whilst mesmerised by the woodlands.

Newhouse Farm

Dropping back out of the woods, the Gorse Fox was heading for East Dean... but first he passed Newhouse Farm.

Turning south

At the end of the westbound leg of the route, the Gorse Fox caught up with two chaps standing by a stile looking at a map. GF called a cheery "Good day".

They looked up and smiled. "Can you help us?" they asked, "can you show us exactly where we are on the map?". The Gorse Fox went over and looked. He orientated himself as he looked over their shoulders.

Mmmm, something didn't look right. The guy was tracing the SDW on the map, but was looking at the wrong part of the map... in fact he had to turn over two creases in the map to get to the right place. And they say that women have difficulty reading maps(*).


Turning back south, GF left them to their walk, and continueed with his. Back into the woods for a few miles, but again total solitude.

Here and there there were openings that showed glimpses of rolling countryside. A slight haze softened the distant hills.


(*)GF, of course , doesn't subscribe to such scurrilous aspersion. Certainly his wife-nav is impeccable.

South Downs Way - Graffham Down

After a couple of miles GF passed his first fellow walker... and soon was out in the open and turning along the South Downs Way.

What a change the SDW made... from comparative solitude to the hiking equivalent of the M25. There were clusters of walkers slogging along eastwards and westwards... and weaving in an out were squadrons of cyclists wearing bright lycra and raising clouds of dust.

Getting underway

The car park at Droke is about 16 miles from the Gorse Fox's lair. The drive acros was interesting as he turned onto the A285. Coming in the opposite direction was a huge convoy of motorcycles. There must have been a hundred or more of these bikes riding in convoy down to the south Coast.

Turning off the main road GF headed towards Droke. There isn't much to Droke.. a small car park, and a single house. That was it.


Leaving the car GF headed up by the side of the house and starting the first climb up to the extensive woodlands at the top of the Downs.

Woodlands turned out to be the theme for this walk. GF soon observed that after about 20 minutes in the beech woods, all the trees look much the same. GF loves trees, but even still they can become a bit samey.

It's no Droke

This walk started at the tiny hamlet of Droke, a couple of miles west of Upwaltham. The Gorse Fox parked the car by the "P"near the lower centre of the map and then started walking in a counter-clockwise direction.

The walk took the Gorse Fox up through the woods to Tegleaze, west along the South Downs Way as it crosses Graffham Down and then back south through the woods to East Dean. From East Dean, the route again climbed through the woods to Selhurst and then followed the road eastwards to where it met the A285. Then onwards along a bridleway up Upwaltham Hill before looping back westbound down into Upwaltham and back along the road to Droke and the car.