Peasmarsh - Old House Farm - Mackerel Hill - Decoypond - Peasmarsh

Alison and Clive Gilbert

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While many people visit Sussex for its coastline and wide sandy beaches, the countryside beyond is often ignored. And yet it offers peace and tranquillity in abundance. This gentle walk, which follows The Sussex Border path in parts, is one of contrasts. At its heart it traverses the wide Rother Levels, flat and open, criss-crossed by drainage cuts, where you'll often encounter a flock of swans or geese grazing on the sward. But at either end of the walk are the traditional Oak woodlands and hazel coppices of the Weald, still very much used as a source of timber for local needs. Don't expect the buzz of huge machines, though. Think 'man with chainsaw' – or more likely 'birdsong, rustling leaves and the smell of rising sap'! In Spring the woodlands are full of Wood Anemone, Primrose and Bluebells.

Somewhere on the periphery of the two contrasting landscapes, you will pass an area of ponds. The largest of these is marked on the O.S. map as 'Decoypond'. In the past such ponds were designed to attract wildfowl, which would visit for food, only to be trapped by nets in the man-made channels surrounding them. While the practice has faded out, (one hopes), there are often plenty of wildfowl about.

A pleasant lunch spot is in the Oak plantation mentioned at point 12, where a minor deviation from the route, towards a stile to the right, offers branches to sit on, and a smaller pond from which to view them.

England - South England - East Sussex - Countryside