Section 29
Limeburners Inn to Kirdford
Walk Details
Walk Instructions
FOLKESTONE TO FARNHAM ROBUST RAMBLE
Section 29 Out
The Limeburners Inn, Newbridge, Billingshurst, to Kirdford
Map: OS Explorer 134 Crawley & Horsham
Distance/Time: 5.5 miles/2.5m hours
Start: The Limeburners Inn in Newbridge
Comments: Farms and fields with plenty of stiles. There is a section along the Wey South Path so a lot of this area is low-lying. Be prepared at wetter times of year. The pub in Kirdford is currently open.
Facing the road, with the front of The Limeburners Inn behind, turn left on the road, for a short distance.
Soon turn right, on a footpath going off on your right, along a metalled driveway. Keep along here some 100 metres.
Just before a Y-fork in the drive, turn right, to cross a stile into a field.
Bear left, up the field, parallel with the fence and drive down on your left. Guildenhurst Manor is beyond.
At the top of the slope, cross a stile into a second field. Go on down to a further, very high stile, and keep on downhill, to a wide plank bridge, over the River Arun.
Go forward a short distance, to reach a crossing of paths, just before the Arun Canal. Turn right here, onto the Wey South Path, and walk along, with the canal on your left.
After some distance, cross a stile by a metal fieldgate and emerge onto the busy A272.
Cross this with great care and continue up the canal path for a mile, towards distant power lines.
Eventually, reach a bridge, by a lock, just before the power lines.
Cross this bridge and bear right in the field ahead, across to the hedge, under the power lines. Turn left here, up the edge of the field, with a ditch and hedge on your right.
At the end of the field, go through a metal fieldgate, into a broad, muddy track, between hedges. Soon join a concrete track, and continue forward to a main road.
Cross with care, and go forward, down the road opposite.
Pass the ‘Bat & Ball’ pub on your left, and keep on, along the road.
Just before Fisher’s Farm Park, on your left, turn right, up a rough driveway, passing a house on your left.
Keep forward on a muddy bridlepath. Ignore a cross path, and continue to the end of the path to emerge onto a road.
Turn right, up the road, for a short distance. Go under power lines, and turn immediately left, through a gap in the hedge, into a field.
Keep along the edge if the field, with the hedge on your left, and power lines beyond.
At the end of the field, enter a wood. Bend around, to cross a footbridge.
Over this, immediately drop down the bank on your right, then follow the path around to the left, and up a bank, to a stile into a field.
Keep along the edge of the field, with the hedge on your right, to a stile by a metal fieldgate, at the far end. Cross and go up a grassy track, towards a second fieldgate.
Just before this gate, go left, over a stile, into the adjoining field. Continue with a hedge on your right, towards distant caravans.
Near the end of the field, bear left, across to a stile, into an enclosed path. This reaches a further stile and emerges onto a road.
Turn right on the road for ¼ mile. Pass a road going off right, and keep along, with a wood on your right.
Eventually, the road drops downhill. Just before a bridge over a stream, turn right, off the road, and cross a stile, by an old wooden fieldgate.
Follow the path, into woods, alongside a fence on your right and a stream down below, on your left.
Eventually reach a junction with a bridlepath, just before a large pond. Turn left, uphill, on this bridlepath, over a bridge and up, towards buildings.
At the top of the rise, meet a concrete farm track. Cross straight over, to join a grassy way, passing a house over on your left.
Soon enter a path going forward, along the edge of a wood. At the end of the wood, cross a stile, onto an enclosed path between wooden fences.
At the end, turn left on a wide farm track, which soon becomes concrete and heads towards a large new stable block.
Pass through buildings and a metal swing gate, to emerge onto a road.
Turn right, and follow the road around, into the centre of Kirdford. Reach the ‘Half Moon’ Bar & Restaurant (closed Mondays) and the end of the section.
FOLKESTONE TO FARNHAM ROBUST RAMBLE
Section 29 Return
Kirdford to The Limeburners Inn, Newbridge, Billingshurst
Map: OS Explorer 134 Crawley & Horsham
Distance/Time: 5.5 miles/2.5m hours
Start: The Half Moon inn in Kirdford
Comments: Farms and fields with plenty of stiles. Short sections of roadwalking and another length of the Wey South Path. A complicated return with lots of instructions enlivened by boggy patches. Allow plenty of time.
With the ‘Half Moon’ inn on your right, walk down the road, past the church on your left.
At the end of the churchyard wall, go left, off the road, up stone steps and through a gate, into the churchyard. Turn right on a brick path, and walk along by the churchyard wall.
At the end, keep on, through an enclosed path, to a stile on your right. Cross into a pasture and keep ahead, by the hedge on your right, to a pig stye.
Here turn left and soon reach a stile on your right. Cross into a field and go along the edge, passing farm buildings on your right, to reach a stile, by a wooden fieldgate.
Cross onto a wide farm track. Turn left on this, and follow the track through a farm storage area, to a stile by a fieldgate and cattle grid, at a corner of woodland.
Cross the stile and turn right, to go diagonally down, through the woods, to a stile at the bottom.
Cross this, then go straight across an asphalt drive (another cattle grid over on the right) to climb a grassy track, going diagonally left, up a field.
At the top of the slope, go across towards a large pond. Pass this on your right and continue, by a wire fence, to a stile just before a road.
Cross the stile, but do not try to get down to the road. Turn right, to walk through trees, parallel to the road, down on your left. Eventually reach a stile, to emerge onto the road.
Turn right along the road for ¼ mile. Ignore a bridlepath off right, and keep on, to pass under power lines.
Soon reach a gravel drive going off right. Turn onto this, but immediately bear left, uphill, on a grassy path, by a treeline on your right and a wire fence on your left.
At the top, cross a double stile, into a horse paddock. Berar diagonally left, across several paddocks and stiles, to emerge onto a driveway.
Turn left on this, to immediately reach a country road. Turn right on the road, and walk along to another junction with a main road.
Turn right along the main road (A272) with care; there are verges. Look for a gravel drive going off left. Turn left, off the road, up this gravel drive, passing a pond on your left and a house over on the right.
Where the gravel ends, keep forward, uphill, on a grassy track, to a stile. Over this, continue between wooden fences, to a stile by a wooden fieldgate. Cross into a wood.
There are two tracks here; bear left, down through holly bushes.
Continue down through the wood, to emerge into a grassy, open space, with a house over on your left. Keep forward, along the edge of the trees on your right.
Reach an earthen track. Turn left on this, and soon reach an asphalt road. Turn right on this.
In a short distance, before a house on your right, turn right, through a fieldgate, into a field.
Follow the hedge on your left, for 50 metres, looking for a wide gap on your left.
Go down to cross a stile and a stream, and keep forward, uphill, towards two old pine trees, at a corner of hedge. Keep forward, with the hedge on your left, for some way, through a second field, to reach a (poor) stile, near a wooden fieldgate. Ignore a path going off right.
Cross the stile onto a driveway. Go forward on the drive, to meet a road. Turn right for some way, looking for a bridlepath on your left, as the road rises to the top of the hill.
Turn left on this bridlepath (opposite The Old Smithie), along a rough beaten earth track. Go through a metal swing gate, by a cattle grid, and continue on.
Pass a boggy area on your right. Ignore the bridlepath swinging left, and keep straight on, uphill, to pass Shipbourne Farm.
Immediately past the farm, go forward, off the track, onto grass, and keep forward, downhill, towards the hedge on your left.
Keep along by the hedge, down to the very bottom. Go through a green, metal fieldgate, into a water meadow, and bear right, across to a footbridge.
Cross this bridge over the River Arun, and go forward, to the restored Haybarn Bridge, on the old canal.
Turn left, through a wooden fieldgate, to follow along, by the canal on your right. After some way, this swings right, to a stile.
Cross onto a narrow strip of land, between river and canal. Keep forward, crossing a boxy footbridge, and eventually reaching a junction with a bridlepath.
Cross straight over and continue to follow the canal, still on your right. After some way, the path reaches, and crosses, a restored brick bridge (Flood Gate Bridge).
Continue along the canal a short distance, to a junction of ways, by a metal sided footbridge. Do not cross this, but bear right, through a wooden kissing gate, into a field.
Walk up, along the hedge on your left. At the top of the field, cross a footbridge, into a boggy area, but keep on, still up, into a further field (ignore path off left).
Keep on up for some way, following hedge and trees on your left.
Just after going under power lines on wooden posts, turn left on a path going diagonally down through the trees. In 10 metres this becomes indistinct. Here turn directly left, straight downhill, to emerge by the river.
Turn right, to cross a stile, and keep on for some way, on boggy land, between river and trees on your right.
Eventually reach a footbridge on your left. Cross, and pass the end of a large lake on your right.
Turn right, to follow the top edge of the lake (now on your right), for some way, to a small boathouse. Here, turn left, through a gap, into a field, and go uphill, by a hedge on your left.
(POSSIBLE DIVERSION FROM OS MAP HERE)
On reaching a building, turn left, then immediately right, over a footbridge, onto a broad, grassy way, with a treeline on your left.
Keep on, to the top of the hill, and then, follow the track, around the top edge.
Look for a path going left, through the hedge, which goes forward to a small swing gate, into a pasture.
Go forward, across the centre of this field, to a small paddock. Then out through a swing gate to a driveway.
Turn right, to soon reach a main road. Turn left to The Limeburners Inn, and the start of the section.
