Artists beyond Brighton - riding to an Open House beyond the South Downs by Brighton

Starting from the quiet of Stanmer Park we use mainly a motor vehicle traffic free bicycle lane to reach Lewes and then head on quieter roads into the Weald of Sussex. A short loop on lanes around Hamsey and Cooksbridge sees us return to Lewes, the bike lane and finally our start point at Stanmer Park.

Around half of this route is traffic free and the rest is divided equally between busier roads and quitet back roads. There is a steady climb on the bike path home, of course this is a down hill going out.

We will stop for breaks at an Artists' Open House in Hamsey and then at the Anchor Inn near Barcombe village, at around half-way, where there is a grocers shop for those that need refuelling. The shop has a self-service tea/coffee machine (currently untested).

Helmets are strongly recommended. There is a cafe at the start and end point, you may wish to bring a reusable cup, there is no expectation that participants have to use any paid facilities.

If you are new to our group rides then you are welcome, we will ride at the speed of the slowest rider but are assuming you can ride 10 miles of rolling terrain in an hour. Contact us with your questions or concerns.

Meeting at Stanmer Park main entrance we ride along the front access road of the University of Sussex to Falmer Village (north). At Falmer village we access the A27 bike path to ride to Lewes Prison where, at around 6 miles, we head east on the A275 for just over a mile before heading into the quiet Sussex Wealden lanes from Offham to Hamsey, with its church dating from the 12th Century. A loop takes us through Hamsey and on to Cooksbridge, via the Anchor Inn, Barcombe village (which is mentioned in the Domesday book) and a marked crossing of the Meridian. A further circuit in the quiet lanes to the west of the A275 sees us return to that road to retrace our route back to the start.