The Lickey Hills

Lickey - Likey - Loved 'em

I visited the Lickey Hills on a brief topping trip to north Worcestershire. I was already rather keen on the place after discovering there was free parking and no height barriers. I had a good snigger driving through Lickey End on the way. The Lickey Hills have been a holiday destination for generations of Brummies since 1888. The locals were out in force despite the rather grey weather. Most of the country park lies within Worcestershire, but a small bit juts into Birmingham and rather fittingly forms the county top.

Rednal Hill, Birmingham, 820ft

The country park includes several hills, you get to Rednal Hill by first walking up Bilbery Hill which is covered in bilberys in summer. There were several view points looking east towards the city, but Birmingham was wrapped in grey blanket so views were rather limited. The path then took a very steep descent down the Hundred Steps and climbed rather less steeply up Rednal Hill. The top was a clump of trees just below the summit with misty views of Beacon Hill across the valley. The route took me across the (first ever) municipal golf course where walkers seemed to outnumber golfers. I mislaid the footpath and had to walk up a very steep bank to the top. Beacon Hill (985ft) had a castle like viewing platform and interesting topograph with an extensive view over Birmingham and beyond.

All in all, an excellent top.

Alternative East Sussex - Brighton & Hove

Full of eastern promise

Brighton and Hove seceded from East Sussex in 1997 to form a unitary authority and was granted city status in 2000. Brighton is one of the largest towns in the south east and spreads out all over the South Downs from its historic heart around the Royal Pavillion. The Pavillion was built by the Prince Regent in the early nineteenth century so he could enjoy the charms of his mistress/wife Mrs Fitzherbert. The Royal Pavillion is an amazing building inspired by Indian and Chinese architecture. The Music Room is my favorite which I was fortunate enough to see before it was destroyed by fire in 1975, the ceiling was amazing. During the first world war, it was used as a hospital for Indian troops. The Chattri memorial to the troops is high on the Downs to the north of Brighton.

Brighton is very popular with visitors as it has a lot of offer besides some amazing architecture. The West Pier, opened in 1866, is the oldest and is one of the stars of the film, Oh What A Lovely War. The Palace Pier is the one still operating and also frequently features in films and TV. An electric railway runs along the beach. The streets of the original village now form the Lanes full of little boutique shops. Brighton racecourse is on top of the Downs with great views over the town and the sea. The course is u-shaped and cuts across a main road which has to be shut on race days.


I visited Brighton last month when the weather was fantastic, loads of sun and gentle breezes. I camped on the Caravan club site at Sheepcote Valley, which was set in a fold in the Downs and at night you could hear the sheep on the hills above. Brighton has twin peaks, East Hill and Bullock Hill. Sadly neither is a brilliant top, one is halfway up a hill, the other is inaccessible. Hollingbury Castle or the Racecourse would have much much better tops.

East Hill 640ft

East Hill is the southern slope of West Hill to the north of Brighton. The actual summit is in West Sussex. I started this walk from a car park on Devil's Dyke, a beauty spot just off the A23. It was fairly undulating as I racked up over 500ft of ascent in less than 3 miles. I followed the South Downs Way up to the top of West Hill, where I was overtaken by cyclists going a hill that left me breathless. The boundary line crosses the footpath on the descent but with no markers, this was one for the GPS. Not much of a top but a pleasant walk.

Bullock Hill 640ft

Bullock Hill is on the eastern side of Brighton not far from the Racecourse. I wasn't able to park at the nearest car park (height barriers very popular in Brighton) but was able to park quite close by. Bullock Hill is a gentle mound but in true top form boasts an aerial mast. It was completed surrounded by a very secure fence protecting a new crop. The nearest I got to the trig point was about 200 metres from a nearby footpath. It's a bit of shame as there was probably a good view of the coast from up there. I could see chalky cliffs that might have been the Seven Sisters. Another very pleasant walk.

Interesting road sign at the Racecourse

Brighton Racecourse

East Sussex - a lot of ups and Downs

East, west - east is best!

Top Facts

East Sussex is one of my favorite counties, not least because it is only an hour and half away. Two ranges of hills cross the county, the glorious South Downs running along the coast and the Sussex Weald along the Surrey border, with the Vale of Sussex in between. For contrast there is a marshland area that surrounds the historic little town of Rye.

The South Downs are about to become England’s newest national park. The northern slope rises steeply out the valley making any walk up the scarp slope quite a challenge. There are great views from the top of the downs as they are mostly grassland and usually you get to see the coast as well as inland. The Weald is generally more forested, the highest point in East Sussex is Gills Leap (669ft) in Ashdown Forest. Ashdown Forest is one of the largest open spaces in the south east, a mixture of pines and heaths and famous for being the home of Winnie the Pooh.

East Sussex has a huge variety of interesting places to visit; top billing must go Battle Abbey, the scene of the most famous date in English history. Other historic sites include Pevensey Castle, with huge Roman walls, and Lewes Castle guarding a gap in the Downs. Rye and Winchlesea are two of the historic Cinque Ports, but both are now a long way from the sea. Interesting properties owned by the National Trust include the very first property acquired, Alfiston Clergy House and Batemans, the home of Rudyard Kipling, which even has a dog crèche.

The East Sussex coastlines runs from Rye in the east to Hove in the west taking in some of the most spectacular coastline in Britain, the Seven Sisters and Beachy Head. The beaches are largely shingle but they all face south so are very attractive when the sun shines.

East Sussex also has an excellent county top, Ditchling Beacon 814ft, which ticks most of the right boxes; easily accessible with 360° views and handy car park, (no height barriers). It’s on the South Downs Way starts/finishes at Eastbourne and includes three of the counties five Marilyns, Ditchling, Wilmington Hill and Firle Hill.

The largest town in East Sussex is Brighton, a city since 2000 and unitary authority. As it has two tops of its own, it will be the subject of the next blog.

Riders on the Downs

The Long Man of Wilmington

Sunset over Ditchling Beacon

Looking from Firle Beacon to Wilmington Hill

Noddy and I on Wilmington Hill

East Sussex Marilyns

I've made two topping trips to East Sussex: one in November 2006 with Noddy when we topped four out of the five Marilyns and last month in the glorious spring weather when I visited all of tops again.

Ditchling Beacon 814ft (County Top)

Ditchling is a favorite of mine and one of the first I bagged. It's easily accessible from the NT car park and there is a panaramic view including the coast, the South Downs, the Sussex Weald and on a clear day the North Downs. From Ditchling you can see all the other Marilyns in East Sussex. The road up to the Beacon is quite a climb, 2nd gear for Archie and often features in major professional cycling race, event the Tour de France has climbed it. The scarp side is very impressive. Noddy and I did a lovely circular walk via Lower Standean through the folds in downs, finishing on the South Downs Way. Highly recommended.

Crowborough 794ft

The whole town of Crowborough is built on the hill so locating the actual top is a bit difficult. The trig point is hidden in a reservoir complex that some baggers, more intrepid than I, have penetrated, or it could be behind this gate in Warren Road. My first visit was a brief photo stop with the engine running outside the Water Board complex. Feeling I hadn't really done Crowborough justice, I made a second attempt to walk there through the woods on the outskirts of town. I gave up after walking in a circle and drove there instead. Just outside Crowborough is the Ashdown Forest, a large sandy heath and plantation with lots of open access. It is best known for being the home of Pooh Bear and where poohsticks was first played.

Firle Beacon (712ft)

Firle Beacon is just to the west of the delightful village of Alfriston, which lies in a gap in the South Downs. It possesses several tempting teashops, a lovely village green and the first National Trust property, the beautiful Clergy House. There are some fine walks along the Cuckmere Valley and if you felt energetic, you could walk to the Seven Sisters cliffs about four miles away. The nearest car park is on top of the downs near the village of Firle up another steep, 2nd gear climb. The view takes in the port of Newhaven and the ferries and nearby Cliffe Hill. It was very popular for all sorts of activities; cycling, horse riding, kite flying and a beginners class for paragliding.

Wilmington Hill (702ft)

Wilmington Hill is to the east of Alfriston along the South Downs Way. I walked with Noddy on the most glorious winter day. We had left home well before dawn and had breakfast in a remote car park just below the hill, (the main one in the village had a height barrier!). There were great panaramic views of the South Downs, which are chalky hills and mainly grazed by sheep, so they are great for walking but can be very breezy.
On my recent trip I walked from the Alfriston to Wilmington to see the Long Man carved into the chalk which isn't really visible from the top of the hill.

Cliffe Hill (538ft)

Cliffe Hill is the lowest Marilyn in England rising up in a great mass just to the east of Lewes, the county town of East Sussex. The shortest way there is from Lewes but I didn't fancy the climb from sea level. The added difficulty is that the top is actually on a golf course requiring some trespassing. I set out from Glynde to the east of the hill and on my way was overtaken by some ramblers I'd see earlier on Firle Beacon. It was a pretty steep climb up the slopes of Mount Caborn (a hillfort) but once again the views were suberb. There were paragliders circling overhead, views of Glynde Place and the folds and valleys hidden from road, with wonderful names like Bible Bottom. The route to top favoured by other toppers involved walking through a farmer's field and over a stile into the golf course. The field was occupied by some very large cows so I reluctantly gave up and returned as daylight was beginning to fade. I'll be having a rematch with Cliffe Hill later in the year.

Two New Tops

Hooray! Local government reorganisation today has created two new tops (a bit of bugger to anyone who had completed the list).

44 councils (district and county) will be replaced by nine new unitary councils in seven areas. Five areas will have one unitary council (Cornwall, Wiltshire, Shropshire, Northumberland and Durham) while two areas will be split into two unitary administrative units each (Cheshire will become Cheshire West and Chester and Cheshire East, and Bedfordshire will become Bedford Borough and Central Bedfordshire).

So we welcome The Slipe, at 351ft a mere nipple on the landscape, the top of Bedford Borough. Central Bedfordshire inherits the old county top of Dunstable Downs, an altogether more impressive 797ft. Shining Tor (1834ft and Marilyn) is now the top of Cheshire East and Raw Head (745ft & Marilyn) is top of Cheshire West and Chester.