#barlavington

[departmentofmusic]

There was a minor delay before you could get into our car parking this morning, rush hour on The Stud Farm in #barlavington #audiophile #hifi#westsussex #petworth #chichester #haslemere https://www.instagram.com/p/Bw_4eUWAUPA/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1xdwkkgx8yd1k

[pedallingsussex]

Barlavington Estate

Prompted by a chat with a fellow rider some weeks ago when out on my road bike in the just south of Petworth and Fittleworth there is a network of bridalways and beautiful South Downs countryside worth exploring. Looking at the map I was particularly interested in the body of water which is made up of a number of fishing ponds for those anglers amongst us.I planned to pick up the Serpent Trail which is a recreational route around here and mostly bridalway although sometimes is just a footpath.

To explore here there are a couple of well placed car parks with a reasonable amount of parking. Avoid taking low lying sports cars as you never make it round the bumpy car park! The northern most car park of the two is situated near the junction as the map suggests but could easily be missed if you are not eagle eyed as I wasn't. I parked in the southern most car park of the two (map ref. 992 171) and found an information board about the Barlavington Estate which was useful.

As you will see from the Sports Tracker entry below my route was not quite as I had planned as my start point was not quite where I had anticipated. Nevertheless, I found the way markings very clear and just in case you are not sure where you are permitted to cycle there were legends near several of the way markers. If you're cycling, blue is the way mark you are after. Depsite my poor map reading I did actually cover the route I wanted too but in reverse! 

One point of interest was when I followed the bridalway through Burton Park and up past Burton Park Farm. This is a well manicured area and I felt every bit the trespasser eventhough the map shows a clear right of way and the trail is good. The House in Burton Park looks quite spectacular.

At the time of writing this the road at the northern tip of Buton Mill Pond is closed to traffic due to maintenance of the sluice however walkers and cyclists can get through easily.

I have attached a couple of photos together with the Sports Tracker route I followed. I plan to return soon and explore some more encouraged by the many possible trails, good trail markings, views of the countryside and it was so quiet on the day I was there.

(Explorer Map 121 Arundel and Pulborough)

Enjoy!

Car Park Information Board

Burton House

Burton Mill Pond

Blackberries!