Brighton: 3 Carless City Walks
Going for an impromptu lunchtime walk in the sun is one of life’s greatest pleasures. We often get so caught in our to dos that we forget when we are blocked or coming up against a wall that sometimes the best thing to do is to step away and let the eyes refresh with the knock on effect of giving the brain space.
Brighton offers some amazing walks right from the city centre. Walking around the city itself is joyous - this creative city offers so much to see in peoples gardens, windows, shops, street art, the sea. But sometimes you just want to get up high, take some lungfuls of air rolling off the coast and have a reminder that the city is but a portion of the landscape.
In the last year, with our lockdown periods, the questions I have seen asked the most is suggestions of places to walk. I’m not going to say I should have got this out earlier but I have been sitting on this post since last Spring!
All of these walks are accessible by foot from points in the city. Depending on which side of town you are staying or living in you may need to take a bus (when restrictions allow of course) or bike to your starting point. But such is Brighton that if you choose to walk it’s perfectly doable.
Race Hill.
what3words start points: blast.ridge.fallen (racecourse) or waters.people.lace (behind hospital)
I feel a bit loathe to share this spot because, in my opinion, this little spot offers the best views over the city and it’s one of Brightons best secrets! And the charm of it is you don’t expect this little gem to be so incredible considering that there are residential areas surrounding it.
This walk is in the East side of the city providing views across the city and sea. This is the kind of walk you walk to and then enjoy the views when you get there as it’s a fairly spall space. Perfect for a flask of tea and sharing some biscuits.
Start at the top of Freshfield Road where it meets Manor Hill (next to the Racecourse) or you can pick up the path into the woodland from behind the hospital on Whitehawk Hill Road. You can grab a Number 1 bus heading East to Whitehawk from most places in town to get to the hospital.
Three Cornered Copse and Green Ridge.
what3words start point: filed.spine.host
If you take a walk through Hove Park you’ll arrive at a little pathway that looks like nothing but an alley behind some houses. But actually this path leads to eleven acres of public land that is home to much wildlife.
Take a steady amble up to the top and you can cross the busy Dyke Road Avenue with caution, perhaps stopping for a coffee at the Hill View Cafe, and pick up Green Ridge which will give you views over the downs and along to the windmill.
Start at the north east corner of Hove Park where Goldstone Crescent meets Woodland Drive and you’ll see the entrance. Head on up the hill until you reach the top next to Dyke Road Avenue. Here you can access Green Ridge. If you’re after a longer walk take the bridge left from near the windmill and you can access Waterhall.
Hollingbury Hill Fort.
what3words start point (fiveways): precautions.lock.coherant
what3words start point (moulsecoomb): souk.gives.shakes
A lot of this land is occupied by the golf club but there is a lot of ‘safe’ land around the golf course that makes for lots of open space and big, open views across the city and coast. Hollingbury hill fort and the land around it has a bit of everything - woodland, open space, a dew pond and epic views.
There isn’t much left of the fort itself, which is from the Iron Age, but there are 3 bronze age barrows and you can clearly see the old castle site as you walk and notice. Pottery found at the site dates back to approximately 450-250 BC.
There are a few access points - mainly the woodland leading up from Fiveways just off Ditchling Road but perhaps less known is the access from just behind Moulsecomb station. It will get your heart rate up climbing to the top but this is my favourite route - you can walk up across the meadow drinking in the changing view as you climb and you can pick back along to woodland you can access from the dew pond at the top. If you want a longer walk you can keep going past the dew pond and the land stretches all the way to Stanmer Park.
You can also scale the circumference of the golf course by heading West behind B&Q and Shabitat and picking up the woodland path. A lot of the golf course is permissive too so there’s plenty of ground to cover.
