Sussex Walks: Lancing Ring Loop.

starting point & parking | dogs: some cattle but mostly off lead | difficulty: some uneven ground and one climb

It occurred to me the other day that I’m all out of ideas for new walks to blog near me in Brighton. I mean, I know of some but often follow my nose and get so caught up in photographing that I forget to makes notes for the route. Route posts take me forever, I have to double check the route, try and retrace my steps by matching up the timestamp on the photos with satellite images on Maps.

It suddenly occurred to me that I have a wealth of resources in my phone via a number of apps where people have lovingly created routes to try and I didn't need to go out getting lost in the countryside and getting frustrating with putting the post together for every walk. I’ve created photo stories and linked to All Trails before on this blog and linking to the app is much better for all of us - you get live navigation and don’t have to try and piece together the walk from my post in patchy data! So I’m taking the pressure off creating intricate posts and instead going to share more photo stories of app walks.

If you don’t have AllTrails on your phone already I highly recommend installing it - it’s a treasure trove of lovely walks and really helpful while away in places you don’t know to find walks of different lengths for whatever suits your mood.

On a sunny Sunday at the end of January 2022 - a month that I thoroughly enjoyed (yet seem to be the only one) but probably due to getting my mobility back - I joined my long time buddy Matt and his friend for a stomp in the countryside. The sky was blue and it was crisp cool day, beautiful for the eye, not so much for the camera, I’m just not into the contrast. But I don’t want the fact I’m not into the photos get in the way of sharing because this is a beaut of a walk and not so well known. As someone I know rightfully commented, way more exciting than Cissbury Ring which gets a lot of love.

Just 15 mins out of Hove, the car park was busy with people coming and go but a space coming available rapidly. I caught up with Matt while his buddy navigated and like a small dog my little 5’1 person legs were moving faster than they’ve probably moved in years keeping up with the longer legs of these guys!

There was a great mix of woodland and rolling downland, and after the climb (not so bad!) the views opened up to vistas across to Brighton and the sea. We got back rosy faced and satisfied and Monty even got to have a paddle at the end. Winner winner chicken dinner.