1 - From Sidley car park exit (or bus stops nearby), turn left past the toilets. In a few paces, immediately before the primary school, turn left on a path by the school fence. (Just beyond the school is All Saints Church if a visit is desired.)

At the bottom, the path bears around to the left to an estate road. Turn right and, where the road bears left, go straight ahead on a footpath between fences. Cross another estate road and continue downhill on a tarmac path to a bridge over a stream and turn left.

2 - Now follow a tarmac path into Sidley Wood. Where the path divides, take the right-hand fork leading to an estate road.

Turn right and, at the second bend, by number 63, turn right again through a twitten (a Sussex name for a path between fences, hedges or walls) to another estate road and turn left. At the T-junction, turn right along Woodsgate Park.

In 250 yards, turn left into Down Road. Go past the parish church of St Stephen on the left and cross Newlands Avenue. In a few paces, cross Down Road to Bexhill Down information board opposite, and follow the tarmac path down to the main road (A259).

3 - Cross with care to go along Chandler Road opposite (there is a zebra crossing 75 yards to the right if traffic is very busy). At the end turn left then in a few paces right into Eastwood Road. The Living Word Church building is on the corner here and they offer free refreshments to visitors on Wednesdays from 10am to noon.

Cross Cranston Avenue into Holmesdale Road then at the T-junction cross Collington Avenue and turn right along the footway. In 100 yards, turn left into Sutherland Avenue.

4 - On reaching Terminus Avenue, turn right by the entrance to Collington Station. At the T-junction, turn right into Westcourt Drive.

[If arriving by train or by road transport along Cooden Drive, go about 300 yards west of Collington Station and then turn right into Westcourt Drive.] In a very short distance, turn left into the main entrance of Collington Wood to go along a straight tarmac path. Ignore another tarmac path on the left leading to a play area, unless accompanied by children.

On the western edge of the wood, go through a twitten to Pages Lane and turn right. At a major junction with Birk Dale and Collington Avenue, cross over to go along Collington Rise. There is no footway, but this is a quiet road with wide grass verges.

At the top of the hill, continue straight ahead down a twitten beside houses to the main road (A259). Cross here with great care where there is better visibility, to avoid crossing at a bend later.

Turn right along the footway with a view on the left across Broad Oak Park – the paths into and across it are very muddy at this time of year. At the bend, turn left into Broad Oak Lane.

5 - In about 200 yards, opposite a Granary Barn sign, is the entrance to Broad Oak Park on the left. There is a free car park here, with toilets nearby, providing an alternative starting point. [If starting from here, go back out to Broad Oak Lane and turn left.] Continue north along Broad Oak Lane which then bears around to the right (beware: there is no footway for the last short section). At the junction with Blackfields Avenue and Ellerslie Lane, cross over to go down the old part of Broad Oak Lane (not used by traffic).

At Knebworth Road, turn left and left again into Summer-hill Road, then in a few paces turn right into Primrose Hill. In about 100 yards, turn right through a twitten by allotment gardens and then turn left into Broad View.

In only a few paces, follow Broad View around to the right into a cul-de-sac. Go to the end and bear left up shallow steps through a twitten to a road and turn right.

6 - In 125 yards, by a Glenleigh Avenue road sign, opposite Clevedon Road, follow the second of two footpaths which are very close together, along a twitten past a secluded pond with water fowl on the right.

Follow the path around the left-hand side of the fence until emerging on to an estate road. There is the brick base of an old windmill opposite.

Hoad’s Mill was a post mill believed to date from the 18th century. It collapsed during a storm in 1965, leaving the trestle and roundhouse. Looking through a metal gate, the old mill stones can be seen.

In a few paces, go across Gunters Lane (a busy road) with care into Deans Drive. Follow this estate road downhill to the very end and go forward on the tarmac path.

[If not having started from Sidley or not wanting to use the facilities there, turn right into Sidley Wood and continue the route from point 2.] Otherwise, cross the bridge over the stream and follow the left-hand tarmac path, crossing an estate road and going through a twitten to another estate road. Turn left along the footway, then in about 75 yards turn left into a twitten and follow the footpath by the school fence back to Sidley.

[Follow the route from point 1 if starting from another point.]

  • Distance/Time: Four and a half miles/two hours
  • By Car: Car parks (free) with toilets in Sidley (off A269) or in Broad Oak Park (off A259) near Little Common (start from point 5); on-street parking near Collington Station (start from point 4)
  • By Public Transport: Trains to Collington (on the Coastway line from Brighton and Hastings). Buses (95) from Battle or (98) from Eastbourne and Hastings to Sidley (alight at Lidl supermarket), or local buses to Collington Station. Timetable information from Traveline: 0871 200 2233 or www.traveline.info
  • What’s underfoot: Mostly estate roads and twittens, but may be slippery in places when wet; no stiles. Possible with a baby buggy, but there is some uneven ground and shallow steps
  • Thirsty Work: The New Inn, Ninfield Road, Sidley (near point 1) and The Denbigh pub, Little Common Road (near point 5)
  • So you don’t get lost: OS Explorer 124 or Landranger 199

Click here for a full-sized map of the Bexhill circular walk