Sullington Waterfall
A few weeks ago a friend who is handy with a camera shared on Instagram a picture of a waterfall he’d taken while out riding in the Downs nearby. It looked majestic, free flowing and completely alien to anything I’d seen around locally. It looked like out of Robin Hood and the Prince of Thieves where Kevin gets his butt out.
Despite strong assertions the waterfall really wasn’t as impressive as it may have appeared I was keen to go and see it for myself, so designed a route using Komoot to take me out there.
I set out one Friday evening, the last day of July 2020, with my DSLR precariously balanced on my back with four local ride buddies, including the original photographer.
The weather was warm and fairly humid, and nobody was out riding their bikes or walking after work on a Friday so soon after pubs had been allowed to re-open. We struck out at a leisurely pace, dress code strictly gravel casual.
The ride started out of the back of Lancing College, climbing up to Lancing Ring before turning north to the South Downs Way to Cissbury Ring. Descending North off the back of the ridge of hills we hit some woods and a large, steep bowl I chickened out of riding down.
The route then rolled on a fast road into Washington, grateful to turn off the A road and into villages and bridleways again. Crossing over the a24, a fast blur and whirr of traffic noise puncturing the air in between the trees on either side.
Rutted paths at the side of farmers fields on the dry earth made up most of the terrain and I was grateful for the slightly cushioned ride coming from my proto-rear suspension and large 47c tyres. Just one of us was on a mountain bike and we were all jostled. There’s no moisture in the ground at all to soften the blows. After a funny little descent through a field of ponies, we hit the road again, turned left, and there the fall greeted us.
It turned out my friend is indeed very handy with a camera, as it’s not *quite* as impressive as the photograph made it look. We did all know this before going there, but I was not the only one of our group who had not seen this unusual feature before and despite not expecting much, I was pleased to have come this far for what some might consider so little.
Gingerly stepping off the tarmac I walked onto the wet stones to get a better photo. My DSLR here really let me down and the best photo I took was on my phone. The air was cooler near the waterfall which was a relief on a warm evening.
Out of the corner of my eye a road cyclist descending with a freehub rasping through the air.
The waterfall is at the bottom of a hill called Chantry Lane, and it was up there, back up to the South Downs Way, that we had to climb. Chantry Lane is a steep climb, but not overly so which means spinning up in your easiest gear is an option. It is also nice to ascend on tarmac after the bouncing on the dry earth we’d had just before.
There are not many cars as it’s a car park at the top, and the ones we did meet were all surprisingly courteous. We all got to the top gasping for air and I reached for my Haribo I’d stashed in my jersey.
A short sidle along the South Downs Way, seeing and disregarding several bridleway descents back to the coast led us to my chosen path which I’d used once before. After this point until getting to a suburb we didn’t see another person out on the trail as the light started to fade. This was the final high point in our ride and I knew that we had only a gravel descent firstly to the a27 then to Worthing seafront.
This descent is my favourite I have come across in Sussex on a gravel bike. It is long without being dull and just steep enough that you get up a lot of speed without needing to touch the brakes. It’s all on good quality gravel too, first through a wood then more openly. Thankfully the theme of us being alone on the hills continued to we didn’t need to bother anyone else which meant you could really let go and enjoy yourself.
The descent spits you out onto the a27 which is crossed at Goring Castle, before finding the beach through a depressing new housing estate and then strange shared use paths at the fast roundabouts in this part of Worthing.
Finally, to the seafront, and blasting back East along the seafront with a stiff southwesterly behind us, racing the light as not all of us had them.
Better than going to the pub, as it was pointed out.
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