West Sussex walks: Ferring – Highdown Hill – Angmering, circular walk with fabulous views and pub halfway

We are starting the walk in Hangleton Lane, Ferring, which sits between Highdown Garden Centre and the Yeomans Peugeot dealer. It is easy to get here on the 700 bus from Littlehampton or Worthing, and on the 9 from Shoreham.

Simply follow the lane uphill. You will pass Wadars Animal Rescue Charity on your right along the way. Continue along the lane, going uphill past White Lodge, Hillview Paddocks and High Down Hill Farm. Eventually you reach a junction of various footpaths and the National Trust sign for Highdown Hill. For this walk, we are continuing straight on up. You will see some stairs ahead of you, take this path.

As you continue up the hill you will come to what I think of as a secret little nook on the right. It's my favourite place to hide in the summer with a book and a picnic. It's only a small ledge and there is a steep drop, so you have to be careful, but you can wedge yourself in nicely and enjoy the wonderful views.

As you near the top of the hill, you will pass through an opening in the fence. Continue straight on up the hill, with a bank of bushes to your left. You are looking out for a signpost, which directs you to the left. Take the left turn and go through the gate ahead of you. Now follow the path between two fenced-off fields, with Ecclesden Windmill in the distance. Along this path are the best views of this walk, out north to Clapham and south to the sea.

You simply follow this path as you walk towards the mill, passing the private road to Ecclesden Farm on your right. Make your way to the end, where you will have to turn left to walk south, with the paddocks on your right. At the end of this footpath, you reach another signpost at a T-junction and here you turn right. We are going to make our way along this footpath to Angmering.

Continue to follow the path, which becomes a road, until you curve round to another junction. There is the A280 Angmering Bypass to the left and a footpath to the right but we are continuing straight ahead to take the bridge over the road.

The bridge is a bridleway, so look out for horses. As you come down the other side, you will see a small car park below to the left. If you turn right, you will quickly find The Spotted Cow and this is our turn around point. It's a nice halfway stop for a pint if you fancy it, too.

When you are ready, it's simply back over the bridge the way you came. If you go carefully, you will spot some bird feeders in the trees and if you are lucky, you will see some blue tits. At the bottom of the bridge, go back along the path we came on, directly ahead. We pass by Ecclesden Paddocks again, on our left this time.

Before long you will be back at that T-junction, where we came down from the top of the hill. We are not going to go back that way, we are continuing straight on along the footpath, with Highdown Hill sweeping up on your left. As you walk, you will find gaps in the trees where you can look through to see views of Worthing and over the sea to the Rampion Offshore Wind Farm.

You will start to go down a steep slope and then you are soon back at the big junction at the top of Hangleton Lane, where we went up the steps earlier. Simply follow the bridleway to the right and continue down the road we started on, past a signpost and on until you reach the main road. Should you need further refreshment, Highdown Garden Centre to the right has a lovely café.