[Sidenote: THE DEVIL’S DYKE] Bramber another excellent inn called the Castle Inn. Here the second river valley of the Downs is crossed: the valley of the Adur. From the Arun to the Adur is a very short day, yet it is good policy to rest here, as there is no other break in the hills between this valley and that of the Ouse at Lewes, which is almost as long a journey as that of the first day. After Bramber the line of the range becomes somewhat confused, and does not follow that strict and unbending direction which has hitherto marked it. There is a projection northward in Wolstonbury Hill, and fairly deep depressions between the principal heights. The course to be followed is further complicated by the near presence of Brighton, which has thrown out a railway almost up to the top of the range, and has brought the influences of a town to the deep combe known as Devil’s Dyke. This unfortunate spot cannot be avoided save on foot, for, on horseback, the escarpment to the north is too steep to be followed; it is therefore best to take it boldly, unpleasant as it is, to go well south of the Dyke and make for the hamlet of Saddlescombe, the first passage of the Downs after Bramber. Thence the traveller will go due north-east over the shoulder of New Timber Hill, in the valley beyond he will cross the two Brighton roads (that from Crawley and that from Cuckfield) just before they join, he will leave Wolstonbury Hill wholly on his left and will make for the summits of the Downs before him, going due eastward from the highroad when he has crossed it. When he has once reached these summits beyond the road he has another straight run of seven miles of splendid turf and of glorious views along a lonely and unwooded ridge, past Ditchling Beacon, and catching beneath him as he goes, at the foot of the hills, the last miles of the old British track which here links up Westmeston, Plumpton, and Offham. When he comes at last to the fall of the hills down upon the Ouse valley, he will see before him the town of Lewes and its castle, and as he goes down towards it he will note the race-course upon his right, which stands upon the site of the great battle of 1264, wherein the Barons defeated the King and laid the foundations of Parliament. Lewes, when he reaches it, should form his third resting-place, lying as it does upon the third of the rivers which cut the Downs. Upon the fourth day the way lies along the main Eastbourne road for the first two or three [Illustration: BEACHY HEAD] [Sidenote: BEACHY HEAD] miles, until Beddingham is reached. There one turns to the right just by the church, and after half a mile of going one finds a lane leading straight up on to the Downs; a ridgeway takes one along the crest (the height of which is here called Firle Beacon), and in about five miles one comes down upon the valley of the Cuckmere and the very old village of Alfriston.