Keep straight on this path through the woods, ignoring other footpaths that join or cross it. When you leave the woods the path continues westwards down a drive. Follow this drive into Selmeston village - you may see the gate into the churchyard on your right just before the drive meets the road through the village. It is worth looking in the church and churchyard. Turn left and walk along the road until it meets the A27. Take your life in your hands and cross. The footpath is immediately opposite on the left-hand side of the Selmeston road. Heading south, it passes through a small parking space and goes across the field ahead following the line of the telegraph poles. At the end of the field climb the stile and walk through a narrow band of woodland which skirts a garden. The path soon meets a narrow road - look for a gate on the opposite side of the road, slightly to the right, and climb the stile to the right of it.

Walk down this sloping field, keeping the hedge to your left. In the gateway in the dip at the bottom it looks as if the path goes left following the hedge - don't be fooled by this as it is the horses' path to their water trough. Your path is across the next field diagonally from bottom right to top left where you will find 2 stiles. Climb the one on the right which doesn't cross the ditch, and follow the line of the hedge (which is on your left). You will come to a wonderful alder tree in the hedge and when it isn't too muddy you can take a short cut by crossing the ditch and walking to the left of the tree. Otherwise you have to go round the elbow of hedge and continue southwards along the field edge still with the hedge and ditch on your left. At the end of the field the path meets a stony track. Turn left along it and it will lead you into Alciston village. Ahead of you is the church, the farm with its medieval dove-cote and, when you turn right and walk along the road, the great tithe barn. Stay on the road which bends left and passes the full length of the barn and the entrance to the farm. Keep on this road as it winds between houses and farm buildings until it eventually becomes a track. Follow the track and when it forks, take the right branch. There's a triangular grassy "island" to your left. Take the track that goes right at 90 degrees here (not the farm track that leads into the field opposite). This will lead you to the corner of a field and you need to take a sharp left, walking southwards with the hedge on your left and the north escarpment of the Downs right in front of you. There is a waymarker hidden in the hedge.

Follow the path along the field edge until the path forks with the left fork leading into a kind of "tunnel" in the hedge. Walk up this tunnel, steadily climbing until you reach a stile at the foot of the Downs. Climb over and immediately turn right following the track through the ash grove. The bank on your left is a wild flower paradise. The path reaches a fence by a small road. Don't go through the gate onto the road - instead look to your left and see the bostal path that climbs the hill between high banks. You'll be almost doubling back from the direction in which you've come, but the path is very clear and is the easiest way of climbing the steep hill. Follow this sunken path passing through a gateway near the top, and when you finally reach the ridgetop you will see a footpath crossroads sign over to your left. This shows the ridgetop path to be the South Downs Way which you will now follow travelling eastwards for nearly a mile until it begins to descend into the Cuckmere Valley. You will come to a major footpath crossroads where you have a choice. * Take the right turn and you can walk down into Alfriston and explore the village. The shorter route which avoids the village takes the track which is the first left at this junction. This chalky track then winds on down the hill until it joins a wider track going east and leading towards the Sanctuary, a big white house in front of you and on the right of the track. Walk past a small brick building on your left, and a field entrance and you will see a footpath sign on the left showing a path that follows the field edges northwards towards Berwick church whose steeple you can see in the clump of trees on a small hill ahead of you if you are looking northward. **

Follow the field edge path which keeps to the left of the hedge line, has several redundant stiles and crosses a ditch in the bottom-most field, until you climb up to the clump of trees and enter the churchyard through the gate on your left. When you have explored the church as much as you like, leave the churchyard by taking the path which goes directly from the church door towards a kissing gate that leads into a field. Cross the field by carrying on in the same direction, past the big chestnut trees, towards the stile which has a Vanguard Way marker on it. Climb the stile and follow in the same direction to the corner ahead where the path leads into a twitten. This comes out by a big pond on your left. Pass the pond, then turn left on the cinder road towards the Cricketers' pub. Turn right when you reach the road in front of the pub and follow it down to the A27 where once again a careful crossing is required.

Cross by the bus shelter and the stile you need is opposite and slightly to the left to the right of a gate. From this stile the path crosses the field diagonally left - it's not easy to see but in the far left corner of the field there is a stile with a plank across the ditch. The path then goes up the right-hand side of the hedge of the next field. In the top corner of this one there are two telegraph poles and the concealed exit is in the hedge between them. Climb another stile and look across to your left where on the other side of the next field you will see a line of willow trees in the hedge. You are heading for the righthand end of this line of trees. Walk down the field to where the stile is in the bottom where you cross over the ditch and continue up towards where the trees end in the hedge in front of you. Climb the stile where the trees end (ignoring rather confusing signs where the farmer appears to have redirected the path) and turn right and walk along the left side of the hedge. You will quickly come to a gap into the next field. Walk through and continue in the same direction parallel to the hedge on your right, past the water trough on your left. You are looking for a path that goes diagonally left across the field down to a stile near the bottom left corner. The fork comes opposite where the hedge on your right ends, but is not easy to find. However, the north boundary of this field is a line of mature willows and a stream so if you miss the diagonal path you will reach the trees and will be able to turn left and walk along until you find the stile and the bridge across the stream.

The path leads you through the trees and across another small field which it leaves in the top left-hand corner. Your route takes you across the road here and up a track to the right of the house. Follow this track which winds up to the farm that you passed early on in the walk. Where the road crosses the bridleway by this farm, turn right onto the grassy track which leads through several gates back to the road by the Berwick Arms pub.

If you choose to take the route that leads into Alfriston, at the point marked * you will continue on the South Downs Way (straight ahead) which will take you into the centre of the village. When you have explored the village as much as you want to, you need to take the road that leads northwards out of the village but take the left fork so that the short stay car park is on your right as you walk slightly uphill out of the village. This is a very narrow road going only to Winton Street. Follow it until you pass a crucifix on the left outside the house called the Sanctuary. Past the house you will see the footpath leading down across the fields and then up to Berwick church, whose steeple you can see in the clump of trees on the small hill ahead of you as you look northwards. From this point, follow directions as above from **.