ラヴァンの天然記念物・トップ20

It's worth noting that the pictures here are of Devil's Humps (10 mins away) not Bow Hill. This marker is in the middle of some woodland without a view (but you do walk past a good view as you turn off the main path!)

Amazing views

Known as the ‘Devil’s Humps‘and the ‘King's Graves,‘ many legends and folklores surround these Bronze Age barrows. Whatever the truth the commanding position at the very top of Kingley Vale is a clear indication that they marked the resting place of important people, perhaps tribal leaders. This may be evidence of the beginnings of social hierarchies at this time. https://www.southdowns.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Kingley-Vale-Hidden-Trail-Final-web-version.pdf

Kingley Vale was designated one of the country’s first National Nature Reserves in 1952. It is owned by Natural England and the West Dean Estate, who manage the Reserve protecting its special habitats, wildlife and heritage. Kingley Vale is known for its twisted and ancient yew trees and includes a grove of veteran trees which are among the oldest living things in Britain. Several are at least 500 years old, with the oldest measuring more than five metres in girth. https://www.southdowns.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Kingley-Vale-Hidden-Trail-Final-web-version.pdf

South Downs National Park is England's newest national park, designated on March 31, 2010. The park covers an area of 1,627 square kilometers in the south of England and extends for 140 kilometers from Winchester in the west to Eastbourne in the east, through the counties of Hampshire, West Sussex and East Sussex. The national park includes the chalk hills of the South Downs (which on the Channel coast form the white cliffs of the Seven Sisters and Beachy Head) and a significant part of a distinct physical-geographical region, the western Weald, with its heavily wooded sandstone and clay hills and valleys. The idea for a national park on the South Downs emerged as early as the 1920s, when there was growing concern about increasing threats to the beautiful landscape, especially the impact of uncontrolled speculative housing development on the eastern Sussex Downs. The national park has a rich industrial heritage and history, such as old iron mines, watermills, castles and country houses. The national park also has great biodiversity and is home to more than 3,000 species of plants and animals, including rare orchids, butterflies, birds and bats.

Well marked trail now created to take you through the ancient yew trees.

Really lovely circuit with a great variety of terrain and landscapes, did it January on gravel bikes and the trail was proper muddy in places, also leafy, gravelly, you name it. Added a diversion to the RAF memorial to the site of a crashed Dambusters Lancaster from where there are lovely views south to the coast and the IoW. Recommended.

Lovely new signs clearly marking the national park