Heath End

Superficially Heath End may look like a peaceful hamlet on the slopes of the Rother Valley, but a few yards away from the idyllic view shown above there's a huge sand pit.

Luckily, the sand pit at Heath End is well hidden at ground level.

There's a band of greensand which runs from west to east all along this part of the Rother Valley - on some footpaths up here it sometimes seems as though you're walking on a beach instead of a footpath.

The Serpent Trail runs through here and Heath End gets its name from its location at the north eastern corner of Duncton Common - a lovely piece of heathland habitat, which is one of the nicest places for an autumn walk in this part of West Sussex.

The old railway line from Midhurst to Pulborough used to run just beyond the far side of the field shown in the photo, but this has long gone - a sign of how quickly traces of man can disappear from the countryside.

Another interesting piece of industrial engineering a few metres along the A285 from Heath End is Coultershaw Beam Pump at Coultershaw Bridge - built to pump water from the River Rother to the estates of Petworth House a couple of miles to the north of Coultershaw Bridge.

Now restored, the beam pump is open for only a few days of the year and it's worth catching it in operation when you can - it's a marvel of the industrial revolution.

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