Clayton Holt

The chalk cutting at Clayton Holt is one of those Sussex landmarks that sneaks up on you - a dramatic white scar across the landscape just north of Hassocks that most people driving past on the A273 barely notice. It's a geological feature rather than a formal attraction, created by Victorian railway engineers who carved through the South Downs to make way for the London to Brighton line. What you get is a proper striking sight: towering white cliffs of exposed chalk, especially dramatic in afternoon light when the shadows deepen the cuts and show off the striated layers of rock.

Walkers get the most from it. There's a footpath that runs alongside, giving you proper close-up views of the cutting and the railway line below, though you're behind a fence - this isn't a scramble into the quarry. The whole business takes twenty minutes or so to walk past and absorb, longer if you're into geology or railway history and want to sit and study the layers. It's free, obviously, and you can access it on foot from the South Downs Way or via the footpaths that radiate out from Hassocks.

If you're camping at Southdown Way or Blackberry Wood, Clayton Holt makes a straightforward leg-stretcher on a rainy afternoon - nothing grand, but genuinely interesting. It's the sort of place that rewards a second look. Kids might find it dull unless they're railway enthusiasts, but anyone interested in how the landscape was carved up by Victorian engineering will find it properly absorbing.