The Big Bench

There's a wooden bench sitting on the Sussex Downs near Hassocks that's become something of a talking point - and yes, it's genuinely enormous. Built to a rather daft scale, it's the sort of thing that makes you do a double-take on the walk towards it, then laugh when you realise you can actually sit on the thing. It's free, it's outdoors, and it takes about five minutes to experience properly.

The bench itself doesn't do much, to be honest. You arrive, you photograph it, you sit on it if you're feeling whimsical, and then you move on. What saves it from being a complete non-event is the walk to get there - the Downs around Hassocks are genuinely lovely, rolling countryside with proper views south towards the coast. Combine this with a longer ramble and you've got something worth your while. Solo walkers and families with kids who like a bit of silliness will get a kick out of it. Anyone expecting a major landmark experience should probably look elsewhere.

If you're based at one of the nearby caravan parks - Southdown Way is closest at under three miles, or Blackberry Wood and Blacklands Farm if you want a bit more distance - it makes for an easy afternoon outing. Pair it with a proper walk across the Downs and a pub lunch back in Hassocks, and it becomes part of something better rather than a destination in itself. Go for the walk, tolerate the bench. That's the honest take.