Local Farms

Middle Farm is a 625 acre working family farm. They offer a warm countryside welcome, with something for every member of the family to enjoy, from animals to a Cider shop. (30 min by car)

Source from Middle Farm

The Park is adjacent to the Ashdown Forest which is in an ‘Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty’ and is home to an ever-growing variety of animals which today includes llamas, alpacas, reindeer, horses, donkeys, Jacob sheep, Kune Kune pigs, Peafowl and poultry, with more animals on the way. (45 min by car)

Source Llama Park

For the curious, learn how sparkling wine is made at the Rathfinney Estate, tours start at the Gun Room, reputed to have been the Duke of Wellington’s gun room, where you can also visit the Alfriston Heritage Centre. And if tasting is your passion, head to the tasting room at Ridgeview Vineyard, which has amazing panoramic views over the Down.

The South Downs Wine Story isn’t just about history and the grower’s expertise though, it’s about enjoying the fantastic end results.

Spice up a South Downs picnic with a bottle of sparkling wine to be enjoyed in the sunshine. Many restaurants and pubs across the National Park serve locally produced wine so take the opportunity to try something new wherever you are – a very pleasant surprise awaits you.

For a full list of wineries and vineyards open to the public, check out https://www.winegb.co.uk/ 

Source South Downs

Cheese Dairy Tour and Tasting experience that will give you a greater insight into how cheese is made in the dairy. (45 min by car)

Source High Weald Dairy

The South Downs National Park is home to a number of award-winning breweries, producing world-class beer, using chalk-filtered water straight from the South Downs aquifer.

For many people, a walk in the South Downs isn’t complete without a stop in a rural pub, quenching their thirst with something sublime brewed just a few miles away.

Try your hand at making craft beer at Langham Brewery  in Lodsworth and take a tour of their 10 barrel steam powered brewery.

If you like a little heritage with your beer then Longman Brewery  is ideal. The malt house existed on the farm during the mid-19th century and an inventory suggests it dates as far back as 1538. Longman Brewery use locally sourced ingredients and the spring barley used in the beers is grown on the farm, even their workforce is from within the Cuckmere Valley.

Source South Downs

Brighton and the surrounding Sussex area has become home to a rich landscape of breweries, both classic and modern. As many as you try, it feels like there’s always more to discover…

On Brighton Beer Blog you can find quick links to breweries pages, a bit of background and their take on each such as the nature of their range and brewing style

Source Brighton Beer Blog

Still very much the younger sibling to beer and wine, the last few years have seen distillers appear across the National Park.

Enjoy ‘Sussex dry gin’ from Blackdown, nestled in the heart of Blackdown Hill and taking inspiration from the botanicals of the surrounding mixed woodlands.

Or why not try Chilgrove’s ‘Signature Edition’ gin, distilled with natural mineral water filtered through the chalky soils of the South Downs?

Whatever it is you’re drinking, you can be sure it will be the South Downs in a glass.

Source South Downs