Conveyor Run

A running blip for today. This run gets its name from the enclosed conveyor belt transport serving the gypsum mines. The conveyor moves gypsum between the mining site at Brightling to the processing plant at Mountfield in Sussex. Originally an overhead cable with suspended buckets (resembling small skips) was used. In 1989 this was replaced by the covered conveyor belt. It's very nearly 3 miles long. The reserves of gypsum at Brightling are the largest in the UK, at it's peak the mine was producing 1 million tonnes of gypsum per year.

Alongside the conveyor a path offers a very scenic and demanding route over the hills. It's a great run, starting near Brightling Needle, one of the highest points in Sussex. Out and back is about 7 miles — and that's plenty far enough!