A short walk in St Leonards Forest, near Horsham, West Sussex.
Today we are going to go a little further afield and head into Horsham. Horsham is a lovely little market town with some fantastic cafes for a cup of tea and cake when you have finished the walk.
This is one of my favourite walks in the area and I have done it a number of times with my Explorer Scouts at night, with just the moon light to guide us.
Park up at Roost Hole car park, (TQ208299, Explorer map 134). Initially we are going to head out onto the road, so come back out the car park to the road and turn left, follow this for about 300m and take the road on your right. The will wind down hill and round to your right. Just as the road bears round to the right you will find a footpath heading east. Hop over the stile and follow the foot path as it head into the woods. The path is clear and easy to follow through the woods.
After about half a km you will walk between two fishing lakes, the one on your right is Roost Hole Pond. Follow the foot path until you come to a road. Hop over the stile and cross the road. We are going to head up the track opposite you, passing a beautiful, massive, ancient oak tree on your right. Follow this path in a straight line for about 1km, until you come to a footpath (The High Weald Landscape Trail) on your right. Take this relatively narrow path, all the way to a track that you need to cross. In front of you is a kissing gate that you need to pass through as you follow the path into the fields, passing the remains of a house, on your left. The old house is worth a little look at as you can see all the old floor tiles.
Keeping right of the track and the field, making sure you don’t end up on the moto cross track, the path meanders downhill to an area known as the Lily Beds. Depending on what time of the year you walk this route, the Lily Beds may be full of water. As you walk past the Lily Beds, head straight up hill, through the woods, being careful not to take the paths on your left or right.
This path will lead you up to a track known as Mick Mills Race. Take a right onto this track. Legend has it that Mick raced the Devil for his soul and won. From end to end the track is exactly one mile long and at the southern-most point is Micks Cross. However, just before you reach the cross you need to take the path heading west and gently downhill. This wide track, previously a firebreak, will take you down through St Leonard’s Forest back to your car. Often I see deer grazing and watching out from the trees along the edge of the path.
This wonderful, interesting, short walk is around 4 miles long and should take around 2 hours to complete.
A Walk around Charlwood Part two.
This is a walk that takes in the countryside around Gatwick airport, starting from the picturesque village of Charlwood. I parked up outside the shops opposite the road to Ifield. Perfect for picking up a snack or drink from the local newsagent.
This walks heads west from these shops, along towards the church – don’t turn off to the church, but follow the main road round the bend and take your next road on your left. About 200m down this road there is a pretty clear footpath that heads off to the right. This path will take you past a couple of very pretty cottages, one of which is called Bristow Cottage and is the old School House from 1630. Head up and over the stile, or through the 5 bar gate if you can get through it. Follow the wooded footpath in a straight line until you come out onto a road.
The road is shown on the map as Stand Hill and this is one of the reasons that I am doing this walk. A hill called Stan is just asking to be walked up. The path runs along the edge of the road for a few meters them veers off to the left and behind a screen of trees and follows the course of the road, but not actually walking on the road.
At the end of the path you come out to a road called Beggarshouse Lane that leads to the Greenings. This is a very quiet private road and as you walk along the lane you come to a public byway, that, if you wanted to, you could drive your four by four down, apart from the massive tree trunk across the track. We stay on this footpath for quite a while past a couple of footpaths on your left along with Greenings Farm. There are some stunning views north towards Box Hill, Norbury and Betchworth on the North Downs. Follow the track to the main B road, turn right and just up on your left is the next path that we are going to take, which is actually another private road, called Burnt Oak Lane.
Follow this lane down past the Cudworth Park and glorious views up towards Leith Hill. Past a little foot bridge on your left and we continue down the tarmac road, past lots of buildings that are related to ‘Cudworth’. Continue walking down to the end of the lane to a tarmac road and turn left, taking you down a track that leads to Green Lane Farm. Head through the five bar gate and walk up the track in a southerly direction, past some lakes and fishing spots until you get to Home Farm.
When you get to Home Farm you will come to a junction where you have a path coming in from your right and another one that carries on straight ahead. You need to turn left here and here and head through the field. At the time of writing the field is full of ‘farm stuff’ and you literally walk directly through the field, until you come to the remnants of a hedge boundary, head through this to the woods directly in front of you. Here you will find a lovely little bridge over a small stream that will take you in to the delightful woodland. The footpath is signposted with little yellow signs and meanders through the woods over a couple more stiles and footbridges up a small hill and out onto a field. Follow the edge of the woods and the field until you come to a cut through the trees on the left.
Cut across the field heading for the house, but keep the house on your right. As you get to the corner of the field, the footpath follows up the left hand side of the house, after you have hopped over a stile. You will come out on to the Cider Hill Road and 20 meters down on your right, on the opposite side of the road, you will find your next footpath. This path will take you back into Charlwood, slightly down hill and through some trees and you will end up in Glovers Wood Nature Reserve. There are two paths in front of you, take the one on the left (the signpost was down for this path when I last walked through). Keep on this path as is wanders through the woods, until you come to a ravine. Follow the steps down to the bridge – take care on the bridge as some of the planks are missing – and then back out and up the steps on the other side. Follow the footpath and the signs until you reach a field with a five bar gate. The path goes, neatly down the right hand side of here.
As you walk down this path you will pass through a kissing gate, and follow the path through the fields and you will start passing houses on your left and right following the path you will come out through another kissing gate and you end up in what looks like a scrap yard for fast jets, which is rather exciting. I saw a couple of Harrier jump jets and Lightenings – so take your camera if you like fast jets. You will go through a fancy metal gate and follow the path down to Russ Road and Rectory Lane and cut straight across to the footpath which will take you down to the delightful Charlwood Church.
Charlwood Church dates from over 1000 years ago and is worth a peek, even if you have been here before. Inside are some wall paintings dating from around 1200, again, quite amazing to look at. As you come out the bottom of the grave yard you will be able to follow the path back to your car, past a lovely looking pub that would no doubt make a great spot for a pub lunch if your timing is right.
The walk took about 3 hours and is around 9kms long.
A Walk around West Hoathly and the Bluebell Railway.
It was time to develop a little walking route. One that had potential, potential for autumnal colour. Why potential –because I am doing this walk in August!
Time to get out the Ordnance Survey Maps again and pore over them. I was looking for swathes of green that indicate woodland or forest. The map was littered with them, if that is the right expression. There were woods with such wonderful names as Waspsbourne Wood, Buttocks Bank Wood and Sandyden Wood.
I choose my route based on the woodland potential, ease of route and of course what you can see on the route. Get your Explorer Map 135 out and find
Parked up and off we went. Head in a westerly direction out of the car park and you will come to an orientation point. Put in to celebrate the new millennium it shows you what you can see in the distance. Assuming no leafy trees and no hill mist you can see to the
Continue along this path a little way and you will come to a sign post the heads you off in a northerly direction across the fields and towards the allotments that you can see when you park your car. As you go through small stand of trees you come out to a road – so take car. You will need to walk along this road for a couple of hundred meters to a road junction. Take a right off the road next to a small garage and head straight onto the track that runs alongside the garage which is part of the High Weald Landscape Trail. We will be following this trail for a fair amount of the walk and is shown on the map with the long distance footpath symbol –a dash green line with green triangles. It is also sign posted along the way by small green arrows on little metal discs on the footpath signs.
This lovely little lane continues for about 500m with maple trees overhanging it that are turning into lovely autumnal shades and you walk through a metal kissing gate. Walk on and take the track up to your left – not straight ahead, if you come to a sign for Gravetye Manor you have gone just a little too far.
Ahead of you will be a wonderful vista across to the
Follow the woodland down to the corner of the field and you will see a sign for the footpath. Go down a few steps and into the woods and across a tiny two plank footbridge across a tiny stream. Follow the path until you go up and over a stile and you will see another sign for the High Weald Landscape Trail. Cross over a track and continue straight on.
Passing some Blackthorn trees and other trees loaded with berries and hazel nuts. The foot path veers off into the woods, through another kissing gate and you will see the walls to the
We are continuing along the High Weald Landscape Trail and you come to the tarmac track that is the driveway to Gravetye Manor. Take a right here in a northerly direction as it goes through Warrens Wood and you will see the foot path heading off o your right down a metalled track lined with trees following the signs to Home Farm and The Nest. As you pass Home Farm you need to take the track up to the right of you and past a little stand of beach trees and you will see a sign that takes you onto a track on your right – following the signs through Bushy Wood. Down the track and over another little bridge and up the hill under some power cables. Take the right hand track and through the beach woods until you some to another tarmac track which is a bridle path.
Going right we follow this all the way down to Mill Place Wood and Birch Farm. Literally just to your left if the Bluebell Railway, so listen out for the trains whistling. Down along the trail we see the signals for the Bluebell Railway, silently standing as a quant reminder of our past and the heritage that the railways have for us.
The walk continues down this track until we reach a five bar gate for Birch Farm and we need to head up the drive. Hop over the stile and walk along the drive until you are nearly at the farm. Just before the farm the footpath heads over another stile and into a field. Cut directly across the field heading into the bottom right corner as you look at it. Another stile and walk through a wonderful glade of silver birch and pine and you come up to a permissive bridleway forest track and you head in a South Westerly direction and just continue along this path for about 1 km, past some houses on your left and you come out onto Bluebell Lane and there is Bluebell Railway and it’s tunnel. Great place to rest up and wait to see if a train comes by. We heard one whistling just before we got there as it sneaked into the tunnel leaving only the wisps of smoke in its wake.
We now need to head back up to the car. From where the path came out onto the road we need to head right, past the row of houses and up a steep narrow track that you need to follow up and keep right on. You will come out at a road junction with the Intrepid Fox pub on it. Cross over and head up the steps. These steps will take you back to the car park.
The walk took me about two and a half hours and is about 7km long. A perfect walk to start your day and you can now go and sample some of the delights of the area such as the Bluebell Railway,
A Walk in the Paw Prints of Winnie the Pooh.
Ashdown Forest conjures up so many images for me – images that were created by AA Milne and EH Shepard. We are lucky to live so close to the place that was the inspiration behind the stories of Winnie the Pooh and his friends.
Start at a small car park called Gills Lap car park, 468316 OS Explorer Map 135.
Head out the car park in a northerly direction, on a wide track. We follow this track for quite a distance. The view across the Ashdown Forest is breath taking from here as we are at one of the highest points in the area. The track follows gently downhill, with a couple of slightly steeper sections.
After about 400m, on your right is Gill Lap Lump and a trig point – a concrete pillar in the ground to help with surveying the area. The track heads off slightly eastwards and downhill for about 150m and on your left, in a small clump of tree, there is a memorial to AA Milne and EH Shepard, a perfect place to sit and lose yourself in the inspiration that AA Milne found here.
The track continues down a hill and past a bench. Bear left as the path continues down into the woods. The path comes to a road cross over and onto the bridleway directly opposite you. Continue to the Pooh Bridge car park and follow the signs to Pooh Bridge and once there you can play Pooh sticks. When you finish playing start to walk up the track and on your left you will see a little house in a tree stump – which looks like it belongs to Winnie the Pooh.
As you walk up the track, bear right following the footpath signs and this bridle path will come out at a road called Cotchford Hill and we are going to turn right here and sadly we have to walk down the B2026 for about 1km, so please be careful! Just past Neaves Farm on your left, you will see a footpath sign that will take you left across some fields for 100 meters or so and into the woods. You are now entering 500 Acre Wood, or as Pooh would have you believe, 100 Acre Wood.
Follow this path until you meet up with the ‘Wealdway’ a long distance path, marked with black W W badges. Go right, heading south and follow the Wealdway through 500 Acre Wood. You come out of the woods and cross a field as the path leads slightly uphill for about half a kilometre. Just as you reach the car park off the B2188 you need to take a sharp right and head in an easterly direction, traversing the slope. After almost another kilometre you pick up a track leading in from your left and continue along this for a couple of hundred meters until you reach the road. Just over the road you will find Gills Lap Car Park.
The walk is approximately 8 km and should take around 2 ½ to 3 hours.
A Walk around Charlwood
The walk starts in the charming, if a little noisy,
Park outside the little row of shops and walk down the road to Ifield. 300 meters on your left is a rather muddy footpath that you need to take. If it is wet, I recommend walking gaiters! Continue along this path until you get to a stile with a little footbridge and a dog gate. This is the first of many stiles, not all with dog gates!
The footpath heads across the field and over a small bridge crossing Man Brook. Continue across the field towards the overhead cables and just beyond you will see the landing lights for
As you walk past the landing lights follow the fence line towards Furze Field Woods on your right. Follow the path until you hop over a stile and walk along the edge of another woods towards the road. Just before the road there are three graves, I think for horses, not people!
Turn left down the road and you will see a sign for
Turn left and follow the road for a couple of hundred meters and turn left into
As you get nearer to the church head through a gate and onto a maintained footpath, which takes you into the church graveyard. Follow the foot path through the graveyard and back into the village.
Stoneleigh Tent Show - 4th September 2011
Exciting times ahead - I am currently at my computer in Stoneleigh Showgrounds rather basic and strangly smelling AA 4* Guest House. (I was rather excited to be staying in a 4* hotel, but it appears that this is VERY different to a 4* Guest House). I can only think it is strangly smelling as this is a very agricultural, horticultural, animaly type place. But anyway - I digress, I am here for the annual trade tent show. And pretty impressive it is.
Vango alone are showing 140 tents from their range - it's a massive range. There is also a presence from Outwell, Robens, Gelert and quite a few others. Sadly I am now going to get to see many of them as I am currently on a contract with Vango and everyone keeps their tents rather secret! Especially Outwell. All rahter cloak and dagger which makes it rather exciting.
Vango have massivly expanded their Airbeam Range and there is only one word to describe it. Awesome. Vango Airbeam really comes into it's own on the larger tents. Simplicity to erect and very, very quick. It is the stuff of tent envy. And yes, it does happen.
Picture this: You are rocking up with the family and a car full of camping equipment. The pitch next to you is simarly attired with a car, family and a lot of camping equipment. They have been there 30 minutes, struggling with poles, fabric flapping all over the place and fighting with the wife who is struggling to control the manic kids who have been stuck in the car for the last 3 hours.
You casually flip open the boot and whip out a Vango Airbeam Eternity 600 and a pump. Though it is rather heavy - so perhpas not that casually. You plug the pump into an Airbeam and off you go about 9 pumps later and that beam is inflated. Do it for the other four airbeams that is that. A few pegs later and you are sitting in your quickly erected tent enjoying a cold beer or glass of wine. Perfect. Now - must get my hands on one before they sell out again.
