Doing Battle
Toying with the idea of a local and achievable walk, to fit in before a Parents Evening when, I suddenly realised I'd not been to Bexhill. Battle seemed like a good destination, as long as I approached it quite directly. Really want to get to Battle to visit the Abbey but I kind of forgot that I'd decided a lazy Summer's day was what was needed. A day with no great pressure to return. You see, Battle is not that swift to return from, at the best of times and this walk turned out to not be the best of times, for reasons of train disruption.
This was a Friday walk on a Thursday to avoid the bulk of storm Eowyn. It is the third in a trilogy of walks (walk 1 and walk 2) with the disappointment of a rush and late exit and it now requires a quadrilogy to get some closure to my campaign. Much of the route indulges in the seasonal potential for an atmospheric flooded valley and some parts of my indended walk proved inaccessible. A different story later in year and, I guess, a different environment altogether. Let's try and remember that 'lazy Summer ideal'. I'm pretty sure I'm going to forget.
While getting to Battle is a bit of a pain, getting to Bexhill is not so bad. An hour and a half train via Haywards Heath and towards Ore does the trick. Return from Battle might be made via combinations of London, Hastings, Brighton or St. Leonards Warrior Square. You are very much in the hands of travel fate as to whether it can be done in under 2 hours.
Leave the station and ultimately head west to take in the De La Warr Pavilion. I took Sea Road, St Leonards, Devonshire then Parkhurst Road. Finally head south to the rear. This public space would be good to visit but I was, regrettably, much too early. The modernist exhibition space was conceived as a 'People's Palace' and built in 1935. There is an irony to this as the former De La Warr owner's of the estate, largely built the earlier resort in 1835, as a not so inclusive place for visitors. There is a very detailed video on the website which documents the shift to more liberal ideas with the 9th Earl and the history of its design.
Down through the colonnade, which preceded the pavilion and onto the prom. Have a little play on the beach, as I did, watching the gold lapping on the water with sunrise, before returning to the De La Warr Parade to take in Galley Hill, the highest point between Eastbourne and Hastings. I joined the gulls in taking in my surroundings. It is actually quite difficult to see southward and it is not all that high.
The path follows the line of the railway but you can dip back below the cliffs, briefly. Rejoin what is the England Coast Path and cycle route no.2. There is quite a bit of rock exposed at low tide and on to Bulverhythe where an embankment protects the area. The wreck of the 1749 Amsterdam lies on the beach and was uncovered on very low spring tide in 1969. It is opposite the railway bridge you take, to head north on Bridge Way but you'll need a low tide of less than 0.6m to see it. You would also be able to enjoy the prehistoric forest in the peaty remains and walk in the footsteps of iguanadons. I paused here and observed the darkening skies and it was with a fitting wintery bleakness that a gentle drizzle began.
Turn right on the A259 and take the footpath on the left, beside the Combe Haven. This is part of Coombe Valley and the Countryside Park. It would have been useful to have known the availability of alternative paths to the designated ones, in advance, because this area seasonally floods. You'll become familiar with the sturdy waymarkers. I very much enjoyed the jeopardy of this natural watery encroachment and the ducks, at every turn, were much put out by my impertinence of being in their world. Soon you arrive at access to the reedy and aquatic interior of Filsham Reed Beds.
Cross the footbridge over the river and turn left. Enter the reserve and take the boardwalk to watch for a while. Another day that I remember I should take some little binoculars. Swans were ever present but the ducks abandoned me. Curiously, the well-known water bird, the wren, appeared to dominate the floodplain. The fiercely small bodies with cocked tails demonstrated regularly on my journey through the area. The showers eased.
Returning to the bridge and the west bank, continue to follow it. I didn't notice that the footpath recrosses but continued to the same junction before veering south to the edge of the tip. As you ascend the hill, you get a better view of the flooded valley below and the gulls enjoying it. Continue west by Pebsham and join the 1066 Country walk Bexhill Link at Little Worsham Farm. Go north on the road.
Very soon you meet the line of the dismantled railway. The Bexhill West branch line was a short double-track branch line running from the Hastings Line at Crowhurst, via a station at Sidley to a terminus at Bexhill West. It was axed in the Beeching cuts and the Coombe valley viaduct demolished. The line to your right is flanked by picnic benches as you reach the viewpoint. The arches would have extended 380 metres out over the valley. I found the view a little lacklustre and obscured but it is probably a fine place for a stop in the Summer. The canadian geese were grazing in this area.
Be warned: I returned to the junction and continued on the 1066 countryside walk north but found the way after the gate too deep with water. I returned to the railway. Heading west you can follow the route to where the footpath crosses Combe Wood. Descend to the path below the railway bridge. A random broken bike and shopping trolley decorated the scene. Go north to Acton's Farm via the chunky park waymarkers.
Join the bridleway going east and you come to some more Park options, not marked on your OS map. I continued on the bridleway east to rejoin the 1066 path, as it makes its way under the A2690. Pass the big lake at Adam's Farm and follow the Powdermill Stream alongside the recreation ground to Sandrock Hill. The Plough Inn opens in the evening and so onward. Turn right and take Sampsons Lane on the left and rejoin the 1066 path. At Crowhurst and the church, enjoy the yews and then take Station Road opposite. Keep to the road and don't bother to look for a footpath, all the way to the station.
Take the footbridge going north to Forewood Lane and follow it in this direction. The footpath to Brakes Coppice Farm is off to the right. It's sketchy but duck steeply through the wood to join tarmac and the better signposted bit beyond. Rejoin the road and bear left at the junction at Telham where there is not much more than traffic. Cross the road. After some time, feeling distinctly unloved and unguided, take the path on the right that goes toward Great Wood with its conifers and chestnuts. Enter it at the first opportunity. This area is open access and some of the tracks between the trees might be easier to walk than the churned up forest drives. I did not have a great deal of time to explore this possibility and so, churned up forest drives it was. The 1066 Country Walk proper crosses your path and you take it west to meet Marley Lane.
Running south, the rain became heavy as I realised my timing was tight. Through the level crossing, take the path beside the railway on the left and you will be at the station. Alternatively, continue in to town. If you've time left in the day, naturally, go and have some lunch and visit the Abbey. If you're like me and not left yourself any wriggle room, find the best way to get you home via the internet.
Sadly, I had no time to lose. Dashing to get a ticket in the downpour, I found that the trains were severely delayed. Google told me my train had already gone but I knew it hadn't, as the level crossing had not blocked my path. It's an oddly satisfying feeling to join a train that others have been waiting an age for. A change at St Leonards Warrior Square was in order but we were held at a red signal. The wait allowed me a trip to get a coffee as wind gained strength. I final run from Wivelsfield Station, got me back to Burgess Hill, just in time. So many dogs I would have liked to have stroked, a Countryside Park to be explored and an Abbey yet to enter. The walk continues.
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