Horses and Crows
A hot and sweaty one on the sandy soil of the High Weald National Landscape. It might have been longer but time was necessary to loll about in the woods and meadows and to keep things civilised. I might have made it to Tunbridge Wells but cutting it short was the right thing to do, at around 12 miles and gave plenty of time to return after a lazy lunch.
There is much to explore but it seems it's not always obvious how to join up mini adventures into longer sections. Transport here is also surprisingly limited and, at the very least, time-consuming. Luckily, some of the road connections I made were little more than metalled trackways with little or no traffic. This is a landscape of sandstone outcrops, iron-rich streams and the evidence of ancient and frenetic woodland industry. Times have changed and in many parts I found myself alone in the relative peace of birdsong and trickling water. Quite often I was surprising deer with no expectation of being disturbed. An appreciation of the geology is given by the elevation and views to the south as you proceed under Crowborough.
Maresfield can be reached from a bus to the Princess Royal Hospital in Haywards Heath and then switching to another. A more reliable connection might be a train here and then the 31 can be caught from Perrymount Road near the station. I did this to avoid changes of plan and a journey beyond 45 minutes. The return from Crowborough was achieved via a train to Uckfield and the same 31 back to Haywards Heath Station. Timing is very variable but I made this in an hour and a half.
At the junction in Maresfield, I found much school transport related activity and it busy all of a sudden. A number of blue plaques adorn the buildings. Prominant is the old coaching inn, The Chequers, the church and the Lodge House. Maresfield Park was once owned by the Shelleys, a family of knights and a poet. The Hanoverian Munsters inherited but had their land confiscated in war time. The Park is now part of a private housing development. Descend the track leading downhill on the left of the hotel. Go left on the leafy Underhill Lane. The day was already heating up quite nicely and I was thankful for the dappling under the tree cover. At Reedings Farm, go through the gate on the right to join the footpath. You have a choice to continue north or go southeast into the wood. I plumped for the wood and found it very pleasant and fortified with birds. A footbridge takes you over Shortbridge Stream before ascending again, pass the farm and join the road.
Continue on Cobdown Lane, towards the junction but enter the trees again on you left. This path parallel the Underhill Lane, is the Wealdway. Northward bound, enter Hendall Wood and descend again to the stream. The wood is lofty and spattered with butterflies. After the water, the ground continues to rise to Hendall Manor Farm. Bear left on the driveway and officially find yourself in the High Weald National Landscape. Keep following the Wealdway as it enters the sheep field with the treehouse. Go through the gate but leave the Wealdway to enter Furnace Wood.
The sandstone in this field and the outcrop within the wood almost come as a surprise. You are now walking in a historic 'pond bay'. This is evidence of the iron industry in what is Furnace Wood - another clue. Leave the Wealdway and descend westward. You will, once again, cross the stream over a footbridge. Somewhere around here I stood in a dog poo on what was otherwise a pleasant walk. A great deal of effort was made to remove this as I travelled north in the woods around Fairwarp. This is a curious settlement amongst the trees. There are many paths. At Nursery Lane, go north on the bridleway between two lakes and join the main road at the green. Go left right and continue north to the church. It is not generally open. You are within the bounds of Ashdown Forest. Pick your way generally east and rejoin the Wealdway going north. After Brown Brook, you will generally climb through the trees. Leave the Wealdway near Crest Farm and bear east. As you near the road, join the bridleway to Barnsgate Manor and the Clay Studio. Take the driveway to the A26 and cross it by Stroods Lodge.
A concrete driveway carries you almost to Stroods House. Instead go left up the steps and into the trees. Bear north on the Vanguard Way through Newnham Park Wood. After this, on the route to Newnham Park Farm, I'd been resting on a stile in the sultry warmth. When I moved I utterly terrified some deer and had them bound through the brambles and out into the field. I was thankful neither ran in to me.
On the road and at Poundgate, you could catch the 29 Regency bus or stop at the Crow and Gate pub. I didn't do either but proceeded east, taking the footpath at the junction. Crowborough Common is a golf club and the access land is best not roamed. The safest option is to follow the well sign-posted route across its sterile grass but tree-laced width. I joined a bridleway and footpath to its most eastern corner at the junction of High Broom Lane. Follow High Broom Road east. I found the road shut to cars at the next junction, it being almost entirely dug up. Go south now on Burnt Oak Road. An eastward footpath is found just south of Foxhills, take it.
Very soon you will enter Walshes Park. You can roam here. I took myself to the little circle of trees and the sculpture to admire the view, especially to the south and then north to a boardwalk around the remains of a moat by the Alder Brook. The footpath continues east over the 1022 yard Crowborough railway tunnel. Following the line, the footpath takes you on to the Hadlow Down Road and past the primary school to the junction. Now cross the track west and take Mount Pleasure to The Wheatsheaf. Have some lunch here as the food is good.
I was well satisfied with my decision to bail. I returned to the junction and took Western Road to the Rotherfield Road. The train goes to the end of the line at Uckfield from where I went to the bus station. It looks like I could have taken the path to the left of the Wheatsheaf, along the Farningham Road to the same ends. I did have a little bit of a thirst to do more here in the future.
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