Home is Your Castle
The planning was hasty and the castle visit awkwardly timed but I knew I wanted some bluebells on my first walk back on home soil after Easter. They are, in fact, difficult to avoid in the woods of Sussex, this time of year but they are in their prime characteristically early.
There is room for a level of unease in these changing times, despite and because of these pleasant walking conditions. It is April and you might have expected showers and cold starts but here we have a warm day, butterflies and cracked earth where it could have been wet underfoot. There was a lot to like but much to disrupt this otherwise mild and atttractive route. The fact that my endeavours meant a whole rejigging of the final leg, opportunities came and went and that I came up against human obstruction of my plans should not deter you from this varied and gentle walk. It is well to recount the good bits to lift my mood.
Hailsham was reached via a train to Polegate which is one change from Haywards Heath and then a short bus north. Return was by the same.
Things began straightforwardly enough. My original plan was to get up to towards Heathfield. It was ambitious and irritating in that the return journey is always so lengthy from this part. I put the thought aside. My more pressing issue was that I wanted a castle visit at Hertmonceux but suspected I might arrive a little early. The needs of the walk did not allow for too much dithering.
From Tescos and North Street, go north and then east on Vicarage Lane. Hailsham is known as 'Stringtown' and an immediate historical reminder is present in the form of Hannah Stewart's 'Hauling Man' outside the supermarket. The rope industry here dates from around the 1800s and a few companies have existed in Hailsham to the present today.
Turn left onto Marshfoot Lane and the town will slip away as you enter Horse Eye Level. This is an easy an easy walk between the rushes that crosses the watery wild. The soundscape was one of warblers and linnets. The byway becomes more open as it follows the Whelpley Level and crosses New Bridge Road. The footpath continues east a little further north, on the far bank of the Puckeridge Stream. You follow Hurst Haven before being let loose on an indistinct way going northeast between this stream going south and the Iron Stream going north. Now head around the field to the All Saints Church.
The castle and church was once the site of the medieval village but the move, two miles north, probably happened with the permission granted to the Fiennes family for a deer park. Here I hovered. I was a full half hour early to enter the castle grounds. A previous walk had taken me close to some fabulous old chestnut trees and I was curious to visit even though you can only enter the castle with a tour. After a wait, I circled the grounds via the 1066 Country Walk before entering the car park at the Science Centre and backtracking to the moat. There was a plant show on out front which made the place very busy but inside the castle, there were fewer people. I stopped at the cafe for breakfast but I was excited that a tour was running. I did a quick circuit of the gardens and woods but arrived a little to late to buy a ticket. It had already begun. I'd compromised on everything, not quite a relaxing visit, not quite enough time and I left a bit frustrated. Another visit is required.
From the moat you can return on the Airy and Flamsteed Road, west of the front entrance. A footpath on your right takes you over a grassy meadow and into the woods before wiggling through to Church Road. This roady section is on a quiet lane that bears east on Lower Road through a series of farms and Golden Cross. After Willow Farm, take the footpath on the left to Gildridge Farm. There were black and white lambs with their mothers and I'm sorry to say I sat on a bench here and had a little weep. I think it was the combination of reassuring the scared lambs while knowing that their time was short. You'll cross back over the Puckeridge Stream. The path takes you through the vines and I cut across the line of those although I think the path may go around them. Either way, you'll walk on through the farm. Beyond the pond, bear northwest and cross New Road and cross through to the Old Road and go up this a little way. Take the footpath on the left towards Nodes Farm.
I would like to say, simply cross the stile towards Featherbed Lane, directly through the farm but it was here that a lady stopped me and sent me back. She wouldn't listen to my protestations. In my rage, I missed the shorter path and walked all the way to Old Road and back along Featherbed Lane. I checked out all the other footpaths and found no problems but I'd wasted a considerable amount of time. This is not the end of the story...
Take the track into Park Wood. There are numerous trails but make your way westward through the access land to Grove Hill. Go south a little and then join the bridleway to Shawpits Farm. Shortly after, you will ford the Cuckmere and find yourself above the Cuckoo Trail. Feeling a bit despondent, I sat and had to make a decision about my onward journey. I could have made my way west and north but the two hour plus public transport journey back was a serious deterrent. I opted to loop back and try and avoid the bulk of the Cuckoo Trail which I might find boring, in favour of the Wealdway.
So continue to the next crossroads and go south on the footpath. Take the next footpath on the right and then and then go left. Was there a path on the far side? I don't know but I found myself straddle a barb-wired gate onto the road. Yet more fuel for my glumness. Now on Church Lane, go south and you will be on the Wealdway to Hellingly's chocolate box Saxon church on a mound. Leave the churchyard in the southeast corner, on Station Road and the Wealdway to the 15th century and moated Horselunges Manor. I didn't take it in. At Upper Horsebridge you come upon an old water mill on the Cuckmere which closed in 1969. Go left on the main road and then join the Cuckoo Trail on the right.
The path allows fairly direct access to Hailsham and Polegate beyond but as many former railways, I find them a bit enclosed and boring to walk. Hence my eagerness to leave the trail for the road, where I might catch a bus. I went the wrong way and then found my timing out to the extent that I continued down London Road and all the way into Hailsham, anyway.
A final act of shrewdness, saw me gather some provisions from Tesco (Asda is available) before legging it to the bus stop on the High Street. I actually made some pretty good decisions, made a good fist of a route and saw some cool things.
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