Wealden Ramble
This walk was the emotional and physical closure for the mixed level of success of the Hailsham loop. A different occasion, a different feel. I'm still trying to incorporate Wilderness Wood into a walk that allows Hadlow Down to be near the middle of a journey but this will have to wait. Why I keep persisting with this area when it is so close and yet feels so far, I don't know. It might have something to do with the attraction of a venture into the ancient woodland and sleepy lanes of this part of the Weald, where nearly every wood is a bluebell wood, at this time of year.
After bemoaning last weeks dryness underfoot and unseasonal warmth, the day had protested and had given me a start with frost on the ground. Nevertheless, a little more tension than was required was generated by the meandering length planned. Naturally, I am mopping up some unused paths and much of the walk found me switching between the Wealdway and the Vanguard Way. This did allow me to relax in sections, where navigation is straightforward and the terrain undulates rather than fluctuates steeply. There is a general descent from the High Weald to the low and from woods towards the Downs and water. On completion, oh how the fat coke at Berwick tasted sweet.
The Heathfield Vortex sucks time away from you as you approach it, in the way that a black hole swallows everything including daylight. I found it better to begin with the unwieldy journey and end in comparative swiftness. Cross in Hand can be made via a train to Haywards Heath, a 31 bus to Uckfield and a Regency bus 29a to Heathfield. Return from Berwick is via train to Wivelsfield or Brighton which feels more civilised if not just slightly shorter.
From the Warren Lane bus stop, just before Cross in Hand, backtrack and turn left down the road, taking the footpath on the left. Exit right on Fir Grove Road and enter Selwyns Wood when it is signposted. My first happy dog hobbled over to greet me. The permanently smiling retriever ran out of its protective sock to receive strokes. I did a quick circuit of the interior. The nature reserve area is relatively small and includes some sandy-soiled openings and at least one magnificent old beech tree. The rest of the wood is private in no uncertain terms.
Back on the road, continue south west into Brittenden Lane and then follow the drive of Oak Meadow to continue on a bridleway through some mixed woodland and right at Possingworth Lane. Take the footpath on the left that runs along The Dingle in Blackdown Wood. This area is the result of management by Brownings Farm, the reserve of Kiln Wood near Blackboys being another project. Turn right and head up hill. Zig left and right to continue in this direction through Browning's Wood. You will join the Vanguard Way and continue through the forementioned Kiln Wood. You emerge onto Lewes road and immediately take to School Lane beyond the Blackboys Inn. Take the footpath on the left that leads you to the recreation ground and then bear right on its edge to cross the Framfield Road. You will rejoin the Vanguard Way a little further along, as the footpath bears left. Join the Terminus Road but leave again on your right to rejoin the Vanguard. You are going to loop back to the main road again and so join Tickerage Lane a little further north and now join the Wealdway on the left to go south.
Once of Framfield Road, turn right and take the next left. There are new houses to your left. Join Stonebridge Lane briefly before continuing on the well-signposted Wealdway. You are on your way to the the landscaped mansion of New Place. The grassland was painted in places with bluebells and waterways that feed the Framfield Stream. As you leave, turn eastward on the Wealdway, over Pump Lane. At the Lewes Road, turn left then right and leave Bushbury Lane on the Right. Be sure to head on the Wealdway across the field. Leave the Wealdway as you cross the stream. I confess to getting maybe the wrong side of a fence round here, with sheep tracks and the most savage brambles but made it out by Barnet Wood House at the corner of Beechy Road to cross Hollow Lane.
The Vanguard Way now zig-zags you east, south of Hawkhurst Common Wood on Hawkhurst Lane and over to Moat Lane. You'll have recrossed the Dingle. Go south on the road and go back over the stream via the Fox Hunt Green road. Now on Graywood Lane you can take a right at the junction for a lunch stop in East Hoathly. Muffins provided for everyone in the village, including the ramblers I had passed on the way. Leave just beyond the cafe via a cute little path on the left that takes you back east on the Wealdway and Buttsfield Lane. You could, of course, continue over Ailes Lane but for completeness, I turned left to rejoin the Vanguard, where I left off. You are now walking southeast on a line overlooking the valley to your north. There is not much of a view. Hold the line through Chiswell's Farm and turn right to Chiddingly.
From here, you can switch off a little. Simply hold the church steeple in view and you'll not go wrong. The church has connections to the Pelham family and their 'buckle' is near one of the doorways, symbol that has origins in the defeat of the French during the Hundred Years War. Inside is the extraordinary Jefferay Monument, dedicated to the Chief Baron of the Exchequer for Elizabeth I. It has unusual standing effigies and you can read much about it here.
Leave the church and get back on the Wealdway going east over Scraper's and then Gun Hill and also the Bull River. After Swansbrook Lane, turn south to leave the Wealdway. Bear right at the fork and take the right footpath at the next junction. This way, you will join the bridleway just before Pekes Farm. Turn left before this on the footpath switching back south. With the wood on my right, I was not able to find my intended path. I did, however, see the flash of a golden dragonfly and a fox stalking its prey. Continue instead to the perimeter of the business park and followed the path west to Nash Street.
Go south and cross The Dicker onto the byway. The name suggest ditches but is also connected with the iron industry in the area. Crossing this busy road was difficult and I had to climb the verge at the island and benefit from kind drivers to let me cross. Once over, you walk through an impressive avenue of oaks over the stream to Marnhall House Farm on Sheepcote Lane. Turn right to Upper Dicker and head south over the junction. After The Plough, turn right, back on the Wealdway for a a final time.
Crossing the edge of Bede's Golf Course to the edge of Park Wood, gives a brief moment of elevation in Tellytubby land before descending. Knowing that Arlington Reservoir is further on, I thought I spotted water but this was, in fact, a solar farm. Head across the fields to walk on the edge of the Cuckmere and reach a bridleway and byway going west. There is a signpost to keep you on track to the reservoir. Go anticlockwise to the carpark and kiosk (which was now closed) and join the Station Road to Berwick.
With the train twenty minutes away, I made use of the inn.
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