3 Go Wild in Chiddingly

3 intrepid hikers set off on a circuitous route around Chiddingly and East Hoathly. The route out was along the Vanguard Way changing at the half way point onto the Weald way for our route home.

The start point was in the grounds of Chiddingly Church and the millennium garden with its circle of wooden carved figurines. The weather was bright with a chilling wind, the previous day had seen a heavy downpour on already sodden ground.


The early going was very tough as the route was partially submerged  and extremely slippery. The walk was mostly flat with a mix of minor roads and arable farmland with its mix of crops and livestock.
In addition, the woodland paths brought relief underfoot and were carpeted in spring flowers.

The Vanguard way was generally well marked although there was a heavy reliance on the map to chart the least damaging routes across the crop-planted fields

Horses were much a recurrent theme throughout the walk which took in live horses, horse graves and headstones and a large expanse of equestrian 'gallops'.

The walk joined up to last weeks route at Bushberry lane where the Vanguard Way gave way to the Wealdway

The first field of ripening rape seed was found to the south of hawkhurst common as the Wealdway moved south away from all local roads for a leg of 2 1/2 miles across country.
The route was initially well marked but soon gave way to the odd smudge of yellow or a white badge with ww on it.
As we neared 'Great wood we saw a stag with a heard of around 20 deer about 400 metres from us. The stag was the first to take cover followed by the remainder of the herd. Weneeded to negotiate our way through woodland as there were no visible route markers and the woodland had been entirely fenced.

After negotiating the woodland the next 2 miles were through the gallops and superb equestrian estate terminated with the Halland to East Hoathly Road. A trip around East Hoathly churchyard brought us to a series of fields that led to the 'Street' and the entrance into Chiddingly village

The walk of 10 miles had taken us 4 hours and a welcome pint was to be found at the very busy Six Bells pub where we had a chance to rest up, rehydrate and 'swing the lantern' whilst recounting tales of days gone by. The weather had been kind to us for which we were grateful and gave further thanks at the font of real ale.