Rotherfield Revisited

Just the 3 intrepid hikers set out to complete a 7.5 mile circuit to the north and east of Rotherfield. All members had previously undertaken some working duties in or around the area, which is bordered by woods formerly part of the Ashdown forest. We were looking forward to a mainly woodland walk that would provide shelter from the sun on what turned out to be another extremely warm and sunny morning.
With one eye to the weather we set off early, parking up and commencing our walk from North Street on the edge of the village. Within 10 minutes we turned right onto a Byway that was to be a main feature of our days toils.

After about a mile we headed north onto a footpath that took us down into the valley floor and over the first of several footbridges. We were heading for the dismantled railway line that ran through to Heathfield back in the day as part of the Cuckoo line.

Rotherfield Station
We reached the site of the old station, which was opened in September 1890 after several attempts to raise the capital required had failed. The buildings have long since disappeared as the station was closed in 1968 and has been replaced by a stud farm.

We followed the track north for a further mile and a half before reaching our first woodland, Entryhill woods. We had already been climbing steeply from the railway cutting and continued to climb much to one members distain through the woodland path and back onto the Byway.

 

A further steady climb half a mile brought us to the brow of the hill where we picked up a road bordered to our north by Saxonbury hill, the site of a former fort. Stopping to take on water we were briefly  joined by an inquisitive foal in the adjacent field. Refreshed, we headed along the road for a good mile resplendent in Hi-Vis vest until we reached Great Danegate, a former large farm and oast that had been taken over by a firm of publishers.

 

There were plenty of cob nuts on display throughout our hike but none were ‘ready for the picking’.
After well over an hour of mostly hill climbs we reached the summit as we turned south back onto the Byway and headed steeply downhill on a track that had been shaped by the torrents of water that had cascaded down the track in previous months.

We continued to descend until we reached the valley floor which contained a stream, which now almost disappeared, showed the nearby signs of its previous power. A further footbridge had been added to ensure safe passage and we made this our base for our refueling stop.

Refreshed and at the valley floor, we expected, and were not disappointed, by the steep climb through Card’s wood and then Hoth wood to once more cross underneath the dismantled railway, via a small bridge.

 We entered Little Millhole wood to find another elaborate two staged footbridge to safely take us across a small water course, before crossing the road and having to backtrack a couple of hundred yards to find our entrance point into Hornhurst wood.

We continued to climb and with the absence of signage emerged from the woods by Sweet Meadow farm before walking back to the start point. An arduous 3 hour walk which seemed mostly to contain lengthy uphill segments punctuated by short steep downhill segments, a very challenging but enjoyable morning well spent in great company!