Muddy Trail around Herstmonceux Castle

There were only four of us out today. We parked on the muddy verge outside Herstmonceux Church and laced up boots and strapped on back packs to head off to find the 1066 route, at the very end of Church Lane. The gateway was entirely flooded, and would not be the last we saw of flooded lanes during the days walk. 

The view across the Pevensey Levels towards Hailsham and the South Downs beyond in the misty distance gave an encouraging feel for the day, however our well shone boots were soon muddied as we crossed through the Science Centre of Herstmonceux Castle and traversed our way downwards along a very muddy track. The gate at the bottom opened out into a field where the sight of one of the large telescope domes stood above the wooded area. 

 

To our left, the Castle itself was adorned by a collection of white vans and several people going about their work.

We headed toward the Castle and passed through another gate and onto a short tarmac section.

The next option of gates were in sight, however we were distracted by a french (maybe French/Canadian as there was a large Canadian link with the Castle) accented security man, who started to demonstrate his authority by checking out our route and direction plus following up this enquiry by informing us that we were walking on 'Private Property'. Quick to correct him I had the OS map in hand and assured him of where we had come from and in what direction we were heading. His rapport with us was warming and when we told him that these walks were reported in a Blog, he became even more animated and informative about the entire encampment. He confirmed that our options of gates into the next field were divided between a metal gate or a wooden kissing gate. "Now you might need to be careful through that one" he joked. "Oh, and just over there is a church".... We let him know that our car was parked outside it, and that we would be popping in, on our return, and say prayers for him. He smiled with a degree of resignation. We were more than a match for him and concluded that he was probably bored and wanting someone to talk with.

We'd have loved to stand there and chat all day, but we had more new footpaths to discover,  so we bid the merry security gent a farewell as he started to wave his arms frantically at some more vans arriving. We chose the metal gate and traversed the next moistened field toward a gate at the opposite side of the field. 

The next wood set us a detour test as we followed the guide notes by turning right and heading along what we thought was the correct path. At the end of this small wood, we came up against a barbed wire fence defended by a wall of wild growing bracken. We pondered for 5 minutes back and forth as although seeing the footpath we were destined to walk, the access to it appeared to defeat us. We back-tracked into the wood and discovered the signpost which gave all the necessary directions we required and provided comforting orientation for all.

We were out of the wood and treading carefully downhill with Herstmonceux Place to our left and scattered sheep all around.

The next mile upwards was a carefully navigated affair as the track was muddy. Through gates and eventually reaching the end of Comphurst Lane, we found the next signpost and turned right around a large barn, some farm machinery and a field with a couple horses wearing their winter protective coats.

We'd started through the Castle grounds earlier with a glimpse of blue sky around and during our trek to this point had seen the sun occasionally shining. However during the last 10 minutes the clouds had become darker and the spits of rain had caused us to consider putting our raincoats on. We continued a little further and after walking across a couple more fields and through even more muddy almost impassable tracks, we entered another wooded track upwards with rain hitting down with more intensity than 15 minutes ago. Fields containing old gnarled Beech trees (some fallen) drew our attention from the difficult pace of mud laddened trekking.

We found shelter under the trees and took refreshments for around 10 minutes and reflected on the different elements of this new walk.

With all raincoats now adorned we walked further upwards through the remainder of the wood and crossed Wartling Road and started the tarmac ¾ mile walk down Wood Lane. The firmest underfoot section of the walk we reached the other end of the lane without interruption of any other traffic.

The sound of a chain saw and the smell of burning wood filled the air after walking along the main A271 Hailsham to Bexhill road for a short distance and turning into the next footpath. It was the final phase of the walk and we'd soon be back joining the 1066 country walk route through fields. The rain had stopped and the need to disrobe our raincoats prevented us from quietly melting and dehydrating.

After crossing several paddocks with horses by a sequence of 'need for repair' stiles we climbed into Jenner Lane where for the third time we were confronted with a flooded section and had to strategically walk on the verge between fence and water.

Back on grass tracks, on the edge of a large field, we made steady progress toward Wartling Road again where we felt obliged to put on our hi-viz vests as the traffic was more frequent than any of the other road/lane sections. It was only approx 300 yards before we were again walking downhill toward the view of the castle grounds.

At this point, we considered optional paths to walk back toward the church, to avoid the steep muddy track down which we'd walked a couple hours previous, however thought that our boots would not be preserved any more by optional routes and decided to trudge the final half mile back to the car from this point. But not before examining the old fallen Elder? tree that lay hollow and almost dormant but for growth that it appeared to be supporting.

The church came into view around the next corner and we unlaced our boots and collapsed into the car after a 5.5 mile walk.

Fairlight Trail

It was Thursday and time for our wekly walk. Depleted by only one of the group, the 5 of us met in the car park near Fairlight, after a few diversional routes and pondered the strategy for how to deal with the 'out of order' pay & display machine 
With honest intention our decision to display £2 in the windscreen rather than a ticket seemed to be a reasonable compromise.

Our willingness to pay was reflected in our willingness to walk, even though the first gateway was a muddy challenge straight away. The weather was grey and overcast as the faded vista of the Brede valley came into view as we turned right after almost reaching Norths Seat. 

We were keeping that treat for our finale on this walk, so ventured down the field and crossed over Martinaeu Lane into the next field.

It wasn't long before we took a right turn again and entered a wooded area then crossed the entry gate of a large house with CCTV keeping a careful eye on us as we continued whilst watching 2 horses being out through their morning training session on the Manège below us. But our curiosity was put to the test, as a little further we spied upon an oversized German style helmet supported by 3 ominous looking rifles. No real sense could be made of its purpose (because of its positioning) or reason or even significance.

We stared for several minutes in wonderment but eventually headed up through the hill and came out onto Fairlight Road where we crossed over and walked along a protected bridle way until we reached the junction to again turn right into Coastguard Lane. There were empty car parks either side of the lane and found our way to the Firehill Cottages and the aerials that were standing defiantly aloft the hills to either side of us.

The temptation of the seats that provided views to the misty east and west caused us to stop for a short flask refuelling break whilst looking at a board that gave some useful local information in a very effective format.

We were ready for stage 2 of the walk and made sense of the instructions amongst the options of different paths that were stretching to both east and west. We continued along the path which took us lower down the hillside. We came to a spot where the landscape was the topic of the painter Holman Hunt.

Original Painting by Holman Hunt

We continued until shortly afterwards coming to a junction where the guidance informed us to take a left turn down a flight of steps and then at the bottom a quick turn right where the path entered into a sheltered wooded area where the fallen leaves had almost disguised the path.

Shortly after we emerged from this Glen onto the main path again we turned right and started a long relentless climb to a gate. But the climb didn't stop here, as there was yet another sequence of steps to ascend before eventually coming out onto a level area and a welcome Sarson stone conveniently positioned for some of the early climbers. The stone was locally referred to as the 'lovers seat'.

We set off again and after passing some aged gnarled oaks we took the turning right at the bottom of the path and then making our way up Fairlight Glen.

The attractive fauna and babbling stream distracted us from another arduous upward trek, but the reward of getting to the Dripping Well Waterfall. However the illusion of the waterfall was tempered by seeing the water coming from a large overspill brown pipe at the top of the hill.

The climb wasn't quite over. Through another gate and there was a final climb across the stone bed of the stream that trickled toward the sea.

There was little more climbing now. We were now out in more daylight and walking along the concrete road passing the gates to Fairlight Place to our left.

We then headed west and joined a narrow lane which formed the 1066 trail. Passing a couple of dog walkers we observed a signpost which located us 50 miles from Dover and 2 miles from Hastings.

Our finale of Norths Seat was now waiting as we walked across another protected footpath and down Mill lane. The stone memorial with an engraved metal plate on top, gave direction to locations all around. Even Quebec was identified on it. It was a pity that the plate had been adorned with additional scratches.

It was the final walk back across the field we had initially walked across at the start of the walk.

The cars were waiting and the 5 miles walk was completed in around 2.5 hours.

Chattri Memorial Walk - 11.11.14

'They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn:
At the going down of the sun and in the morning, we will remember them'
(a verse from 'For the Fallen' by Robert Laurence Binyon)
published in The Times newspaper on 21^st September 1914

A time to reflect and remember the armed forces of the Commonwealth Nations who died in the line of duty during the First World War. We had therefore agreed that as a fitting tribute we would walk across the Downs and visit the Chattri Memorial.

During World War One (1914-18) 1.5 million Indian Army soldiers saw active service alongside British troops. 12,000 Indian Soldiers, wounded on the Western Front were hospitalised at sites around Brighton including the Royal Pavilion.
The Hindus and Sikhs who died were carried out to this peaceful site. Their bodies were cremated and their ashes scattered at sea in accordance with their religious rites.

It felt appropriate that we should arrive at the Chattri Memorial for 11.00am where we observed a 2 minute silence. A few others arrived at the Memorial and remained still and silent also. We looked at the names of soldiers and placed poppy crosses in the grass at the base of the stone.

There were 2 coloured pieces of material tied around the pillars at the front of the Chattri.

We slowly walked out from the enclosure and discovered some cross-country cyclists entering the site. We then noticed a lone sheep in the next field, so we made valiant attempts to play border collies and round her up and reunite the flock with her... however, she was having none of our persuasive hand gestures and took off in the opposite direction from where the gate was being held open.
We gave up after it sped away following another attempt.

We continued to walk north with the assistance of a southerly wind blowing across the channel courtesy of the French. The main track was muddy, but we managed to find adequate traction from the grassy edges and eventually marched on through gates that offered alternative routes. The path we were on was the East Sussex Border Path and we would soon be joining the South Downs Way and turning in an easterly direction.

The clouds were continuing to look threatening behind us, but remained confident that we would complete the circuit without the need for waterproofs.
The pace at times was something similar to how the armed forces would have been marching across muddy fields at the start of the First World War 100 years ago.

Heads down, we battled into the wind as we turned right again off the South Down Way and after a short uphill climb we headed down the hill, passing a herd of cows that looked emotionally detached from both the environment as well as each other.
As we descended the hill and cut our way along the foot of the valley, the shelter from the forceful wind had totally dropped. It felt like a different day, however the short glimpses of blue sky had been obscured by greying clouds.

The path weaved further along as hills to both our left and right continued to offer protection from the wind. Eventually we came to a lane and turned right, passing several farm buildings. Workmen were busily constructing flint-based wall sections.

For the next 15 minutes our direction became confused as whilst the footpath sign clearly demonstrated we could turn left, which was confirmed by the OS map, there was little indication that anyone had gone this way for 10 plus years before us.

The sign on a dilapidated gate politely asked we should 'please shut the gate'... however it must have been many many years ago since it was ever closed. We hesitantly considered our options and after passing several enclosures of Partridge and maybe pheasants also, we arrived at the edge of a field, with precious little options than to navigate our way around the edge of the field and walk the remainder of the way back to the car park along the lane.

Feeling frustrated at seeing the footpath disintegrate into  impassable land, we trudged along the same lane we'd turned onto a half hour before to find several exits from which we would have emerged, had we gone a different way further up the hill.

The clouds were growing greyer and there was the first fine drizzle felt on our faces. By the time we arrived back to the cars, the rain was coming down rather more than the forecasters had proffered.
After some post walk calculations we discovered that what we thought was an excessively long walk of some 8-9 miles, turned out to have only put 7.3 miles on our milometer.  

Walking through Wigdens Bottom

It was a morning that the Downs would take some revenge on our decisions to wear appropriate clothes. We met at Butts Brow car park which was a familiar meeting place but little can be done to predict the weather conditions once you've driven to the elevated position.
The wind was chilling especially on the knees one group member, who defied common sense and bravely took his stride and pace, with shorts, as we headed off in the direction of East Dean.

The clouds were always threatening on the horizon and whilst we kept a meaningful 3 mph pace across the Downs the group made good progress along the footpath whilst distinguishing the difference between a text alert coming through on our mobile phone and an off road cyclist coming up behind us, ringing his bell. We moved aside on a couple occasions as cycling appeared to be the mode of transport of choice today, although later saw several walking groups navigating their way around the numerous footpaths that were providing options to our walk. Sheep were happily grazing as we walked through the fields.

Through a couple more gates and we were heading down through the affluent residential area of East Dean and toward the main road, where we crossed and shortly after, discovered the Wednesday market in full flow. Car Park attendants directed lost cars around the small area as the ugly pie company attracted the usual attention for sustenance. Fruit and veg were still in abundance as were other random stalls selling produce and crafts.

We took a rest on the village green and refueled on a variety of packed snacks and flasks of tea and coffee.
The Village was getting prepared for the Bonfire and Firework event in the evening.
As we walked past the Cricket green the bonfire was stacked high with dampened pallets, branches and other oddments wooden fuel. There would be a torchlight procession form the village green later and the fireworks would be set off on the hillside opposite.

We reached Birling Manor and headed around the back to pick up on a network of footpaths that would give us options to cut back onto the South Downs way. The farm in the distance appeared to be ahead of the programme of events and had already ignited a large fire. As we walked along the path next to the farm we saw 2 young farm workers with deckchairs and flasks keeping the fire going with dried bracken. They looked like they were there til dusk or even longer perhaps.

Our walk took a new, different direction heading over a stile and into a field of scattered round hay bales. The area was known as Wigdens Bottom and whilst looking like a well distinguished path on the map, it became increasingly difficult to define exactly where the path was. It didn't help matters as the hay bales became unnecessary obstacles as we weaved our way steadily uphill toward a white house on the horizon. A large flock of gulls and crows were circling over a herd of cows on the opposite hilltop. Hitchcock scenes immediately came to mind.

We reached a stile at the top of the hill and little after a junction of footpaths gave options to the next direction, however we were set on going straight over the main Eastbourne to Brighton coast road and down the hill on the opposite side to then walk along the pathway leading to the golf course through which the South Downs Way ran through.

That was the plan, however we first had to carefully maneuver our way along the edge of a field of sprout plants and then down a steep hill which we all took at our own pace. Some running, some walking and some slaloming their way safely and without too much injury. The knee joints were taking its toll on such terrain for some of us.

 

The walking pace had steadied itself and the need to take short rests once we'd climbed back up the concrete path to the South Downs Way was a necessity. But the views remained impressive as we spied upon the vista below as we were nearing our starting point at Butts Brow.

We knew we were getting back toward the car park as the dog walkers were more prominent. The task complete, we unlaced and congratulated ourselves for completing the 8.5 mile hike however more consideration would be necessary as to whether the shorts would be out again next time.