We should have taken more notice of the small print on the Wealden Walk guide sheet.
"CAUTION - The route east of the Cuckoo Trail crosses a wetland area and may be flooded following wet weather"
Most walks at this time of year could have this added to it, however our need to take to the fields in the surrounding fields between Hailsham and Polegate appeared to be a worthwhile venture.
But not all was as easy as we'd planned. We arrived around 9.20 at our rendezvous point at the Old Loom Mill car park on the Ersham Road.We found the access gate to the Cuckoo Trail was locked with a sign indicating that it would be opened at 10.00am.
We discovered that the lady who runs the fabric Dept in the Loom held the key and would be arriving shortly by bus and her first task of the morning was to open the gate. We stood and waited her arriving wondering what to do if her bus was held up behind a convoy of buses and what their contingency plan was if she phoned in sick for the day. Our hike plans were in jeopardy.
But wait, here she came. Strolling up the drive and as promised her first task of the day was to make a B line to the gate and unlock the gate.
We exchanged morning greetings with her as she headed back to her fabrics whilst we escaped the compound and headed north on the Cuckoo Trail.
The sun was shining bright and the wind on our back as we got into our stride along the path toward the pelican crossing and onwards towards Hailsham. But it wasn't long after crossing the road before we headed across the first series of fields divided by stiles of varying heights and state of repair.
We trudged our way along the Saltmarsh Lane (that was the clue of the state of the fields we were about to cross) after spying on a barn full of vegetables that were being boxed up and transported by white vans to local markets and shops.
The traffic along the lane was relatively busy as over recent years has become a short-cut into the centre of Hailsham. We were thankful to be escaping over the roadside stile after a 5 minute walk along this lane and once again finding our way across a sequence of stiles and fields and a short wooded area which then had us entering a field of Shetland Ponies that were inquisitive at first. Once getting out of the field one of the ponies suddenly galloped at full throttle the length of the field and we were pleased they hadn't displayed such activity as we entered the field. We threaded our way around Little Downash Farm which was surrounded by fields of horses of varying sizes and started to discover more moisture in the sequence of fields that followed. Sheep as well as horses looked at the 4 of us attempted to find the driest route across the marshy fields.
We stopped and confirmed our position as the lack of signposts gave an impression that although there were dotted green lines on the OS map, there were no indication that we were on the right track.
As we traversed the swamplands a fox scampered across the field ahead of us. It seemed intent on finding the nearest hiding place.
A bridge across a stream located our position and assumed our route across it although still faltered on the opposite side for a few minutes but retraced our muddy foot tracks and walked alongside the next ditch. Almost by accident, we discovered a signposted gap in the hedge and small wooden bridge which enabled our walk to continue toward Decoy Wood. Once again the driest route eluded us to some extent, whilst we excited a herd of cattle who probably thought we had food for them. Thankfully their stampede toward us was hindered by a few ditches of water between them and us, which distracted their willingness to cross and therefore allow us to reach the gate and then into the wood. There was a momentary stand-off as we were in the same field as the cattle and noted the bull amongst them was ready to assert his authority in front of his pose.
We were soon trekking our way through part of the grounds of Glyndley Manor which eventually came out onto Glynleigh Road which was the local access road to Hankham. We were only on it a few minutes as the route took us down the driveway to Priesthawes Farm where a collection of barns and outbuildings were occupied by different businesses. Chafins had their winter stock of logs ready after a summer of tree surgery work and a Barn full of red double decker buses were in hibernation ready for next years 'hop on - hop off' sightseeing tours of the Eastbourne area.
More fields of horses lined the driveway as we continued through the farm passing by the Priesthawes House. At the end of the drive were 2 large metal posts upon which was mounted a drill head. We crossed the main road and went directly opposite down towards the Polegate Bypass. Our powers of navigation left us bemused as although the OS map indicated the direction in which we needed to walk in order to reach the footbridge that crossed the bypass, we seemed to be led into a corner of a field with no escape. We walked a short distance to find a gateway onto Shepham Lane.
A chance to kick some mud from out boots as we walked the lane and find our bearings and see whereabouts the footpath would have been marked around the small reservoir of water in the field to our left.
The sound of the traffic on the By-Pass was growing louder and we crossed the bridge to find a convenient place to sit for a short while and re-hydrate our thirst from our silver flasks.
We debated the options on which route to take us back toward the Cuckoo Trail and the final approx.1½ miles northwards trek from where we'd joined the Trail.
We decided on what at first looked to be both quicker and less muddy path. Little did we think our final gateway would be totally awash with thick deep mud.
The foot bridge that would take us back to the Old Loom appeared as we turned right onto the Cuckoo Trail. on the opposite side a couple horses were coming toward us, but turned down to the left as we reached them as it was feared that the width of the bridge would struggle to entertain us walking four abreast as well as 2 horses and riders.
The growing number of benches with memorial plaques adorned the final stretch of the Cuckoo Trail. No time for us to sit and watch the wildlife now, even though the notice board offered us useful information to identify anything that should pass us by.
Dodging the occasional cyclist we reached the car park without further hindrance unscathed. The gates were still open thankfully and ready to release the laces from our boots after our walk of 5.8 miles.
No comments:
Post a Comment