It’s fair to say that we are generally fair-weather walkers. Given that we live more-or-less within an hour of 99% of our walks, we’re not shy of hunkering down on the less pleasant days and letting the rains pass before venturing out the following week. Why then, did we find ourselves parking up at Bewl Water during a cold, damp, spring day for what would be our longest walk since we started recording them?
Well, actually there were a few reasons. One, we had been on a good streak, this one set to be our seventh Sunday out walking in a row, and we didn’t want to break that. Secondly, with the beginnings of late spring almost upon us, we really wanted to make the most of it while it lasted. Thirdly, and probably most importantly, we had chosen to do this 12.5-mile route because in a couple of weekends we are due to walk up the tallest mountain in the UK, and had done *zero* prep for it! True, this almost completely flat route does not mimic the climb in any way, but it would at least get us to stretch our leg muscles beyond their usual requirements, both distance and time-wise.
So there we were, setting off from the reservoir’s visitor centre at just gone half-eleven, heading out clockwise around the vast expanse of water. This direction seemed immediately a good choice, as the dam at this end of the reservoir was having work done to it and the footpath leads you through something of a building site. Good to get this out the way early we felt, and not to have it waiting for us as a bummer of an ending. Once you have made your way past this and have ascended back up to the reservoir, the footpath leads you into the woodland which lines much of the water’s edge. Here we encountered our first mile marker of the day, informing us ‘1 mile down, 12 to go’. Not so bad, we thought, although by the time we reached ‘4 miles down, 9 to go’ and ‘5 miles down, 8 to go’, the reality of the walk’s length really began to settle in.
The first few miles of the day were marked predominately by easy, visitor-friendly footpaths through a bizarrely autumnal woodland, the floor littered with leaves and the sun remaining resolutely hidden. There was also lots of cool moss around, which greatly excited one of us, and at the three-mile marker we picked up part of the route that had made up our first blogged walk from Ticehurst. We followed the familiar path for a little over two miles, before waving goodbye and heading off into the unknown.
From this point on, as we made our way along the reservoir’s southern side, we seemed to be very much out of the visitor-focused, family-friendly section and into a more natural feeling part of Bewl Water (reflected in significantly muddier paths). For me, this was very much where the day picked up! Over the next mile, we passed sheep fields containing a spattering of lambs, a small herd of young cows and several dense pockets of bluebells and wild garlic.
Beth was hungry by now however, having been looking for a likely-looking lunch spot since the five-mile marker. Unfortunately, on this less visitor-focused side of the reservoir came a corresponding lack of benches. Not wanting to sit in the wet grass, we made it almost another mile before giving up and accepting our fate. And actually, this ended up perfectly. We found ourselves a tree near the water’s edge and sat beneath on its exposed routes looking out across the calm water. The sound of lambs bleating from the field behind serenaded us as we ate sandwiches and watched a martin putting on a show, as it swooped low over the reservoir; we may have ended up finding one of our best lunch spots ever. Standing to begin the second half of our day, we then discovered that during our brief pause, the lambs in the field behind had quietly made their way over to the fence line, and they popped their little heads up at our sudden movement. As we moved quietly closer, we found that maybe half a dozen tiny lambs had come to say hello. Curious about our presence, we were able to get pretty close to the fence without spooking them and got to share a few special minutes of spring with these bundles of innocence, before heading away.
Passing the six mile marker beneath falling blossom only a minute later, we then entered a section of the route which took us up and away from the reservoir. We quickly found ourselves walking between another field of lambs on one side and pretty cottages on the other – and this really was the tone for the next few miles. Here, the road steadily rose, testing the legs for the first time that day, but was still perfectly manageable, before turning right and descending down Birchetts Green Lane. I am still unsure if Birchetts Green is an actual place or just this one lane, however I have decided that I like it and is a quiet, hidden slice of High Weald perfection. Just past the seven-mile mark, you reach the lanes lowest point, where a spring which eventually trickles into Bewl Water runs across the road, and it again begins to climb. The road, lined with garlic, bluebells, moss, a fantastic network of roots through its high banks and one surprised squirrel, was a long (ish) uphill stretch, at the top of which we were feeling warm for the first time that day. This was well worth it though, as we were rewarded at the top by a very happy looking field of ewes and lambs. Taking this opportunity to pause for a few minutes and drink a little water, we sat on the stile into the field and took in the idyllic scene, which included a handful of playful lambs jumping up and down on a hay rack. The eight mile mark appears soon after as you turn along Ward’s Lane, again lined with colourful woodland and fields of sheep, and three energetic Great Tits. At the mile nine point, the route then directs you off the road and back onto footpaths, returning you once again to the water. This was a very long stretch of road, and normally we are not a fan of extended road walking. However, on this occasion I really enjoyed it (even though the hard concrete had made the soles of our feet throb) and across the three mile stretch, we encountered only two cars.
As we descended back toward Bewl Water we were pleased to have a more forgiving surface beneath our feet, encountering more squirrels and blue woodland floors. And then, just as we finally arrived back at the water’s edge, something very peculiar happened.
The sun came out.
Completely dazzled by the light, I don’t know if we just hadn’t seen it in so long or what, but I have never seen a sky so intensely, brilliantly, glowingly blue. I literally stood there and stared, before being distracted by a falcon hovering so low and near, that it was almost right in front of us. A solid couple of minutes, and I am pleased to say that the sunshine remained with us for more or less the rest of the day. Ten miles down, three to go and we turned the corner to begin walking back along the reservoir’s northern sign toward the finish line. The path remained muddy for another mile as it took us past a mixture of yet more bluebells, wild garlic and lambs. This combined with the sudden appearance of sunshine presented perhaps the perfect conclusion to mid-spring.
The time was now about half three in the afternoon, with the visitors centre closing at five, and so with the promise of an ice cream at the end, we kept up a determined march to cover the last few miles of the day. A little while later we encountered a runner enquiring about roads and conditions ahead, who soon concluded that the best option was to turn and go back the way she came. After we promised not to laugh if she slipped, she turned and started to run back. Thirty seconds later, she did indeed slip over (she was fine!).
We found our way back onto familiar, family-friendly footpaths at around the eleven-mile marker, with the highlight of the remaining walk being the carpets of bluebells lining the path. We paused regularly to admire the colour, particularly as their season will soon be coming to an end. Already in patches the undergrowth has begun to encroach and if you look closely, a few have already wilted. Bluebell season ends fast and these iconic spring flowers fall off hard – they may be well on their way out by our next adventure. But for now, on this day, they were still present – sweet, glowing and beautiful.
We finally made it back to the visitor centre at half four (not bad!), with plenty of time to enjoy our well-deserved ice-creams. Our feet throbbed and were noticeably sore when we stood up ten minutes later to shuffle back to the car, but all things considered, we felt we had done very well. We had started in autumn and ended in spring, and it had been well worth the effort.
Before we started, I was unsure how the day’s walk would fit in with the others, fearing slightly that it would feel like a greatly extended walk around a country park. Whilst perhaps this could be said about the first few miles, I was pleased to find myself soon immersed in the countryside, particularly on its less popular southern shore. Bewl Water seems to act as something of a roundabout for footpaths and we spotted several tempting ones on our way around. We will now go away and look into these, for other routes to delve deeper into this perfect part of the world.
Full route available at https://www.bewlwater.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Cycling-Route-Map-2023.pdf
Matthew G. Huggins 