Ticehurst Circular – 7 miles

  Three weeks have passed from our last walk, and since then, Autumn has arrived in truth. Acorns, conkers and chestnuts are littering the ground as colourful leaves begin to flutter down to join them. Temperatures have also cooled, however they are still warm and, on this day, a little sticky, despite the darker skies. We began the day’s walk at about half past eleven, and set off out of the Ticehurst car park and straight into the countryside. Today we would be completing a route we had done twice before and is significant in one particularly notable way, which none of the others are or ever will be; this was the first route we ever blogged!

  As soon as we left the car park, we were spat out into a field containing a large herd of cows, who were widely spread and included a few individuals who were right next to the path. However, given our new cow-related bravery, this was no issue for two such experienced walkers. We made our way through, admiring the residents, a few of whom looked up at our passing, while the others just continued grazing. We walked through a series of fields along paths we walked most recently back in January, when we did a similar adventure, but varied from this when we got to the first lane and turned left down it. This quiet road took us to a long stony farm track, which eventually led us to the path down to Bewl Water. We have been here more times than I can remember, however I have never seen the reservoir so low as it was on this particular occasion. The combination of being the end of a hot summer and a recent lack of rain had left the water level incredibly low, with much of the usually submerged, muddy bed visible. This did seem to delight the fisherman however, six of whom were lined up, presumably making the most of the current high concentration of the resident fish. The remaining stretch of our visit was most notable for an encounter with a group of four older walkers, who were looking for help finding their way to Ticehurst – naturally, our expertise in the local footpath network left us all too happy to help. They also informed us of a recent encounter with an overly familiar goat that lived somewhere nearby. We did go and look for it, but sadly we were unable to find said goat – maybe we will bump into him next time.

  Leaving Bewl Water behind, we made our way slowly upward through a patch of autumnal woodland, where the beginnings of what would soon become thick mud could be felt under our boots. On the other side we crossed another road and walked down a long stony driveway, at the bottom of which we came across a dappled white pony standing at the side of a field beneath a tree. When we stop to say hello, it walked closer to the fence so that we could lean over and give it a scratch, which it seemed to enjoy.

Next up we crossed into the notorious golf course, which on this occasion presented a different challenge to normal. As we walked along the path at its the edge, we paused a little back from the thoroughfare to allow the three men playing on the green to take their shots. All was going well, until we heard one give a shout and raise his hand. Our wonder of what this meant was only momentary, as seconds later a ball whizzed between us, bouncing off the ground just to our rear – it’s fair to say that this was a close one. We then crossed quickly to the other side, and into the safety of the trees beyond. We admired the chestnuts and acorns as we made our way through, soon ascending out onto the lunch field. The grass was a little damp, but it was still a nice spot for a tuna sandwich and another round of margarita-inspired wraps.

  After lunch we crossed the field and passed a small flock of sheep before arriving at a particularly tricky section of road walking. The lane is narrow, and in places distinctly lacking in verges, whilst the cars can come down at quite some speed. On this occasion however, the road was quiet, and we had no problems. It also has the lovely aspect of walking us right past Swallows Oast; we actually had something of a party there over the summer. Once off the road, we descended into a sheep field containing a fairy ring of large toadstools, which of course Beth was very excited to photograph. Then after crossing back over the golf course (where we perhaps mistimed our dash and made people wait), we emerged back into the outskirts of Ticehurst itself. From there it was a simple walk through the village to the carpark.

  On this, our third attempt, I was surprised to find it a little tougher than I had recalled. Perhaps this was to do with the two weekends off we had had in between walks. Or perhaps it was due to the fact we had both been violently ill during the week, and our bodies had not yet regained their full strength. Either way, I was about ready for a sofa nap by the time we reached the car. None-the-less, we had a nice time and the dark clouds kept the rain at bay, as we took in the changing season about us.

Full route available here.