The day was grey and abnormally blustery. It was also a Tuesday. So what, you may be asking, were we doing on a windy Tuesday morning, undertaking our normal Sunday activity? Well, there was one very simple and good answer; it was my Birthday! Continuing on from our recent trend of “filling in the gaps”, today we opted for a route from the OS app that would see us discovering the countryside between the unexplored Northiam area and one of our very favourite haunts, Bodiam Castle.
We set off just before half past eleven, and both immediately wished to have brought another layer. I was already wearing the new socks and fleece Granny had gifted me, but right then I thought wistfully of the fancy new light-weight Craghopper that was a present from Mum and Dad, still sat at the end of our bed following being opened earlier that morning. The wind truly was gusting through with a lot of ferocity. Fortunately, as we continued, we did warm up, and grew used to the conditions. The first long stretch of open farmland was fairly flat, lined with a few patches of trees with spring flowers underneath – we also passed a particularly strong-smelling patch of Wild Garlic beside a stream. Soon after, we came across a herd of deer, who ran and vanished somewhere ahead – we seem to be coming across a lot of these encounters lately. However, as we drew nearer to Ewhurst, the footpath climbed back upward and took us across a high, open stretch, where the winds reaffirmed their presence.
Once in Ewhurst, we made our way through to a footpath that led down and away to the right. This was actually a little addition to the route of my own, done for one very good reason: lambs. This little offshoot would take us straight down to the fields opposite Bodiam Castle (which my blind wife failed to spot until it was pointed out to her), which year on year have been a guaranteed spot for spring’s cutest creatures. Sure enough, as we drew near, we caught the sound on the wind of the sweet bleating that rings around the countryside this time of year. There were less than normal (things are still early after all) but nonetheless we were presented with half a dozen lambs. We leaned against their field gate and watched them scamper and suckle until the wind began to cool us a little too much, and carried on up the path and back into Ewhurst.
Almost immediately, we were leaving the little village out the other side. At this point, Granny tried to phone. I answered, but thanks to the windy day and the rural location, signal was poor and communication impossible – I phoned her back when we got home instead. Beyond the last cottages, there was a small flock of sheep to our left, where a couple were headbutting each other, and a long, wide crop field rising ahead. According to the map, there should have been paths cutting across, but we could not see them. We did our best to stick to where they should have been, but they just weren’t there. Next, we came across a small field with a diverted path around some Alpacas, and then climbed upward, across a road and through a campsite. Beyond this was a small woodland. Lunch was overdue by now, and fortune smiled on us when we came across a small wooden bridge across a little tinkling stream amongst a great grove of wild garlic leaves. We sat down and ate on the bridge amongst the lovely spot we had stumbled upon.
Following lunch, we made our way through the remainder of the woods and back out into the countryside. We found that the wind was still as howling as ever, and it only got worse as we climbed the side of a wide field back to the crest of the hill. As we made our way through the tiny village of Millcroner, we had begun to feel the first hints of moisture in the air. We were therefore grateful to be on the home stretch, and soon enough familiar paths appeared beneath our boots. We returned to Northiam via the same path we had left on, and got in the car just as the drizzle arrived.
Whilst perhaps not the finest of days, this is still exactly how I would have wanted to spend my birthday; on a walk with Beth – there is nothing that makes me happier! We filled in a little more of the map, and ticked off the “big three” for spring at the same time; a few early rising bluebells, a handful of VERY early blooming garlic flowers and some of the first lambs – all in all, not bad.
Matthew G. Huggins 