You wait a month, and then suddenly you get two walks in four days! Thanks to Beth having a Wednesday off, we found ourselves setting off on a mid-week venture out into the Weald. Pulling up into the little Robertsbridge car park at about half past ten, the autumn day was blue-skied, sunny and warm.
Of course, we have done this route a couple of times before, and whilst it may be a short one, it has presented us with some challenges in the past. Today, however, we were feeling confident that all would be easy-going. Heading out of Robertsbridge and over the busy road, we were happy to find ourselves diving off into the countryside. Recent winds had sent a few trees tumbling in the early patch of woods, which required a little manoeuvring around, but we were soon making our way around the edges of pastureland and wishing that we had perhaps worn some lighter clothing.
Across the fields from us, where the land rose up and over the brow, we could see a large herd of cows dotted about the hillside; this slope makes up part of the Staplecross walk, and Beth in particular was glad not to be walking that one today. However, from this safe distance, we were able to appreciate them, as we made our way down to where we would indeed be sharing a different stretch of the Staplecross route. This footpath, running through the middle of countryside as far as the eye can see, is one of my very favourites in the entire High Weald. In this direction, you walk along a stony track until you reach an old car, decorated with flowers. Here, you carry on along the grass in front of a small row of cottages, until you climb over a stile. You nip through a corner of one field, and then over another pair of stiles into the next. Here, you are presented with an immediately climbing green hill directly in front of you, with only the sky to be seen at the top. This field often has livestock, which on this occasion were sheep. You walk up the slope, which is not particularly far, but enough to get your legs working. As you climb, be sure to stop and look back. This is one of the very best views to be seen across our walks. Farmland stretches away over the gently undulating Weald. It is dotted with patches of trees, and today was decorated with the flock in the foreground, and the cows rising behind them. It is perfect.
Now, a few walks ago (Bewl Water, back at the start of September), I mentioned leaving little bits of wool, which we had previously gathered whilst on the walks for our wedding, in our favourite spots as we went. This way, we return the wool to where it came from and leave little bits of our wedding across the place we have loved spending much of our time. Since that first time, an opportunity had not presented itself; however, there are not many spots more fitting than this one. I therefore took the small clump of wool from our bag and placed it carefully in the grass to enjoy the view.
The smooth sailing continued as we crossed a few fields empty of all but a couple of large mushrooms, and we also saw what we thought was a herd (is it a ‘herd’?) of Alpacas in the distance. However, as we crossed a stile into another wide field, we suddenly found this one not to be vacant. A herd of cattle were grazing right across where the footpath wanted us to go, and the sign on the fence informed us that there may be cows, calves and bulls present – the full set. We had been expecting cows here, as previously, and we used our cow knowledge to proceed safely. At first, we stuck to the footpath, which led us near the cows, but not through the middle. A couple looked up at us but seemed unbothered. We then crossed through a large gap in the hedge into the second half of the field, where the others were. This part was a little different. The cows were basically straddling the footpath, and to be honest we did not fancy getting caught up in the middle of them. So, we went for a wide swing out to the left. This seemed to do the trick…at first. As we slowly began to swing back toward the path, one of the cows looked up. She then took some slow steps toward us and was then joined by two more. I gently tried to steer our course toward the fence line, and it was only when Beth looked up that she realised why. They were definitely coming in our direction. However, they were not mooing or running or looking otherwise agitated, so we calmly carried on toward the fence. By the time we reached it, the cows had all stopped, and only the original cow now looked at us. We walked up to the corner where the footpath exited the field, and to safety. Beth then went on to describe this as a “positive cow experience”.
Crossing back over the main road, we made our way up the colourful, tree-lined driveway, and soon found ourselves entering another large field which sloped downward. Near the top, we stopped for lunch on a log beneath a pair of trees in the sunshine, just after midday – we were sure to have an early lunch today, as we were going out for dinner later and wanted to make sure we had a good appetite for it. We then carried on down the field and exited by going beneath the railway bridge at the bottom. Turning right, we then followed the course of the train line, sometimes directly, sometimes wandering away, all the way back to Robertsbridge. This section also involved a wooded patch, a stream, and a couple more fields, before bringing us back out into the outskirts of the village. We made our way back up through the centre and returned to the car just shy of one o’clock.
After a slightly trickier than expected walk on Sunday, it felt like we got back into our groove today. The autumnal colours were well illuminated by the sunshine, mud was minimal, and we knew the route well; a perfect Wednesday walk.
