3 Men on a walk 2017: Around the Ashdown Forest

Colemans Hatch Loop

It was a beautiful summer day and with Ivan just back from holiday and Trevor having to be elsewhere it seemed a good idea to stay local and tread the "forest". Our good friends at Fancy Free Walks had posted a walk in part of the Ashdown Forest we don't often venture to - the North West quadrant. For the uninitiated, there are no Pubs actually on the forest but there are 4 good pubs around the edge and basically they fall approximately into the 4-quarters of the compass, so when we walk "the forest" we need to decide which quarter fits our taste for the day!

We parked up at one of the many small named car parks dotted around the forest edge. This one was called "Piglet" because it was close to 100 Acre Wood and the A A Milne memorial which overlooks it.

The trail took us around a clockwise loop and through some of the prettiest parts of the forest. In particular as we walked along the north west edge of the forest we were rewarded with wonderful views across the Weald of Kent. We resisted popping into the extremely posh "Ashdown Park Hotel for our lunch because a few miles further down the trail the "Hatch Inn" at Colemans Hatch awaited our custom. We have of course dropped into this lovely old pub on several previous occasions but not for over a year now so it was good to re-acquaint ourselves again.

The only problem with this walk is that from this wonderful lunch stop its all up-hill for about 3 miles back to the car and so any benefit gained from lunch is quickly dispersed. Apart from a lesser spotted woodpecker and several rabbits we didn't see any interesting wildlife. But the birds were enjoying the sunshine because they were in full song at several places.