3 Men on a walk 2017: July 2017

Monday, 31 July 2017

A quick walk around Penshurst

Penshurst loop

With Ivan out for house building work and myself needing to be home by 2-00pm it was only Trevor and myself that needed a leg stretch and so we stayed local and headed for the wonderful countryside around Penshurst.

We set off along the Eden Valley trail and forked off to Chiddingstone Village. Turning north we would our way along paths, cris-crossing the River Eden several times before returning to Penshurst and the car.

It was a nice breezy day with sunshine in patches as the clouds passed over. It was only the last 5 mins that we hit a shower but being so close to the cars it wasn't worth getting the waterproofs out. Fortunately, by the time we had driven to the Fleur de Lys pub in Leigh for lunch we were fully dried out!

Stats for the day were...

Finished Hike: 31 Jul 2017, 12:22:37

Route: Penshurst loop

Explorer Link: http://walkmeter.com/818ee85cf2cf57d1/Hike-20170731-1003

Import Link: http://share.abvio.com/818ee85cf2cf57d1/Walkmeter-Hike-20170731-1003.kml

Hike Time: 2:08:45

Stopped Time: 10:27

Distance: 6.67 miles

Average: 3.1 mile per hr

Fastest Pace: 14:27 min/mile

Ascent: 1044 feet

Descent: 824 feet

Calories: 717

Monday, 24 July 2017

The annual trip to visit the "Seven Sisters"

East Dean to Birling Gap then along the 7 Sisters and back via Friston Forest

Last week Trevor reminded us that we had not had a trip along the Seven Sisters this year and so we decided that this was to be remedied. The weather was passable and the weather guys promised that the northerly wind would blow the shower clouds over us but with little rain. And that was what it turned out to be and the dark shadows from the clouds made for some wonderful sea & countryside colours.

We parked up at East Dean and set out up to the top of the downs and down almost to Birling Gap before turning West along the coast on the South Downs Way and up the first Sister - so to speak. WE "knocked off" each sister in turn but decided that the 7th Sister had put on weight since the last time we had climbed up her ! Or maybe us old timers are getting older!

No matter how many times we walk this stretch of coast it never ceases to provide us with wonderful scenery and awe at this special part of our UK coastline. Reaching Cookmere Haven, the delta of the river Cookmere, the sight across the river and marshes is fantastic. Here we turned inland along the eastern edge of the river to the village of Exceat before tuning East to Westdean village and then into Friston Forest on the loop back to the car and the Tiger Pub for lunch.

East Dean village green

Our eventual lunch stop - the Tiger Inn on the village green

The windy top of the downs with the Belle Tout Lighthouse in the distance

The "Sisters" as seen from the first sister

Sea, Sky and coastline - today the colours were magnificent

Cuckmere Haven

The marshes on the Cuckmere Delta

The Cuckmere valley from the Friston Forest

One last view along the coast

Lunch Stop !

Stats for the day were ...

Finished Hike: 24 Jul 2017, 13:56:32

Route: Seven Sisters Loop

Explorer Link: http://walkmeter.com/818ee85cf2cf57d1/Hike-20170724-1047

Import Link: http://share.abvio.com/818ee85cf2cf57d1/Walkmeter-Hike-20170724-1047.kml

Hike Time: 2:44:28

Stopped Time: 16:24

Distance: 7.94 miles

Average: 2.91 mile per hr

Fastest Pace: 15:36 min/mile

Ascent: 1810 feet

Descent: 1830 feet

Calories: 876

Monday, 17 July 2017

Hooe and the long lost Harbour

Boreham Street - Hooe - Wartling loop

A long time ago Ivan found a walk that aimed to find the long lost harbours of the Hooe Levels. We kept putting off this walk in the winter because its an old marshland and would be very wet under foot. But in the early middle ages this area was under about 4 to 5 ft of water and it was navigable by coastal barges. The map below shows where the coastline is today compared to where it was in the 12th - 14th century.

So with a beautiful summer day ahead of us we drove to Boreham Street, Parked up at the local pub (that was we were sure to arrive back!) and set out to see if we could find anything that would indicate the maritime nature of this then flooded countryside.

The main river that flows through that area and which had originally created the low-lying area that was flooded by the sea now around Pevensey is the "River Waller". We quickly dropped down from Boreham Street into the river valley which was full up with reed beds and drainage dykes. We crossed the valley and started the climb up the other side to reach the village of Hooe. Ivan had found out that the word "Hooe" was the pre-cursor of the word "Ho" which is given to a piece of land overlooking the sea. Certainly Hooe was situated on a piece of headland that would have overlooked the original flooded valleys below and also the tributary flowing between Hooe and Barnhorn which is where we believe the main harbour was situated.

However, whilst its easy to see on a map when you are out in the field its almost impossible to get an overall picture of how things might have been 800 years ago.

Having reached the lower end of the Hooe Levels we turned back north into the Waller Valley again, passing the village of Wartling and back for lunch at the Bull in Boreham Street.

Hooe Church

List of the Vicars of Hooe Church starting at 1363 with John Brewode

Clearly the local Bell Ringers have a sense of humour - and their own commandments!

Lunch Stop

Stats for the day were...

Finished Hike: 17 Jul 2017, 13:50:14

Route: Hooe loop

Explorer Link: http://walkmeter.com/818ee85cf2cf57d1/Hike-20170717-1039

Import Link: http://share.abvio.com/818ee85cf2cf57d1/Walkmeter-Hike-20170717-1039.kml

Hike Time: 2:31:04

Stopped Time: 39:56

Distance: 7.93 miles

Average: 3.15 mile per hr

Fastest Pace: 14:37 min per mile

Ascent: 971 feet

Descent: 936 feet

Calories: 811

Monday, 10 July 2017

GMT-5; another leg of the Greenwich Meridian Trail

GMT-5: from Titsey to Addington

A minor scare about rain all day melted away and so as this was our "Plan A" route for the day off we set. Actually it turned out to be a great day with plenty of sun and just a tad hotter than we would have liked but still a great walk day.

We had debated this leg as technically it took us into the Greater London area and we wondered if it would a) be boring and b) too cosmopolitan to be a good walk. However, the map said otherwise and so we took the chance and indeed probably 90% of the trail was through mixed countryside and was a very good section indeed.

Starting out from the Titsey car park that we now know very well, we had to tread the North Downs Way for the first mile before picking up the GMT trail and turning North. The trail to Woldingham was delightful and mostly downhill but as we often say, once downhill the next has to be "Uphill" and the next half-mile was one of the steepest walks we have done for a couple of years. So steep in fact that we had to take a rest stop at the top to get the heart and lungs back into normal pace.

Once up it wasn't too bad and we made good time through the oddly named "Worms Heath" towards our target for lunch at another fascinating named village of Fickleshole. It was on this stretch that we started to hit trouble with over-growth, first with a farmer whose crop of field beans had grown over the path and the field verge was so overgrown with nettles and grass that it was impossible to walk on. We pushed on however and eventually exited this field only a few hundred yards further on to meet a wall of nettles and Cows Parsley so thick that it was almost impossible to push through it. Eventually we were able to climb out into the field next to the trail and find an alternative route. So it was a very tired trio that eventually reached "The White Bear" pub for lunch.

Refreshed we set off towards New Addington, an overspill housing estate built to accommodate the expanding city of Croydon in the 1930's. Originally intended to be one of the "Garden Cities" the second world war stopped the project in its tracks and it wasn't until the 1960's that the town stated to grow and get the services it deserved, However, one aspect that was very noticeable as we walked through the town was the abundance of "Green Spaces" and mostly we were walking across parkland or along grass corridors and not roads. (see New Addington Wiki ).

Most of this section took us down a wooded corridor about 2 miles in length and we knew we were in a heavily populated urban area only by the number of burnt out motorcycles that littered the side of the path! We must have passed about a dozen of them and clearly the bored youth of the area would run amok along the woodland trails in the evenings on the stolen motorbikes before "torching" them. Glad it was mid afternoon for us!

Top of the North Downs

Looking across the Weald of Kent

Struggling up the "hill" - Trevor is the last man up!

Across the North Downs from Woldingham Hill

Lunch Stop

Two old walkers taking a break!

Stats for the walk were ...

Finished Hike: 10 Jul 2017, 15:04:47

Route: GMT-5

Explorer Link: http://walkmeter.com/818ee85cf2cf57d1/Hike-20170710-1037

Import Link: http://share.abvio.com/818ee85cf2cf57d1/Walkmeter-Hike-20170710-1037.kml

Hike Time: 3:16:57

Stopped Time: 1:10:26

Distance: 10.03 miles

Average: 3.1 mile per hr

Fastest Pace: 13:08 min/mile

Ascent: 1328 feet

Descent: 1998 feet

Calories: 1048

Monday, 3 July 2017

Around Horsted Keynes

Horsted Keynes and the Weald

Our good friends at Fancy Free Walks had posted a new walk but it was only 5 miles long. HOWEVER, it did show a new pub that we had not used previously and so we set about mapping a route in the usual manner! Work back 6 miles from the pub and then try and find a decent parking spot. This gives you a reasonable start point. Then work out the route beyond the pub in either a loop back to the car or to a bus stop that would get us back to the car. By this methodology, we ended up with a 10 mile loop walk starting at the car park at Horsted Keynes Station and it was a very nice walk too.

The village of Horsted Keynes is a pretty place and we walked through it and into lovely Weald countryside until we reached Danehill. From here we dropped down the hill to Chelwood Common where the "Coach & Horses" waited for our custom. This was a delightful little pub and well worth visiting.

We headed north from the pub and after crossing two paths we have walked previously - The Greenwich Meridian and the Sussex Border paths - we reached the railway line and followed it the last mile or so back to the car.

We spotted a single Red Kite flying across the Weald today and so it seems these birds are slowly expanding out of their Oxfordshire stronghold to our region which is great because they make a delightful sight.