3 Men on a walk 2017: October 2017

Monday, 30 October 2017

Goudhurst to Cranbrook

Goudhurst to Cranbrook loop

A fabulous Autumn day beckoned and it didn't let us down. Bright sunshine, hardly any breeze and temperatures around 10 deg made it a perfect walk day and Trevor had picked this walk as being worthy of the day. Ivan had leave of absence as Grandchildren required some attention.

We parked up at Goudhurst and walked clockwise around the loop through mostly open countryside with the odd patch of woodland. after 7.5 miles we reached the very pretty town of Cranbrook where the "White Horse" provided sustenance. Following lunch we still had 4.5 miles to go and again the countryside was excellent with some pretty long pulls up and down as can be seen by the 2000 ft plus ascent in the stats below.

This 12 mile walk was excellent and one of the longer ones we have walked of late. On the wild-life front we had several Buzzards over head and a fleeting glimpse of a Kingfisher - Honestly Ivan - as it flew away from us across a pond. Its vivid colours made it instantly recognisable.

The view over the Weald from Goudhurst

Cranbrook Church

Autumn in the woods

The White Horse

Stats for the day were ...

Finished Hike: 30 Oct 2017, 15:04:09

Route: Goudhurst Cranbrook Loop

Explorer Link: http://walkmeter.com/818ee85cf2cf57d1/Hike-20171030-1011

Import Link: http://share.abvio.com/818ee85cf2cf57d1/Walkmeter-Hike-20171030-1011.kml

Hike Time: 3:52:05

Stopped Time: 57:36

Distance: 11.93 miles

Average: 3.07 mile per hr

Fastest Pace: 14:17 min/mile

Ascent: 2069 feet

Descent: 2104 feet

Calories: 1304

Monday, 16 October 2017

Around Shipbourne and Oxen Hoath

Shipbourne to Oxen Hoath loop

A new walk popped up on the Fancy Free Walks site and it was right on our home patch so it had to be tested out. And very glad we were too because it was a very nice walk through a mixture of woodland and open countryside and the paths were good and not at all muddy. Even better, the weather was more like an August day than mid October with temperatures in the low 20's and a warm southerly breeze.

We parked up at Shipbourne and followed an anticlockwise loop into Hoad Common and then to the edge of Hadlow before turning north to Oxen Hoath.

Oxen Hoath is a very old house built around 1370 by Sir John Culpepper - see Oxen Hoath Wiki - and its ancient Deer Park grounds made for a very pretty walk. From Oxen Hoath we turned west through orchards to reach Dunks Green where the "Kentish Rifleman" another old establishment with a drinking history stretching back to 1552, provided us with lunch and beer. And after lunch we only had 1.5 miles to get back to the car.

Oxen Hoath nestled in its Park Land

Autumn Colours still not fully developed across the park

Entrance to Oxen Hoath

Looking across the Weald

Lunch Stop

Finally a glimpse of some Autumn colour - just!

Stats for the day were ...

Finished Hike: 16 Oct 2017, 13:29:15

Route: New Route

Explorer Link: http://walkmeter.com/818ee85cf2cf57d1/Hike-20171016-0950

Import Link: http://share.abvio.com/818ee85cf2cf57d1/Walkmeter-Hike-20171016-0950.kml

Hike Time: 2:57:13

Stopped Time: 40:58

Distance: 8.65 miles

Average: 2.92 mile per hr

Fastest Pace: 14:37 min/mile

Ascent: 1544 feet

Descent: 1635 feet

Calories: 944

Monday, 9 October 2017

Southborough to Tonbridge

Along the Tunbridge Wells Circular to Tonbridge

Another day when last minute changes were needed. Our walk around Charing near Canterbury was put on ice and we hurriedly decided on this walk. It was a good walk and not as muddy as last week. Even better, it ended up at the "Humphrey Bean" in Tonbridge!

Setting out around 10-30, we walked out on the TW-Circular as far as Tudeley before turning north and picking up the path through Postern, the Apple Orchards and then the Medway Path back to central Tonbridge and The Humphrey Bean pub for lunch.

Heavy cloud day over the Weald

Somerfield Parkland

Stats for the day were ...

Finished Hike: 9 Oct 2017, 14:21:38

Route: Southborough to Tonbridge

Explorer Link: http://walkmeter.com/818ee85cf2cf57d1/Hike-20171009-1021

Import Link: http://share.abvio.com/818ee85cf2cf57d1/Walkmeter-Hike-20171009-1021.kml

Hike Time: 2:36:18

Stopped Time: 1:23:28

Distance: 7.75 miles

Average: 2.97 mile per hr

Fastest Pace: 14:36 min/mile

Ascent: 1013 feet

Descent: 1313 feet

Calories: 812

Monday, 2 October 2017

A visit to "Mad Jack's Follies"

Three Cups Corner loop

Hurrah, a decent sunny day and the best walk-day Monday we have had for weeks. So we brushed off the plan we abandoned last week and set forth for the East Sussex Weald. We also had a choice to make because there were two pubs on this loop and depending on which one we chose for lunch determined where we parked up and started from. It was "The Swan" at Wood's Corner who won the toss so we started out from Three Cups Corner and walked anticlockwise around this 10 mile loop.

It had rained pretty intensely yesterday and so we were expecting it to be a bit wet under-foot in places but we had not planned for standing mud-pools and sloppy mud. In fact at places all the way around this trail we were slipping and sliding around and getting up to our ankles in mud. That said, it was a nice sunny day and some of the views across this part of the Weald were excellent. This track also took us through some large sections of forest, again something we haven't done for a while.

We took lunch at the halfway point at "The Swan", a delightful grade 2 listed pub at Woods Corner. Ivan had found it and one of the attractions was that it had a history of the Follies of Mad Jack Fuller. John Fuller was a local landowner and Squire who enjoyed building across his land. Six "Follies" were built by Jack during the early 1800's - see Brightling Follies - and we set out to see some of them.

We ended up seeing four of them although only the "Sugar Loaf" at close quarters. The Temple was way across the parkland and we could only just see it but we passed close to the Observatory and the Obelisk.

This part of the East Sussex Weald is characterised by its deep valleys and this made the walk one of the most strenuous we had undertaken for many months. Still, maybe it will stop the body ageing process !