Buy a day return to Battle
This walk is option b) of the Robertsbridge Circular, branching off from the short circular walk just after its start, and then following a completely different route, so be sure that you download the relevant pages (7 and 9-14) in the walk directions or that you follow the right bit of the GPX.
On the map the route is shown in green, heading south to Seddlescombe.
The short alternative route after Staplecross (see page 10 and 11 in the walk directions: the short dotted red route on the map) was created to avoid a field with an aggressive horse, plus some bits where the path is not clear. If this precaution is still needed, I do not know.
This walk is the finest wood anemone walk in the south east. If you don't know what wood anemones are, then by the end of this walk you definitely will (photos). One caveat is that they are shy little things, which close up into little bells (not unattractive, but not as nice as the flower when open) when conditions are too cold, which given the forecast at time of writing, they may be. But on the other hand, they can be tougher than one expects....
Otherwise, this is a very pleasant walk in the Weald, with plenty of signs of spring. There are two possible lunch pubs - the Cross Inn in Staplecross 3.7 miles in and the Queen's Head in Seddlescombe after 7 miles (a pretty pub with a nice garden). If aiming for the latter, note that it serves food till 2.30pm, though it is open all afternoon for drinks. It is about kilometre after the best wood anemone wood, Killingan Wood, which it is nice to have some extra time to explore (ie, if you are in a rush to get to the Queen's Head, you won't have time to do that). The best picnic spot is on the escarpment just after Killingan Wood, where there is a fine view and some benches.
There is a lovely approach to Battle across a pretty valley. Last time I was there, the town's tea rooms and pubs had taken a knock from the lack of tourists during the lockdowns, so which have survived remains to be seen. Traditionally, there were several nice places for tea and cakes and a couple of pubs. Allow 15-20 minutes to walk from the town centre down to the station.
Trains back from Battle are at 07 and 45 past, the 45 past being slightly quicker (1 hour 19 v 1 hour 27)
4 comments:
Don't know about wood anemones, but to whet Walker's appetite I spotted my first bluebells of the year this morning on a sheltered bank alongside a bridleway just outside of Chorleywood. A taste of things to come ...
Despite today’s cold wind, a good number of wood anemones are open in my local woods, so cross fingers for tomorrow….
N=18 on this walk (Robertsbridge to Battle) on a w=mostly-sunny day. OK, there was a nippy north breeze at times and some “envious cloud”, but layers came off and out of the wind it felt very springlike.
I burble on about the wood anemones on this walk, but they really do live up to all the hype. Today they were at their absolute best (note to future walk posters: but often that is not true until mid April). Early in the walk they were still closed up into little bells, but they relaxed as the day went on and by the time we got to Killingan Wood just before Seddlescombe they were literally a star attraction. The wood was absolutely carpeted with them, so it almost looked like it had been snowing (see Facebook for photos…).
I saw my first speckled wood butterfly early in the walk and was Johnny-no-mates for a good while thereafter, as everyone else streaked off. But that left me time to notice all the signs of spring: primroses, some early stitchwort, a green fuzz starting to appear on some of the trees, carolling chiffchaffs.
Luckily a few had decided to stop at the early pub in Staplecross, so I caught up with them there. We ate in the garden, a bit chilly until we moved a table into the shelter of the fence. Food OK, service reasonably swift: a bit of a locals place, but friendly enough.
Stopping there turned out to be a good decision, as those who went on to lunch at the Rose & Crown in Sedlescombe found it shut for a function. My bad. Clearly as walk poster I should have checked this. I will set up an enquiry to find out whose fault it was that I didn’t do this and report back on its results in six months time. Luckily Sedlescombe has a shop where those affected could buy provisions.
After Staplecross, we early lunchers split into two parties for a while, one group doing the normal route and surviving the frisky horses and snappy locals. The other group (me) checking the alternative route and finding it fine, though possibly now superfluous. We then took a slight shortcut to avoid the now unnecessary descent into Seddlescombe village.
The rest of the walk into Battle was pretty and uneventful. We met some of the late (non) lunchers at the Bull Inn, and the last of us got the 18.45 train, armed with suitable supplies. Really a very nice day out. If there is a heaven, I hope it is something like this.
We saw an orchid! An early purple orchid (orchis mascula) in a wood at what is now a secret location. Looked like a purple hyacinth. @Stargazer spotted it. And some common spotted orchids later, but not in flower. A beautiful walk.
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