Ashdown Forest in Autumn

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Lowland and Hill Walks
Oct 07
2017

23 people attending

7 places left

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25 km / 15.5 miles8 hours

Ashdown Forest: A mixture of open heath and oak and birch woodland, with valley bogs, all giving a rich biodiversity. Ashdown Forest was established by John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, in 1372 and lasted for nearly 300 years as a royal hunting forest, known as 'Lancaster's Great Park'. After the Restoration in 1660, Charles II gave large parts of the forest to his supporters, but much of it remained for Commoners as a place to gather wood and allow pigs and cattle to graze. Place names containing 'Hatch' or 'Gate' indicate openings to the forest.

Hartfield: The main village street is pleasant if without any remarkable buildings. St Mary's Church is 14th/15th century and has an elegant tower and steeple.

Withyham: A pretty hamlet with a pub and church of St Michael which was rebuilt in the 17th century following a fire and contains a fine set of baroque monuments to the Sackville/De La Warr Family. We will visit The Dorset Arms pub for coffee.

Winnie-the-Pooh links: We'll walk around the edge of Five Hundred Acre Wood - the 'Hundred Acre Wood' of the stories, pass the sand pit that was probably the inspiration for Roo's Sandy Place, and pass close to Cotchford Farm where AA Milne and his son Christopher Robin lived (and where Brian Jones of the Rolling Stones drowned). We'll cross Pooh Bridge where Pooh and Christopher Robin played Poohsticks, have lunch at the memorial to AA Milne and EH Shephard at Gills Lap (Galleons Lap), 204m up, and take tea and cake at the Pooh Corner tea shop in Hartfield.

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