Xmas Escape to the countryside: Ashdown Forest in Winter

THIS EVENT HAS NOW BEEN CANCELLED.

Ashdown Forest is probably the largest public access area in the southeast of England.  It is broken up into big tracts of recreation land with narrow bridges of interconnecting countryside.  Although best known for its connection to Winnie the Pooh, it was actually only a small part of the forest which was used in the stories, in the northern corner close to Hartfield where the author lived.

Our walk today is on the other side of the forest and indeed the first part of it is along footpaths covering a mixture of agricultural land and woods while skirting the villages of Chelwood Gate, Danehill and Nutley, beyond which we enter the open common land.

From the lowest point of the walk near Cackle Street, we ascend to the highest: Camp Hill and then to Friends Clump, which is the central clump of trees in the above photograph. If the weather is clear, we should get great views of the South Downs, some of which appear to be lower than the high Forest.

We will encounter open heath and mixed deciduous woodland, intermingled with attractive streams and hopefully free-ranging cattle, sheep and maybe ponies in the very large enclosure which comprises a good part of this walk. We will also pass through the attractive restored Forest Garden where there is an impressive series of artificial ponds and cascades.

One of the joys of an area like this is that the route can easily be adapted if the weather is less than impressive; there are paths all over the place so the most exposed areas can probably be avoided if absolutely necessary. Hopefully, however, these will be the places in which we will get the best appreciation of this lovely place.