Crawley Down - The Royal Oak

Tuesday 13th November

The Worthwhile Worth Way Walk - now, try saying that after a few bevvies

Walkers:  Farty, T.B., 4 Legs (Mum, thankfully, o.k. to be left today), Windy,  Lil and Clat.  Mrs P has gorn orf again to look at her thatched erection.
 Sadly, very sadly, Sally's great nephew lost his brave battle, and is now at peace.  We all send our love and condolences.
Distance: 71/4 miles
Find: yet again, nothing, but on this walk last time, we found all sorts of goodies, including the elephant, and the incredible hulk - the recession is biting.

We decided to meet here, as most of the walk was on the now defunct railway line - the Worth Way or Sussex Border Path.  Some of it was new territory, but in the main it was flat and straight (just like a bloke I used to know).  It was also free of mud, and after the recent rains it was deemed a good choice of walkage.

(Rowfant was a railway station on the Three Bridges to Tunbridge Wells Central Line which closed in 1967, a casualty of the Beeching Axe.
The route of the railway line cut a path through the estate of Curtis Miranda Lampson, a wealthy American fur trader and vice-chairman of the Atlantic Telegraph Company, who agreed to sell his land cheaply to the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway (LBSCR) on condition that a station be provided, together with the right to stop trains on request. Apart from Lampson's Rowfant House the only other nearby residence was Worth Hall owned by John Nix, an LBSCR director. At Lampson's request a shelter was provided for his coachmen.^[1][2]

Rowfant station c1890

Rowfant, initially the only intermediate station between Three Bridges and East Grinstead, saw an initial service of six passenger trains per day, with two on Sundays. By 1859 this had increased to nine services with one early morning goods train, and four Sunday services. The opening of another intermediate station in 1860, Grange Road, saw passenger trains cut to six on weekdays. An additional siding and crossover were provided in 1878, the siding serving a nearby brickworks. The station was further enlarged in 1900-1901 when it became a crossing station with a new 500ft. Up platform and footbridge. In 1906 the introduction of new motor carriages led to an increase in weekday services.^[3]
Nevertheless, Rowfant saw very little passenger traffic and jointly held with Kingscote the record for the least revenue for passenger journeys on the LBSCR.^[1] Although it saw a brief revival in terms of freight traffic when Gatwick Airport opened in the late 1950s and jet fuel was stored in the goods yard, its days were numbered and it closed with the rest of the line in January 1967 under the programme of closures put forward by local resident and British Rail Chairman, Richard Beeching.
Today the majority of the station survives, with the station site and goods yard occupied by a company producing road-building materials, Colas Limited. The station building, stationmaster's house and part of the Down platform survive. The Worth Way, a public footpath following the line of the railway, runs alongside the north face of the station building which is currently disused with its windows and doorways bricked up.^[1])

So, the pace picked-up, and we could see for miles ahead.  We didn't foresee cyclists and runners coming up from behind, but we dodged them and survived.  At the end of the track we turned right and into countryside - Ley House and Old Rowfant.  We had a break and Sue/Chris scurried ahead to relieve themselves.  We continued ...................... and passed a steaming pile of manure and a large puddle - so which one of you was it then?!! 

Onwards to Home Farm (Archers country?), southerly passed Rowfant House, and on into Hundred Acres (Winnie the Pooh?) - what's going on here?  We spied a big ,blue ,4xwheel drive thing abandoned in the bushes, complete with a brace of very out-of-date pheasants hanging on the back.  Sue gingerly crept round thinking we might be in a trap (too much James Bond going on), and Chris told her not to touch anything.  So we carried on and wondered while we wandered, just what all that was about.
Muddiness to be contended with and a few hilly bits.  Not long before we were routing for home too.   We came to a skip-hire depot, and marvelled ?? at all the different sizes these things come in.   An interesting tree caught Farty's eye, and the bark looked like elephant's skin. Great Nobs* was to our left, and straight ahead was the tiny hamlet of Crawley Down - we were home and nearly dry.
The pub was very empty and very quiet, but a table had been set aside and laid for us.  Sue had to go, but we stayed and ordered our various meals.  The menu was a little 'different' shall we say.  No fish and chips unless it's Friday and you are an o.a.p.  No chicken, no jacket spuds but some light bites looked tempting.  The burgers are cooked to one level only so nothing rare or even medium about them.  Don't really know what to say , and I suppose we shall return?

However, across the road shone Flanagans the butchers - who supply sausages to the pub, which Wind had ordered - very tasty but the skin was a bit tight - steady on.  After lunch we descended on the shop and bought several items - pronouncements on their quality and excellence will be sorted out by next week.  Then we re-descended on the fruit/veg pound land shop.  You should've seen the size of his cauliflowers - we did.  Again, we shall decide whether the stuff is any good after consumption, or should it be consummation has taken place.

Next week, Holland seems to be the desired venue for our walk.  We hope to see you there then - dankuvelt , and I'll have mine with a tulip thank you.

Aperfield Inn, South Street, Tatsfield

The  Lonesome Twosome go east!







Find: herd of deer
Walkers: FartyF & TB
Distance: 6 miles
Time: 3 1/4 hrs
(For a map of the walk please click here)
Having determined the pub did food all day the orphans set off at 11.25 (!) in a south westerly direction. Rolling hills, oddles of horses, sheep, but not many cows & not too much mud.
Joined the North Downs Way, turned east along 'millionaires row'.
Beautiful trees & leaf colour. Came out facing east and a magnificent view. it was hilly in parts and we decided to turn north walking through more woodlands. Some interesting fungi & woodpecker holes.
At Bombers farm chased by a horse while crossing a field. On speaking to the owner we heard she was an abused rescue horse with a large blister on her back. Good job we had our sticks! All was forgiven for her rearing up & frightening us. Further along spied a large herd of grazing deer in a valley. Thought they were being farmed. When they heard us they melted away into the woods. Turning west again made good progress back to the pub. Good food, reasonable prices, but somewhat slow service.

Next week, well tbc.....

Bye, Farty Fallover

Tandridge - The Barley Mow

Tuesday 30 October

Show Us Your Ghoulies

Walkers:  Farty, T.B., 4 Legs, Windy, Mrs Provincial, Lil and Clat.  Sally is in China , and we are pleased to report that baby Noah is making good progress. 
Distance: 7 1/2 miles
Find:  More horrible mud
  
Well, today was our Halloween walk, and some of the outfits which turned up were brilliant.  A selection of witches' hats, false noses, masks, head-gear and other adornments to be seen, with, I think, Mrs P having the most props about her personage - she even had a wand, which reminds me of a story about a gay bloke and his umbrella in New York.

Time for the off and once again, due to prompt arrivals we were able to depart at 1020 - an absolute record.  The previously miserable weather had cleared-up for us, and we walked with blue skies and sunshine, albeit it treacherously muddy underfoot.  We were heading East, and to some un-discovered patches to walk in.  Passing Southlands, which is a country house now converted into apartments, we entered some lovely leafy woods, and then came to Chris's catastrophe footbridge where she came a cropper before - but not today, as we used the ditch instead.
 
Over some very muddy fields and pathways and then a northerly direction on road, to Stocketts Manor, where a sign told us to stick to the designated pathways, so we didn't.  This is because of lakes of water with deep mud underneath, prevented our passage,  and Lil forged a path through thickets and thinnets to get us back to a drier pathway. Clat lost a hairslide here, but gallant T.B. found it - she later lost a hairband, and the gallant T.B. and Farty found it - what will she lose next?  Unfortunately you cannot find her marbles which she loses on a regular basis.  Let's continue shall we? 
More trekking over muddy fields to investigate a pub for maybe future use.  We found ourselves in Holland - and with no ferry in sight, we came to the pub - The Diamond.  As we approached, the door flew open and out burst the chef/landlord.  'Are you coming in then?' he asked - 'er no, but maybe another week.'  He gave us  a menu, told us we were welcome to park there, and couldn't be more welcoming - a real diamond geezer then?  While all this was going on, Sue and Chris took the opportunity of using their loos, and pronounced them clean and acceptable.

We turned round and headed down-lane before some more trekking - this time past Foyles Farm where they have the most glorious bulls - showing us some different kinds of ghoulies.  We were on the way home by now and the going was hard, due to the ever-present mud.  At one point a wire across our path, looked suspiciously like it was electric - so some careful clambering was performed - we didn't want to damage our lady and gentleman parts did we?  We asked after Windy's injury from last week - she told us her leg wasn't livid  any more - it was furious. 

We were home - into the pub - oh dear, no decorations, so , no atmosphere, and we felt a bit odd walking in with our witches gear, ready for a hag roast - ha ha ha ha ha.  The barmaid wasn't very welcoming, and told us straight away that the duck was off (could be a joke there), and only one portion of liver left - and we are very pleased to meet you, too.  The place was cold, another pub ruined by lack of ooomph and input.  We did our ordering - no, the place hasn't changed hands, and yes, the light menu was available but wasn't shown to us.  After twiddling her hair for a bit, and mooning over the till, our food was fetched and served.  Heavily salted and not that nice for some - Chris and Sue had to assemble their own wraps, Windy said her gammon was tough (another joke there somewhere?), but Mrs P liked her cod - good job someone was happy.

The lady in question then borrowed Windy's Daily Mail, which she always supplies T.B with, due to his lack of interest in what we ladies talk about - fair enough.  She wanted to look at her horoscope which today would have said that a career in the pub industry would  not be an ideal choice.  Mrs P then distributed some wonderful Halloween chocs, so after eating a few ghosts and pumpkins (thank you sooooooo much),  and for the glorious flapjacks too.  Sorry to say, Mrs P will be venturing back to her erection soon, we shall miss her, and can't wait for her return - bon voyage and adieu.  We paid up and cleared off.  Don't think this will be a venue for the future, however, we have Holland to explore, so the clogs are out, and the tulip bulbs are planted - Skol!!! Next week?