Staplefield, the Jolly Tanners

The Sheffield Park Three strike again - at Staplefield and Nymans!
Venue: The Jolly Tanners Staplefield (www.jollytanners.com)

Walkers: The Sheffield Park Three! as we are now known - Farty, Token Bloke and Mrs Provincial

Distance: 10.46 k, 6 1/2 miles

Time taken: 2hrs 45 min

Weather: Cloudy skies, threatening to rain. Coolish but good for walking. A typical midsummer's day!

Find of the Walk: Pair of children's England football sunglasses as modeled by Mrs P

This was a new venue for us, chosen for its proximity to Nymans Gardens www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main/w-nymansgarden2 , and a great choice it proved to be. We didn't get off to the best of starts as poor Farty and TB fell foul of a coach fire on the M23 so it took them nearly and hour and a half to get there - however, Mrs P used the time to check out parking at the pub (no problem, very welcoming and helpful).

We set off up a track from the village green and soon took the first of a couple of detours trying to find our way across/out of a field - which we soon did. We reckon some of these paths are not used very often, although did come across a lovely youngish black lab taking his owner for a walkies! TB also took a shot on his smart shiny new camera of the glamour element of the SP3 - hopfully we didn't break his new lense!

There are some beautiful house in this area (see later in blog), and it's definitely horsey country. We were greeted in one paddock by a very smiley small furry doggie! and then shortly afterwards came across some chickens and a very smart caravan/house. Much ooing and ahhing over the chix and a very fine rooster and more debate as to whether or not Farty and TB will be getting some themselves.
 The chix were in a field below the most magnificent and imposing house, marked on the map as Dittons Place School. It was far too grand to possibly be the local comprehensive! However, we then met a very nice young laydee who was with her 3 young kids who were zooming up and down the drive on their scooter and she told us that although Dittons Place had indeed once been a school, it had recently been converted into private apartments. They are obviously very smart and expensive but what a beautiful spot!

The walk was lovely and varied, fields, woods, streams and views and quite undulating - whilst crossing one field we were lucky enough to see a hare bounding off in the distance. Eagle eyed horticulturist Farty spied an orchid in one of the woods which with the help of Mrs P's arorak's guide to plants and birds was identified as a spotted orchid, Dactylorhiza fuchsii.

Another slight detour around/across a field, found our way back on track and then came across some more stunning houses - The White House, not very aptly named as it was anything but white! Beautiful old timbered house with stunning gardens that we managed to get a glimpse of over a wall and gate. The next stunner (well, we presume it was, as it is impossible to see from any angle!) was Old Hall at Staplefield. It has the most imposing entrance gates and it appeared as if they had recently planted a hedge right around the roadside boundary of the property - it was properly irrigated as well. Being nosey, we decided to take yet another detour to try to get a view of the house - but to no avail. Apparently it belongs to Maurice Saatchi, now Baron Saatchi of Staplefield which just goes to show that it DOES pay to advertise! Goodness knows how much the house is worth, but to give you an idea, he also has a pad in Mayfair, a house in the South of France and was 366 on The Sunday Times Rich List with a fortune of approximately 220m from advertising and art collections. So, just a little cottage in the country then!

Back then to the pub a tad later than planned - it was football night and the pub was busy but we reckon it is very popular with locals and we found everyone very friendly and welcoming. We explained we needed to eat quickly as we were then heading on to Nymans and sure enough, the yummy food arrived very quickly. Lovely nosh, superb service, top marks all round.

Scores on the doors: Ambiance 4, Food 5, Service 5, Value 4 making a high 18. Could it be that the knitted rosette is heading their way?

So, out of the pub and into rain! But not to be deterred, the intrepid 3 headed off to Nymans which was open for the NGS yellow book for the evening. We were met by a committee of volunteers, all looking somewhat down in the dumps as they had only had 21 visitors so far - blaming not just the weather but also the footie. The plus side of course was that we basically had the gardens to ourselves - no one else being daft enough to wander round on a cool summer's evening in the rain! However, it really was worth it as even with the inclement weather the gardens are just lovely and the rose garden was a treat - all in full bloom and smelling gorgeous. We did feel sorry for the volunteers who no doubt had such high hopes for a successful evening. There is another NGS open evening on Friday 30 July, so could be worth a revisit it is good value at £4 entry. We definitely reckon the area is great for walking and a good meeting point as probably not too far for any of the gang.

So, there you have it! Hope to see you all on Tuesday!