Leigh IV - The Plough

Put That In Your Pipe And Smoke It! (kindly supplied by Windy)

Tuesday 26th October - blimey, soon be Christmas AND, the clocks go back next weekend, folks.

Walkers: Farty, T.B. (who was going commando today - with his leg gear), 10 Legs, Windy, Lil and Clat. SALLY JOINED US FOR LUNCH! HELLO LOVE!!!

Mrs P has gone back to her roots, literally, as she was at the coiffurist. No Registrara or Hootsmon.

Distance: 81/2 miles - woweeeee

Weather: well, it started off ok, a bit grey and claggy (as they say up North), but the rain (or a front, as they say out at sea), came in, the wind blew up, and we got rather damp.

Find of the Walk: a skip, full of goodies -more later - that should keep your taste buds going.

We set off along Clayhill lane and turned a left, to begin the walk proper. Our route led us down towards Mynthurst Farm where, once again, electric fencing seemed to prevent our intended route, and we detoured through the farm itself. Heading East we eventually arrived at Hammond's Copse Nature Reserve, where the plentiful bushes allowed a plentiful choice of relief - oh, and we had our break here. We had already seen one deer and a multitude of pheasants - all getting ready for the shooting season I fear. A 'bantams for sale' sign took the attention of our eggy friends, but we soon got them back on track.

put that in your pipe...

This then led on to Ram Field, and Ewood Farm, where we saw another deer, and along we went to Swires Farm . The weather closed in and we closed up - all very quiet, as we were buffeted along in the wind and the squalls. Mutterings from T.B. confirmed that he was not enjoying this very much. Then we found the skip, just by the sewage works, and a great rummaging ensued. Vintage Singer sewing machines, day-glo jackets, baby's bath, framed pictures, notepads - soooo much stuff. Farty gave us a demo with her 'hooker's ' pipe, and came away with a blue glass vase, and a fleece for T.B. - result!!

The sewage works lived up to its fragrant best, and by now we had all had enough. Right then, drastic steps were taken - ha ha ha. and we took the most direct route possible, to get home. This entailed a bit of road work, where we found a lovely mushroom tree, and then we arrived back at base, to find a funeral gathering, so it was a bit crowded.

The pub was very welcoming and the landlady was brilliant. Friendly, efficient, cheerful and so organised. It took us a while to compose ourselves, Windy stating she looked like Hitler will give you the gist of how things were............ However, lunch was served, and that was excellent, so full points in all areas. We shall be back !!!!!!

Next walk: Tuesday 2nd November - should be from Dunnings Mill Pub, East Grinstead. Don't be late or early - depending on which way you swung your pendulums at the weekend.

Tandridge - Barley Mow

Tuesday 19th October Barley Mow Tandridge
Walkers; farty 12 legs registrar hootsmon
weather: fab blue sky & cool breeze
Distance: um... forgot step counter probably 6-7 miles
Time; 3 hrs
Weather: fab blue sky cool breeze
Find of the walk: chestnuts!
Did the usual walk backwards crossing A22, up Breakey Hill picking up the Greensand Way turning & north thru Garston Park & then back via Garston Farm. Uneventful except for moved footpath which is still confusing & unsigned. Breakey Hill House worth a mention, but no info.
charming waiter at the pub with chris enjoying 'senior ham egg & chips'
score: 17

Rusper - The Plough

Bogeys, Balls and Bogs

Tuesday 12 October

Walkers: Farty, T.B. (Vet), Windy, Clat and Judy, (who we shall call Lil ).

Distance: 8 miles - wow

Weather: Perfect for walking - light, bright, and clear, and a temperate temp.

Find of the Walk: an abandoned motor bike -Honda City no less, and a blue ironing board

The others were absent - for all sorts of reasons, but we do know that 12 legs' Mum had a chinese dental appointment - at toof hurty, and Sue has knee problem (get well soon).

Clat doing extreme ironing!

While I am on preliminaries, if a walk is cancelled any week, then the proposed venue for that date will be carried forward to the next walk - a sort of rollover so to speak. Right, now that that is 'sorted' we shall proceed.

And so we did - through the tiny hamlet of Rusper and out , along, and downwards in a southerly direction. Beautiful weather, and the skies (well, full of aircraft mainly, as we were close to LGW ). We encountered some chicken runs, where our new proud parents (Farty and T.B.) oooooo-ed and aaaaaaah-ed over the feathery occupants of the runs. Their new babies are called Marcy, Miranda, and Joanie - and they have settled in well and proving to be a good lay - hmm hmm. We passed Rusper Court Farm, through fields and on into Furze Field, which was in fact a wood, full of firs- and we had to do a zig zag walk, with mushrooms galore, which eventually brought us out onto a farm track.

Along this we stopped for our refreshments by some old farm equipment. All was well, until a dog began to bark generously, and a hippie/hooker/druggie type woman appeared, and said 'can i help you' in a Lurch-type voice. We should have asked for 5 coffees, but said we were stopping for a break, if that was o.k. At this, she just turned round in a ~Stepford Wife fashion and walked away - how odd, and this keeps on happening in these areas around the airport - is it the jet fumes? have they been hit on the head by ice from the wings? or is it just good old-fashioned inter-breeding? We didn't stay long ..............................

Further on we saw lots and lots of pheasants -all getting ready for the shooting season - they have to learn to duck - ha ha ha .

The track led us into urban areas, and a few unsavoury types were encountered. This could be such a pretty area - but it isn't. We were walking beside Ifield Mill Pond - and ended up at the Mill itself (open on the last Sunday in the month). We proceeded up the Rusper Road, and due to some silly signage, ended up in someone's front garden. Retracing our steps, we continued on to the Ifield Golf and Country Club. Determined to claim our right of way we carried on through the car park, where we heard men comparing their bogies (how unsavoury). After the club house, we were soon on the fairway and playing hit and miss with the players who were playing hit and miss with their balls. They missed a few 'cos we found 3 of them once we were on the outside of the course boundaries. A dead tree took T.B.'s attention, and we stumbled on to Stumblehome Farm. Here, Lil stumbled onto some spectacular mud which looked flat and firm - wrong. A very impressive imprint followed, of her boot and her lower leg - a homage to the miners trapped in Chile.

Lil also spotted a deer, and we saw herons, chooks (again) and llamas. A very friendly donkey came over to us, and after giving us a very loud heeeeee-haaaaawing welcome, let us cuddle and stroke him for as long as we wanted. His coat was a bit like a dirty carpet - every time we patted him, he produced clouds of dust.

We were nearing home and picked up the initial part of our outward journey, but this time it was uphill - so the pub was a very welcome sight. The pub serves food all day now, and the landlady was friendly and welcoming. Here are the scores: Food 4 (chips cannot beat Bletchingley), Service 5, Ambulance 5, Value 5. A cracking 19 points.

Next week - Clat and Lil are away so Farty will be letting you know what and where. If she forgets, then please get in touch with her.

Bletchingley IV The Whyte Harte

Hips and Haws (yes, this is the right spelling!)

Tuesday 28th September

Walkers: Farty , 12 legs , Mrs Provincial, Clat and Judy- No T.B. as he was out celebrating his grandson's lst birthday. , and that meant no camera, so no piccies - sorry folks. Windy is away in the Balearics, and Sally is preparing for a 9 day epic round the antipodean areas. The others - working or busy.

Distance : 7 3/4 miles - excellent

Find of the walk: a fuchsia (yes, this is the right spelling again) balloon

Weather : grey and miserable throughout (but we weren't). quite warm , and drizzle came on later.

After the initial caffeine hits in the hotel bar, we were booted and ready for off. Down Church Lane and past the houses which Windy had 'posed' in front of. The effect of which, has resulted in two of them already up for sale - no comment. It was here that Mrs P trod in some doggie do, but managed to scrape it all off - yuk. Further up the road we came to the ho ho house with the permanent Christmas decorations outside, before turning left onto the Greensand Way.

We did a good forking off and stopped to pick some rosehips - Clat's latest idea to make jelly. (Apparently you can only make rosehip syrup - but don't get the seeds on your bits, as these are used for itching powder).

We then turned left and yet again, mislaid the correct track and ended up on the wrong side of the disused workings. We climbed a hill and proceeded along a high and wooded area - evidence to be seen of much wood-peckering action. To one side, the path has eroded alarmingly with trees literally teetering on the edge, and we had to restrain Minnie from doing a kamikaze manoeuvre.

We came to a road, turned in the wrong direction, and then got distracted by some massive tractors and trailers, roaring along and not really bothering about who , or what, was in their way. We retraced our steps and found the right path.

More wooded areas and lots of stops as Farty, complete with her 'what you can eat' mushroom book, went into raptures about the many species she could identify - a mushroom mecca. Then, weirdly, just as we were chatting about encountering odd 'types' on a walk, we bumped into one. Moving swiftly on.......

We came to a junction, called The Enterdent , which is nothing to do with teeth, but Sue's new crown does look good.

Some woods then led us towards Godstone Farm, which has been shut (due to an e-coli outbreak), but now re-opened , with very few visitors today. We looked at some various goats and watched them jumping about, until Minnie went on the verbal attack, and we withdrew.

Next was the track up through Garston Park, which is where the blog photo was taken, a few cows were avoided, and two giant schnauzers weren't - and Minnie went verbal again. Hey ho, all was well, and we came back on the correct side of the disused workings - bingo! we cracked it.

Walk finished, into the bar for our food and drink - all good, think it is top scores as no-one seemed to complain. We are trying to think of some names for Farty's 3 hens, which she is hoping to obtain soon - how about scrambled, boiled and fried?

Next week we are meeting at the Plough in Rusper. You can park in the village car park opposite, and prepare yourself for another rip-roaring and exciting perambulation round Surrey.