Forest Row Java and Jazz: The Sussex branch of the RARAS go walkabout

Venue: Forest Row 'Java and Jazz'

Walkers: 12 legs minus 8, Windy Nohills and Mrs Provincial. Farty visiting sister, Clat and Lil taking their'olds' to Torquay (hope you've survived OK!), Sal and Hootsmon no doubt flying and Registrara working? TB what was your excuse?!

Weather: Very warm with clear blue skies. Rain coming in from the west later, but we avoided it.

Distance: 5 miles

Time taken: 3 hours including a couple of quickish pit stops

Find of the walk: Blue checked shirt which we considered keeping for TB, but spied a burn hole so thought Farty wouldn't thank us for the mending that it would require. We did find another candidate for the find of the walk . . . suffice it to say that Windy thought for a minute it was a poor little dead mouse then realised that she should have gone to Specsavers . . . I shall say no more.

This walk takes one through the countryside near Forest Row and follows 2 long distance paths, the Vanguard Way and the High Weald landscape Trial, returning along the Forest Way which utilises the track bed of the former Tunbridge Wells to East Grinstead railway, one of the many victims of the Beeching cuts in the 1960s

We convened in the free car park and headed straight for . . . a cup of coffee at Java and Jazz in the High Street! What a lovely relaxed start! We noticed some of the somewhat whacky residents of Forest Row en route - the village lies on ley lines and also the Greenwich meridien and is favoured by the Scientologists who have their UK headquarters not far away at Saint Hill. Once at the cafe/bar/restaurant we settled into their comfy sofas and soon 4 legs and Mrs P were deep in conversation catching up on the goss from the Airtours reunion which had been held the previous weekend. Miss Nohills, being for once outnumbered, donned her white gloves, grabbed the paper TB style, and fell into a stupor until we finished the 'who was doing what and with whom'!

Suitably refreshed we set off, ably led by Chris armed with her torn out page from a local magazine which described the walk. We first walked along the track we had taken on a previous walk in the winter. Last time it had been an uphill struggle against a raging torrent but fortunately for us this time the track was dry, but very rutted. We passed through some woodland and then joined Cansiron Lane where we stopped briefly to say hello to a couple of fine horses.

Before setting off across the field at the top of the lane we stopped briefly for a swig of water (the day was proving to be hot) and a photo opportunity. We slightly missed the track across the field but soon realised our mistake and found the path out which lead into some pretty woodland (quite a relief as the field we were comtemplating entering had lots of cows - Chris quite rightly was having none of that!)

The woodland is called Paupersdale Wood and this is where we found the shirt. There was another other item of clothing with it which we decided not to investigate but we did wonder how on earth these clothes get left behind - best not to speculate! There might even be a body out there somewhere . . .

After the wood the instructions did say to take care as the track we were looking for wasn't very well marked. We decided to do some investigation of some other possible walks from this point - and there are a few - but decided to stick with our original plan - !! We joined a track very close to the camping and fishing site that we have passed on a couple of other walks and this time it looked to be fully booked. It's a beautiful spot and very quiet - the only sound to interrupt the peace was the occasional aircraft high overhead.

The path passed by a strip of woodland with some tree stumps that resembled some pretty strange shapes and once again Miss Nohills, not having gone to Specsavers, thought one looked just like a wild boar - so that'll match the pike then! (eh, what? Piccie ed)

We saw a lovely line of trees in the distance that had obviously been planted as part of an estate - they were a pale colour and Chris felt they were a salix of some sort. We need to investigate further - Farty and Clat, where are you when we need you?!

The path passed through a beautiful garden at Lower Parrock where we stopped to admire their kitchen garden which was full of all sort of lovely fruits. Some must have escaped, as before we entered their land we found some raspberries growing in the hedgerow which we picked and enjoyed.

We crossed the stream on their drive and then turned right and on to the Forest Way. The instructions warned to watch out for cyclists creeping up on you - and they did, at one point nearly giving Chris and Mrs P a heart attack!

We were soon approaching Forest Row and came across a group of young people with learning/physical disabilities. We all did a double take as the last pair walked passed as we realised it was Angie Macullum who (pretended?) didn't recognise us. Have we all changed that much?! She certainly hadn't changed at all by the looks of things.

As we turned off the track to walk back to the car park we crossed a bridge and the next thing we knew Sue was on the parallel bars stretching her hamstring! We then all decided to join in in various poses - the bridge has now been renamed as the Stretching Bridge!

We decided to go back to Java and Jazz for lunch - it was 2.45 by now and knew that we definitely didn't want to go back to the Chequers after our last experience there - and after having a mild panic thinking they didn't serve alcohol we discovered they did serve beer and cocktails - phew! We decided not to sit outside as the weather was really hot and humid by now so stayed inside in the relative cool. 4 legs and Miss Nohills had quesadillas and Mrs P the hommous platter - we all agreed that the food was great and the service very good (a lovely young man!).

We sauntered back to the cars via some of the shops, including the hardware/ironmongers/outdoor clothing shop - recommended by 4 legs. A lovely relaxing end to a very laid back day!

Next week - sorry not sure, is it the Lavender? Please await joining instuctions!(Yes, should be the Lavender)