Thirteen Poly Ramblers met at Edenbridge Town to begin the fourth stage of the Vanguard way.  We reiterated to Poly Ramblers in our briefing that the walk was likely to be muddy, there were no pubs nor cafes en route, and more importantly no toilets, however they would be rewarded by some stunning views!

Our walk to the start of the Vanguard Way proved complicated. This first stretch of our hike crossed the airfield of East Haxted Farm with its network of taxiways and runways. An orange windsock indicated the wind direction to pilots. Luckily the electrified fences to protect the sheep that had been there on our recce had now been removed along with the sheep.

The Vanguard signage was difficult to find at this point but we successfully found our next landmark Gabriels Fisheries but deviated slightly off our route. Now back on track we passed Cernes Farm and headed towards Starborough Manor (also known as Starborough castle). Here we had an early picnic as this was one of the few places on the walk with an expanse of grass we could use for this purpose.

Our afternoon walk was a contrast to the morning’s hike, we enjoyed a long gentle climb through woodland passing some beautifully detailed bug hotels.

 We continued along the broad track passing a trig point at altitude 564 ft one of the highest points along the Vanguard Way. The views were far reaching over the Surrey countryside, we were fortunate to have a clear sky and sunshine. Our next landmark was a chocolate box cottage called Smithers. We walked along a winding road passing Gotwick manor which used to be the home of Elaine Marks of the Marks and Spencers Family.

We reached Forest Row wading through a very muddy stretch following the Forest way, a shallow gully on our left and a much deeper gully to our right. We reached our bus stop with just five minutes to spare, taking us back to East Grinstead station to take a train to London.

Hilary

Photos by Ida