As it was forecast to be a hot sunny day, I decided to move round to the large car park on the A22. It was a well-used stop for lorry drivers. Michael had stopped there some months previously. It’s high up and therefore has good views. However, it’s changed. Some several thousand pounds has been spent on making it half the size it was, installing unnecessary bollards, making entry into the parking area more difficult, even potentially dangerous, and installing notification boards. The net result is that, according to those who I spoke to, the number of people stopping has reduced significantly. The ice cream van that has been trading there for years now does very little business.
I was just thinking about what to do, when Bernie turned up. He had been to the bakery in Forest Row and kindly bought a pastry for me. We had a little chat before he continued with his day. I decided to move on. I continued on to Wych Cross and turned left along Hindleap Lane. A little over half way along, another lane heads South to the settlement of Twyford. Temporary road signs were on the corner informing one of the closure of the road. I turned into it, anyway. The car park that I was heading for is just a few yards from the junction.
It was a very peaceful spot. There was hardly any traffic passing by and only one visitor stopped by, all afternoon. The signal was poor, but worked reasonably well when sat on the end of the trailer in the afternoon Sun. Oddly, there was a late visitor. They stopped briefly at about 10pm.
In the morning, a couple of women stopped to walk their dogs. An hour later, a coach load of school children turned up. It was as busy as you like for a bit. Besides the coach dropping off the children, three cars and a school minibus full of gear pulled into the car park. The children were from Peckham in southeast London. An area I knew well, having grown up nearby. For many of the children, it was their first time outside of London! They were separated into small groups lead by an adult. After all the checks to make sure that each child had the equipment needed for a hike and a night out, they took off in various directions. I decided to do the washing up while I waited for the children to get on ahead of me, before heading out for a walk, myself.
The first section of the walk was a wooded footpath.
Oak
Crab Apple blossom
Bluebells
Beech
Holly growing in the shadow Oak
I then had to continue along the lane through the tiny settlement of Twyford.
Butterfly Stonecrop
Garlic Mustard
Japanese Pieris
At the bottom of the hill is the ford of Twyford. The river therefore, must be the River Twy.
A little waterfall drops below a wooden footbridge.
Stream Bogmoss
Gotu Kola