Ashdown Forest

Ashdown Forest

The forecast for Friday was far from inspiring with the afternoon in particular threatening to be most unpleasant, however, we were determined to go somewhere different and settled on Ashdown Forest.  It's a beautiful area, not too far away although we've always struggled to find a walk of a reasonable length.  We eventually settled on one from an old Pathfinder Guide near Colemans Hatch.

The girls seemed happy enough with the choice.

We headed towards Camp Hill from the car park.

Past Ellison's Pond.

One of the downsides of using older guidebooks is that things invariably change and so it was through the Old Lodge Estate where there has clearly been a lot of work since the book was published in 1997...  Maybe it's time to buy a newer one.

We headed to the Royal Oak in Staffhurst Wood for a drink and decided to stay for lunch.  We first tried the pub several years ago and the food was excellent.  Sadly it was not so good on the second visit and we've only been for a drink since.  Luckily it was back to the former standard and we shall look forward to returning.

The heavens opened on the way home, perfect timing.