Photo: Carolyn Clarke/Alamy
Centuries-old oak trees flash past the train windows. There are sweeping views over a medieval patchwork of farmland and rolling hills, dotted with conical oast houses and tiled brick cottages. The railway line to Hastings runs straight through the High Weald, England's fourth largest Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Unlike Cornwall or the Cotswolds, this pastoral landscape is sometimes overlooked. But it's easy to reach by train and is ideal walking country: picturesque half-timbered villages with cheerful pubs and cafes, set among rolling wooded hills with a choice of walking trails.
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From Wadhurst station the newly renamed bus 1066 takes me to the village of Wadhurst. I get some savory bread with olives and mulled wine apple crumble at Delicatus and start traveling across the country towards Bewl Water, the largest lake in South East England. This reservoir on the border with Kent, which stores water from the River Medway, extends into numerous tree-lined creeks. Thirteen miles of trails circle the extensive shores through forests and waterfront meadows. I follow them today to Downash Wood, an imaginative collection of remote huts and treehouses near Bewl Water. Downash is a beautiful afternoon walk from Wadhurst or a few minutes' walk from the Tinkers Lane bus stop in neighboring Ticehurst.
Magically revived, I set off early through the dew-covered cobwebs and birdsong to complete the circuit of Bewl Water
Aromas of bonfires, leaf mold, fermenting crab apples and faded ferns waft along the paths as I walk. The air is noisy with rooks and jackdaws, and squirrels, busy in the hazel branches, have left a nest of husks. Rose hips, hawthorn berries, holly and twisting bryony have turned the hedgerows blood red. The arching orchards are strewn with fruit, and the cottage gardens are full of drooping yellow gourds and branching fennel.
I follow a sunken lane, a typical feature of the Wealden landscape, between mossy mazes of tree roots and ivy. After nine hilly kilometers, my backpack feels heavy and my feet ache. When I finally arrive at Daisy Chain Cabin, I find tartly sweet apple juice from nearby Ringden Farm in the fridge and a huge claw-foot tub outside on the veranda with plenty of hot water from the tap. As I dip my aching shoulders, I watch the last of the sunlight filter through the oak leaves above my head and listen to the cooing wood pigeons. Somewhere in the trees nearby, a thin, high-pitched call is reminiscent of a goldcrest, Britain's smallest bird.
The story continues
Almost magically revived the next morning, I set off early through the dew-covered cobwebs and birdsong to complete the circuit of Bewl Water. I stop for coffee at the Waterfront café on the reservoir, near a 1,800-metre-long dam from the 1970s.
Herons stand guard along the coastline and a rabbit meanders along the path. Banks of wild mint and chamomile by the water are tantalizingly evocative underfoot. A few meters away a grebe surfaces and dives again. Nearby, bleached fish bones lie in the mud - remains of a cormorant's dinner.
I cross a stile at Bewl Water wood and walk the last mile across fields to Wadhurst, passing oast houses, vineyards and a field of hop poles to reach the churchyard of St Peter and St Paul. Unusually, there are more than 30 cast iron grave slabs in the church, the largest collection in England. Wealden's iron industry, which flourished here in the 17th and 18th centuries, used ironstone from local clay beds and charcoal from the forest.
It's easy to spend a nice afternoon cafe-and-pub crawling through Wadhurst and Ticehurst (a pain was a hill or clearing in the Wealden Forest). I start with curry and carrot soup at Wadhurst's Artful Grocers among piles of purple kohlrabi, and end with half a Sussex Best at The Bell in Ticehurst. This characterful café, with its old beams and flowers in silver teapots, has shelves with eccentric ornaments, such as a stuffed squirrel with pipe and hat in a miniature rocking chair.
Bus 1066 winds past pubs and churches, village squares with lime trees and stalls selling homemade jam
"There are talking points everywhere," says Daniel Courtney, general manager of the Bell, who frames the quirky decor as part of the pub's emphasis on storytelling, connecting and community. Standing by the hop-wrapped fireplace, he waxes lyrical about the area's riches, from the walkable countryside to the variety of food producers. A half-mile path across sunset fields back to my cabin starts almost next door, through a narrow alley between The Old Haberdashery and a model railway shop.
The next day I meet friends in nearby Stonegate for a walk from station to station. Last autumn we used this railway line to walk the 30 mile 1066 Country Walk from Pevensey to Rye, both with good transport links from Hastings. The route, which covers a beautiful stretch of the High Weald, is packed with memorable sights, from teal teal on the sedgy levels to the deep indigo and turquoise stained glass of the Church of St Thomas in Winchelsea. Spike Milligan is buried in the cemetery with the text 'I said I was sick' in Gaelic on his grave. We stopped for a picnic in the rolling fields at six intricate carvings around yellow-leaved hawthorn trees. Called Farbanks Henge, this work is one of ten new sculptures unveiled for the 2021 relaunch of the 1066 Country Walk. East Sussex sculptor Keith Pettit, inspired by scenes from the Bayeux Tapestry, also installed an image of the Halley's Comet near Herstmonceux Castle, and a crown in Battle Great Wood. A ten minute walk from the train station, Battle Abbey and the nearby battlefield now offer a 20% discount to those arriving by train, bus or cycle.
Today we reach Stonegate station via Robertsbridge, a medieval village of half-timbered and timber-framed cottages lining the hilly main street. Bus 1066 meanders past pubs and churches, village squares with lime trees and stalls selling homemade jam. Like most buses in England, the 1066 charges no more than £2 for individual tickets until December 2024. At Judges Bakery, opposite the bus stop and wrapped in crimson vines, I pick up a vegan sausage roll and salad to eat later in the morning. forests.
Batt's Wood, a few miles from Stonegate station, has been transformed from a storm-damaged conifer plantation into a coppice rich in wildlife. There are bluebells in spring and golden-leafed avenues of elegant autumn hornbeams. A forest animal truffles through the mossy grass next to the path. We step out of the trees and enjoy the view over Wadhurst Park with its lake and meadows. The estate has a web of public and permitted paths and we follow them through the wooded hills to reach Wadhurst, with its regular trains and many cafes, just in time for tea.
Accommodation was provided by Downash Wood (cabins from £295 for two nights). Learn more at highweald.org and visit1066country.com
