For illustrated talks on natural history and history see www.peterlovetttalks.co.uk

For illustrated talks on natural history and history click here for www.peterlovetttalks.co.uk

Tuesday 6 April 2010

A view of Weirwood Reservoir... a beautiful 8 miles circular walk.

Geoff expertly lead this Mid Sussex Ramblers walk from Vowels Lane car park through Forestry Commission woods in an 8 miles circular walk.
Click on any picture to enlarge it. 
Underlined texts in red contain a link to the subject.  Click to view.
Heading eastwards through just a little bit of mud, after torrential (by UK standards) rain we touched the outskirts of East Grinstead and some infamous and famous houses.  For legal reasons, none of the below houses are included in either of those categories.  The UK libel laws are long overdue for reform!
L Ron lived here
L Ron's domicile.
Close up of L Ron's pad.
We passed by Standen House.
Click here to go to the National Trust link for Standen House.

 Views of Weirwood reservoir from the rocks at Standen.
Lunch was taken at Standen rocks, which are a very old rock formation.
The Ramblers sitting on top got there by footpath....
....but below is the more adventurous way to climb....
Get plenty of chalk powder (from the bag in the foreground) on your fingers.
Wipe your shoes on the mat... and up you go.
It helps to have finger muscles of steel and a good sense of balance.
And a soft mat is a sensible safety measure in case of a mishap.  What a great sport!
A very fine Polypodium sp growing by the path above the rocks.

During the walk we could hear and occasionally see the Bluebell railway steam trains.
We crossed the track at this point.
After a few stiles...
and boggy forest tracks...
we got a distant view of Gravetye Manor.
This beautiful house, built from the profits of the Elizabethan arms industry... the first Elizabethan era that is... is a great place to visit -- never more so than when the daffodils are in bloom.  The business went into receivership in January this year and now is refinanced by new owners.
These blue flowers caused some excitement as, from a distance, they looked like bluebells.
They are probably Scilla siberica

Later on our walk, Lady's smock was more advanced than on Sunday in New England wood....
... and this Colt's foot, Tussilago farfara was a very fine specimen.
Combine all of the above with Bobby spotting the first swallows zooming above us, as we stood by celandines (see below entry) and this was a fine walk indeed.

Every Ramblers' walk has something new to reveal as the seasons come and go.
And Spring is a lovely time to join the Mud Sussex Ramblers.... as Tony suggests we should rename ourselves.  Join us at www.midsussexramblers.co.uk and enjoy such fine walks as this one.
Many thanks Geoff for leading us this lovely day.

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