August camping in Kent, day 3

<< Day 2

As it had all gone better than planned on day 2, there is a lot less to report today.

My camping spot was great, if a little near a quiet footpath.   Loads of bird calls, which suddenly went quiet maybe half an hour after sunset.   I woke at 5.30 but decided to have a lie-in, since it is Sunday and I had nothing with me for breakfast.   Which was a bit of a mistake, as I was spotted by a dog-walker as I was just finishing packing up.  It must have been obvious that I'd been camping, but he said nothing apart from calling his curious dog.

Planes, trains and bicycles near Gatwick

Back on the Worth Way by 7am, which took me into the maze of Crawley, and then on a very convoluted path through Gatwick airport.   A sign says "Cyclists take care" but this is not because of low-flying planes, fast motor traffic or anything like that, it's just that the cycle path (NCN 21) winds around buildings, pillars, car parks with very poor signage.   I got to Horley just after 8, and indulged a fabulous two-course breakfast with lashings of coffee.   My original plan was to ride to Caterham station and get a train home, but I had plenty of time to ride home.  So it was familiar (to Wayfarers) roads back to Brockham, elevenses in Leatherhead, and home around lunchtime.  Plenty of time to air all my gear in the hot afternoon sun.   And I met Maureen, Lillian and Ed near Leatherhead, on their way to Brockham for their elevenses!

It was a fabulous trip, especially the outward part through the Weald and along to the Military Canal.  The return was great too, varied and hilly but without the amazing views from the ridges of the High Weald.  Plenty of nice cafe stops too.  I was a bit worried that 16 miles of disused railway (Forest Way and Worth Way Tunbridge Wells-East Grinstead-Crawley) might be rather boring, but it was most enjoyable, partly because I met the father and daughter doing their first camping trip, who were great company.

Just short of 200 miles with about 3,400m of climbing.  I'd recommend it.

Planned route (I rode straight home after Horley)

August camping in Kent, day 2

<< Day 1

A funny thing about Kent: there's no wildlife.  Well, maybe the odd sparrow, and a few farmed pheasants.  But you expect more when riding and camping.  A deer or two, rabbits, even an ants nest?  Nothing.  It was eerily quiet in the wood.  Okay, there were a few midges.  And a distant owl.

Later I saw a badger that was both dead and alive with maggots.  Thousands of them, as if they were in a badger shaped bowl.  The badger doesn't count as wildlife though, because of the lack of life.  Although I suppose you could count the maggots as wildlife, in which case Kent is absolutely crawling with wildlife.  I don't count maggots as wildlife though, which I suppose is a bit prejudiced.

Thinking more about this, the farmed pheasants don't count as wildlife either, because of the "wild" part.  Leaving an owl and the midges.  And maggots, or not.

Bodiam Castle for breakfast

Packed and away by 6am, I had the lanes mostly to myself as I continued east in the cool dawn sunshine.  More magnificent ridge riding, majestic views, and more serious undulations.  Breakfast at Bodiam Castle (7.30am, it was closed), then along Top Road along the scarp. 16th century cyclists would have had a great view of the sea, until the tide went out permanently leaving Rye high and dry.  Soon, I crossed the Kent and East Sussex railway, whose easterly point was... Bodiam.  Was there no escape frem East Sussex? I passed Rye and continued until I had a good view of Dungeness before turning north along the Military Canal for a bit.  Another left turn and I was aiming for home.

Military Canal 

The lanes were still picturesque, rolling rather than hilly, and sometimes wooded.  More villages than in the Weald. Plenty of club riders out on a Saturday morning, mostly heading the other way.  Mostly not saying hello.  But I did get talking to one group who recommended a farm cafe for elevenses. I can also recommend it.

Elevenses 

I didn't stop here, but it looked nice

I'd already done 40 miles.  I reached my planned overnight stop by lunchtime, but wasn't feeling sleepy, so I carried on.  My plans were in tatters.

Lunch at the National Pinetum, Bedgebury 
Looks nice, but touristy and cyclist-unfriendly.
Plenty of trees though.

Something was happening in the air.  As I was climbing another naughty hill, feeling pleased because Garmin told me it was the last hill for 46 miles (a complete lie -  flat roads in Kent are rarer than wildlife).  Anyway, an aeroplane flew over.  I looked up to see a Lancaster bomber.  A few minutes later, another one, this time a Spitfire, going a bit faster.  They were  heading south; maybe aiming to meet up at Eastbourne?  Soon afterwards, some jets, probably the Red Arrows, but I was in trees by then and couldn't  see them.

After the magnificent ride yesterday, and its extension today to near Dungeness, the rest of today's riding has so far been enjoyable but not outstanding - more like the rides we are used to around Surrey, but maybe hillier.  Tunbridge Wells was a low point with unpleasant traffic jams and busy roads (I was on a cycle path so just an observer).

Moody woods

I needed a plan.  I also needed a tea stop, so I stopped at a pub and put my thinking cap on.  Nothing happened.   I decided to go on the Forest Way to East Grinstead and stop at Wetherspoons forcan evening meal.   By my calculations,  I would have an hour or so after Wetherspoons to find somewhere to stop.  That worked well.  The Forest Way is a disused railway line going from a few miles outside Tunbridge Wells to East Grinstead.  Bi met a delightful father and 14 year old daughter who were on an off-road cycle  camping trip.  She had designed the route, baked the snacks, and was doing the navigating.  Brilliant.

Wetherspoons was great.  My onward route followed the Worth Way, another disused railway line leading to Crawley in a few miles.  Not much time to find a camping spot.  And railway lines have embankments, cuttings, good fences, not conducive to sneaking into the woods at the side.  Luckily I found a path leading off the Worth Way, and this had a perfect wood to one side, although with rather a lot of noisy birds.  I guess we're not in Kent any more!

Worth Way

Camp site

>> Day 3

August camping in Kent

Because why not?  The heatwave is over, the rains have been and gone  ... or have they?  I picked a day between rail strikes packed a few things, and buzzed off to East Croydon to begin.  I decided to explore the Kentish High Weald, a AONB crescent of woods, heathland and hills south of the North Downs.  Familiar roads through Godstone, Outwood, Smallfield, and Turners Hill to get south of our normal haunts, then mainly east.   Unexpectedly,  it drizzled nearly all morning from Godstone to lunchtime, which was sort of nice and cooling on a warm humid day.

Godstone pond

It's sparsely populated, and cafes are rare.  My planned cafe at Shapthorne was closed on a Friday  but I came across a farm shop with cafe soon after, which was great.

Soon after that, I entered the Ashdown Forest, which is huge.  Sunny.  Beautiful.  And hilly.   Gorgeous long descents, and ridge riding, with views for miles over the Weald.  And long, steep climbs.  Prominent No Cycling signs are everywhere in the many car parks, so I was limited to short walks.

I went through the Five Hundred Acre Wood, downsized to only 100 acres in Winnie the Pooh.  Disappointing.   Inaccessible, dark and overgrown, at least from where I was.   Other bits of the Ashdown Forest were much more appealing.

(Five) Hendred Acre Wood

The quiet roads zigzagged their way east to Crowborough,  the first town.  It was tea time.  A mirage appeared in the afternoon sun: it was a Wetherspoons!   An ideal tea stop, except without cake.

After an unplanned rough track and more lovely ridge riding, I unexpectedly found a great pub, the Crafty Fox at Mark Cross, with wonderful food and a superb view of Kent's finest countryside.  Except, I was disappointed to discover I was still in East Sussex!

Abandoned sawmill

The High Weald is simply gorgeous cycling country: highly recommended.

Campsite

 It was hard to find a likely campsite. Access Land is scarce, but I found a rather hilly wood, accessed by a footpath over a railway line, with a stile each side.  Not a good start.  The wood wasn't very promising - overgrown and steeply sloping - but I found a spot just off the path, and had a very quiet night's sleep.

>> Day 2

Camping Under Shooting Stars

Everyone should try this!  During a heatwave, a good time to be outside is at night.   After skulking in a hot house most of the day, I decided on a whim that it might be cooler to sleep outside.   It was much better than I expected.

I decided while watching the News at Ten.  It took five minutes to assemble the necessary, and another five to set up a sleeping bag in the back garden under the stars.  It's so dry that no bivi bag or other covering is needed.  At first I thought I wouldn't need a sleeping bag, but you radiate heat away to the sky, which is very cold, and it soon became necessary to get into a thin sleeping bag.

Leave No Trace

I lay in my back garden watching stars in the cool air, full of the scent of honeysuckle.   It was wonderful. The full moon was hidden behind the house, so the sky was fairly dark, for London.  Quite a few aeroplanes, most of them high up and inaudible.   Several 'stars' were moving fast across the sky - satellites, most going east-west but some going north-south as well.  And then there were shooting stars.   It's the Perseid meteor shower at the moment, meaning that Earth is travelling through the tail of a comet, I think.   Bits of dust hit the atmosphere and burn up in a streak.   In an hour or so I probably saw a dozen of them.   I've tried to spot meteor showers before, but you have to wait quite a long time, so lying down looking upwards makes it much easier.  

The stars kept me fascinated and awake for a while.  I also re-discovered the Google Sky Map app, which is wonderful in that situation - showing you and naming what you're pointing the phone at.  It told me that the very bright star was Jupiter, and that Neptune (invisible) was close to it.  I spotted a constellation or two.  In the morning it also helped identify Mars, as all the stars had shifted round somehow in the night.   A great way to spend a night in a heatwave.