Robust Rambles

Section 11

Catsfield to Hooe Common

Walk Details

Walk Instructions

GREATSTONE TO GILLINGHAM ROBUST RAMBLE

Section 11  Out

Catsfield to Hooe Common

Map: OS Explorer 124 Hastings & Bexhill

Distance/Time: 5 miles/2.5 hours

Start: The White Hart pub in Catsfield. There is parking at the village hall along the road opposite.

Comments: A varied walk through rolling Sussex countryside with fields, hills and woods and occasional views to the South Downs. Many stiles of differing conditions and vintages make constant energetic demands. Corners of fields and woods can be very overgrown with brambles and nettles.

From the White Hart pub in the centre of Catsfield, cross the main road to the side road opposite and walk down past the village hall. Reach an impressive church and keep on over a road junction and on to pass a school an the right and then the old parish church of St. Lawrence on your left.

Keep on with care by the side of the road. At the top of a rise ignore Potman’s Lane off right and continue for 50 metres. At a double entrance turn left off the road. Go a short distance up the drive to Church Farm then immediately right over a stile in a tall wooden fence on the right into a field.

Go diagonally left across this field to a stile just right of a house. Continue through a fieldgate to a further stile, footbridge and gate. Here the path divides. Go diagonally right uphill just left of a pylon (ignore stile over on your left). Pass the pylon to reach a stile in the hedge behind.

Go down the field beyond, slightly left and parallel with the hedge over on your left, to a point where the hedge juts out. On reaching this, continue on, now down the field edge with a hedge (and archery field) on your left. On reaching the corner ahead go through undergrowth to exit, with care, onto a road.

Turn left on the road a short distance then right into a farm drive and a field corner. Go diagonally right across the centre of the field to a fieldgate hidden in a low part of the hedge corner opposite. Cross a stile here and turn immediately left along the field edge with a hedge on your left.

Pass a wood and reach a corner. Find a gap and an old stile and go through to the next field. Cross the open field, downhill, to the righthand end of a wood, aiming between distant pylons.

On reaching the woodland corner, go on down the side of the wood, now on your left. Soon reach the bottom corner and go through trees to an old stile. Continue down a well-defined path, under power cables, then between buildings to a road. Turn left for 50 metres.

Opposite Rose Cottage, turn right over a footbridge into a grassy, enclosed path. Continue through two small gates to reach a field. Go on along the field edge with a hedge on your right. At the far end go through a gap and continue in the same direction, across the field ahead to a gap at the far side.

Keep on through a rough scrubby area with hedge on both sides. Near the end pass under power lines, and bear left over to a stile. Cross and continue along the field edge, towards more power lines, and exit onto a road through a metal fieldgate. Turn left for 200 metres.

Go steadily uphill. At the top look for Messens Farm entrance on your right. Turn right into the drive, then immediately left, over a double stile in a Laurel hedge, into a horse paddock. Go diagonally right across to the far opposite corner and exit through a wooden fieldgate onto a track.

Cross to pass through a second wooden fieldgate into a rising pasture. Go up the field by the hedge on your right to a wooded corner below old farm buildings. Go through a gap into the corner of a field beyond.

Go forward along the field edge on a rough path with trees, bushes and buildings on your left. At a corner of the field, go into undergrowth (ignore path continuing on along field edge), to a stile by a holly bush. Cross this and follow the hedge on your left, on along the field edge to a stile on your left.

Cross into an enclosed path between gardens and emerge onto a road. Turn right with care. Pass the last house on your left, turn left off the road into a field corner. Follow the hedge on your left up the field to a track and a stile at a crossing of paths.

Cross the stile and track and follow the fence on your right upto a further stile between two metal fieldgates, with a farm beyond. Turn diagonally left, downhill, across the field to a stile in the fence at the lowest point at the far side.

Cross and bear diagonally right across the next field to a stile, by a metal fieldgate in the hedge. Turn left on a grassy track down to a junction of ways. Cross right to a stile in a hedge, by a metal fieldgate, into a rising field.

Walk directly away from the stile up the field. At the far side go through an old metal fieldgate and turn sharp left downhill along the field edge (not as on OS map). At the bottom turn right still along the field edge to a metal fieldgate on your left.

Go through this and turn right along the bottom edge of a long rough field. At the far end exit through a rusty fieldgate and continue on a farm track up through more metal fieldgates (do not turn into fields). Pass a tree house on your left and find a concealed stile over on the right at the end.

Cross into a field and turn left up the side. At the next corner turn left again over another stile and follow the hedge on your left up to yet another stile onto a vehicle track. Cross this and the grass ahead to a corner. Find a small gate.

Go left through this, soon turning right on an enclosed path by a house, then on down to exit onto a road. Cross the road and continue on the track ahead. Pass a playing field on your right.

At a junction, turn right, up a rough vehicle track. Circle a house to reach a junction. Turn left downhill to a further junction. Here turn right a few paces, then right again, on an enclosed footpath going downhill. Go through several kissing gates and over a footbridge to emerge into a field.

Bear diagonally left across to a stile then uphill to emerge between buildings onto a road. Turn right a short distance to the Red Lion pub in Hooe and the end of the section.

GREATSTONE TO GILLINGHAM ROBUST RAMBLE

Section 11  Return

Hooe Common to Catsfield

Map: OS Explorer 124 Hastings & Bexhill

Distance/Time: 4 miles/2 hours

Start: The Red Lion pub on Hooe Common; parking at the pub with permission, or possibly on-road or by the recreation ground.

Comment: Rather fussy instructions to weave a way out of Hooe Common, then, unfortunately, a short stretch of busy road walking. Halfway back Ninfield offers a church, excellent views and, possibly, the Blacksmith’s Inn.

From the car park of the Red Lion pub turn left up the road, over a side turning and on up between houses. Look out for a footpath off right down a grassy way just before the road junction.

Go straight down the path to the bottom and go through a kissing gate into a field. Keep on down the field and at the far end cross a footbridge then through a wooden kissing gate into an enclosed path through trees.

Go through several kissing gates on a well defined path to emerge by a bungalow onto a rough drive. Go on up the drive to a T-junction. Turn left upto another junction.

Here turn right, still on a rough vehicle track. Pass a house and reach a further junction. Turn left and walk down past a playing field to a road.

Cross and continue up an enclosed path just left of the entrance to Akehurst Farm. Follow this past a house, then left to a small gate. Go through and turn right across a small green, then over a track to a stile into a small field.

Go down the field edge to a further stile into a field corner. Here go straight on with a hedge on your left. At the top of the field exit left through a fieldgate (there is a stile in the undergrowth).

Turn immediately right up a vehicle drive to pass an old weatherboarded cottage on your right. Continue up through undergrowth to a metal fieldgate. Through this reach a drive and continue past an impressive white house and on in the same direction past a white fieldgate up a gravel vehicle track. Eventually emerge onto a busy road.

Turn right with great care for ¼ mile, stop and keep in to the side when vehicles approach. Vehicles drive at speed and this two-way road is of limited width.

Eventually pass under power lines. Cross over to go left, up the entrance drive to Whitehouse Farm. Follow the drive down to the right, for a short distance, looking for a stile in a fence down on the left. Cross into a broad grassy way between hedges (possibly overgrown).

Follow this for some distance, down through a fieldgate with a stile, then up past a pond, to reach a fence at the top. Look for a stile and cross into a field. Continue up the field with a hedge on your left. Near the top of the field, turn left, over a stile, into a wood.

On the far side join a rough farm track and continue uphill passing between farm buildings to join a drive. Follow this right then left. Just before a metal fieldgate on the right and houses beyond, go right over a stile into a paddock.

Turn down right to a metal fieldgate and then go diagonally left to a stile in a fence. Go down the paddock ahead to a stile by a metal fieldgate, then on downhill with a hedge on your left. At a metal fieldgate in the hedge, turn left over a stile and go on down the field edge with a hedge on your right.

Pass through a metal kissing gate in the bottom corner and continue uphill passing a pond on your right and going through woods over bridges and boardwalks. Finally walk up a field between wire fences to a gate by Ninfield church. Excellent views here to the South Downs.

Turn left on an asphalt path to eventually emerge on a main road in Ninfield by the Blacksmith’s Inn. Cross the road and keep on past the inn, then over the road ahead to go down a narrow country road called Moon’s Hill. Follow this for some way.

Eventually reach a T-junction and turn right on Marlpits Lane. Drop downhill. Soon pass a storage area with metal security fencing. Immediately past this turn steeply right up wooden steps. At the top emerge into a field.

Turn left along the field edge with a hedge on the left. Cross a stile and continue along second field to a second stile. Keep on downhill, right of a pylon to go under power lines to the very bottom corner of the field.

Search for a stile and cross into a wood. Go straight ahead on a narrow path then left along to a stile into a narrow field. Cross over to a wooden fieldgate and go through to the field beyond. Turn left along the edge with a hedge on your left.

Near the bottom go left into the hedge and over a stile. Turn right down a field edge with a hedge on your right. In the bottom corner go through undergrowth to a stile then on, uphill by a fence on your left, to a final stile leading out to a road. Turn left all the way back to a T-junction with a main road, turn left again to soon reach Catsfield and the White Hart pub.