Robust Rambles

Section 6

Peasmarsh to Clayhill

Walk Details

Walk Instructions

GREATSTONE TO GILLINGHAM ROBUST RAMBLE

Section 6  Out

Peasmarsh to Clayhill

Map: OS Explorer 125 Romney Marsh, Rye & Winchelsea

Distance/Time: 4 miles/2 hours

Start: The site of the, currently closed, Horse and Cart pub by School Lane in Peasmarsh: some on-road parking

Comment: Very poor waymarking means it’s vital to follow the instructions carefully and keep your place on the map; a day of constant changes, fields, pasture, woods, hills, views, stiles, bridges, gates, deer, rabbits, sheep and possibly lambs. A very small amount of roadwalking needing special care.

With the closed Horse and Cart pub on your left walk up the main road through the village. Pass a telephone box then a bus stop. Immediately past house no. 15 turn left up an alleyway. Keep straight up this to the top. Emerge onto a road and turn right steeply uphill.

At the top go right over a black stile by a black fieldgate. Soon enter an enclose path by paddocks and continue to a stile. Keep on down by the hedge on your left to a stile in the bottom corner. Continue on a grassy track between hedge and fence.

On reaching a triangular shaped pasture, bear right down the top edge, passing a supermarket on the right to each a stile. Do not cross but turn left down the paddock towards oasts. At the bottom cross a stile by a metal fieldgate onto a road. Turn left up the road for ½ mile.

Ignore a side turning before cottages at the top and continue on the road a sit bends left. Go on past houses. After ‘Wintons’, the final house, go steeply up looking for two metal fieldgates on your right. Go through the first one onto a drive (there are virtually no waymarks now for miles).

Immediately behind the gate, turn right off the drive on a feint path into woods. Soon reach a stile at the far side and cross into an area of new plantation (this obviously was woodland and has been completely cut, the woodland moss floor has survived as an amazing vast carpet).

Over the stile turn sharp right and go down with a fence on your right. At the bottom of the slope cross a ditch. Now bear slightly left uphill to a stile leading into a wood. Several paths go of here. Bear diagonally right past railings, up, and through a gap into an open area.

Go forward diagonally across the space to a stile by a gate in the beech hedge at the far side. Cross into the field beyond and go diagonally right to another stile by a metal fieldgate at the far side. Cross and quickly reach a further stile in a holly hedge.

Cross into a rising field. Keep close to the hedge on your right all the way up to a metal fieldgate in the top corner. Go through and on to a stile. Cross into an area of scrub.  Turn diagonally left across this to a metal fieldgate in the far corner by an old caravan. Turn right on a track down to a main road.

Turn left along the road for a few paces, then turn right up the entrance to ‘Hollybank’. In a few paces bear right up steps in a brick wall into a narrow, enclosed path. At the end enter a wood. Go right a few paces to a large tree, then sharply left to a gap in a holly hedge (there are pieces of yellow tape on tree branches). Go diagonally right downhill.

At the bottom enter an open area and cross to a pylon. Continue past it, over a gravel track and on up a heavily rutted forestry track. Follow the track for some way. At a Y-fork near the top stay with the main track going right. Continue uphill, then down into a small dip before rising again. In the dip are three old oak trees. Just past turn left down a bank on a narrow woodland path (there is a waymark post here currently).

Follow the path down to a footbridge then on up to emerge onto a road. Turn left along it. Eventually reach a T-junction with a busy main road. Turn right along it for 200 metres withy great care, there are narrow verges. Eventually reach Bixley Lane going off left.

Cross straight over to a stile by a metal fieldgate into woods. Ignore path off right. Go straight ahead with a fence on your left to the bottom corner of the wood. Go through a squeeze stile and on through more woods on the same direction.

At the end of the wood go right over a sleeper stile and follow an enclosed path to a kissing gate into a field corner. Go straight ahead along field edge with a hedge on your left. Go through a further kissing gate then a stile onto a road.

Turn left up the road a few paces, then right over a stile just up a gravel drive. Continue on an enclosed grassy path. Ignore a path off right and go on past stables to a grassy slope. Bear slightly right between wooden poles down to what looks like wooden fencing into trees at the bottom.

In the fencing is a ropey stile. Cross and go down to a footbridge. Then climb steeply up into a pine forest. Keep forward on the main track for ½ mile steadily uphill ignoring ALL side tracks and branches.

At the far side pass holly bushes and cross a stile into a garden area. Go down to a gate onto a road. Bear left a few paces then turn right into an enclosed path. At the end of gardens cross a new stile into a field. Immediately turn right through a gateway, then sharp left along the field edge with a hedge on your left.

At the far end cross a concealed stile into next pasture. Bear slightly right uphill to a stile by a pole at far side. Cross and bear right to follow under wires to three more stiles and emerge onto a road at Clayhill. The Rose and Crown is opposite and the end of the section.

GREATSTONE TO GILLINGHAM ROBUST RAMBLE

Section 6  Return

Clayhill to Peasmarsh

Map: OS Explorer 125 Romney Marsh, Rye & Winchelsea

Distance/Time: 7 miles/4 hours

Start: The Rose and Crown at Clayhill, pub parking with permission.

Comments: Very varied and intimate countryside with hills, woods and valleys. Waymarking sporadic so keep a close eye on instructions and map location. Watch forestry tracks in woodland which may be confusing, some roadwalking on very quiet side roads, names reflect charcoal burning and the former iron industry.

With the Rose & Crown on your right, go on along the main road. At a Y-fork bear left onto the B2165. Pass a junction with New Road, off right, and continue downhill. Soon reach some black bollards on the left. Here turn off left down an entrance drive.

Keep on bearing left between houses. The drive becomes a path and leads down to the corner of a field. Turn sharp right down the edge of the field with a hedge on your right. At the bottom corner bear right to enter a wood on an enclosed path.

Keep along the edge of the wood for 50 metres. At a large oak tree, turn left, up into the wood passing a seat. At the top reach a track at a bend. Ignore a stile on the right. Instead bear left through a gateway then right to go downhill on a green track between a fence on the right and woods over on the left.

In 100 metres bear left over to a stile and footbridge into the woods. Follow a clear path up into the trees. This is a difficult section as some of the path has been taken over by forestry tracks. Basically, the path keeps to the lower, righthand, side of the wood close to a stream with fields easily seen beyond.

The initial path becomes a forest track, then drops off right down towards the stream. It then leaves the forestry area to go on along the bottom edge of the wood and finally reach a stile at the far end. Cross into a damp area of scrub and continue over two stiles to enter a sloping pasture.

Go forward, aiming for a pylon in the distance. Exit at the far top corner through a metal fieldgate, and drop down slightly right to a footbridge across a stream in trees at the bottom. Go up through the trees to a stile into a field.

Bear right across the lower part of the field to a fieldgate at the far side. Cross a stile close by and follow the bottom edge of the field ahead. Near the end go up to a metal fieldgate (ignore a footbridge down in the valley).

Go through the gate and swing diagonally left across the centre of the field to a stile by a metal fieldgate at the far side under power lines. Cross and continue along the bottom edge of the field to a gate and broken stile at the far end. Enter woods.

Keep forward on a clear path but no longer woodland as the trees have recently been felled. Emerge onto a road at Beckley Furnace. Turn right down the road. At the bottom of the hill, go left over a stile by a metal fieldgate, then straight on to a broken stile by a metal fieldgate and pole.

Continue parallel to a fence on your left. Exit in the far corner by a lambing shed and continue through a metal fieldgate at the side to go steeply uphill with a fence on your right.

Near the top of the hill turn right over a stile and follow the hedge on your left along the top of a pasture to a stile, equestrian gate and metal fieldgate. Enter a sunken enclosed path.

Emerge onto a U-shaped drive. There is a path diversion here. Turn right over a stile, then diagonally left down the field to gates. Continue across the next field to a stile into woods at the far side (back on the original definitive route).

Go steeply down steps to a footbridge then steeply up steps at the far side. At the top, bear right on a forestry track to a wooden fieldgate. Go forward on the high ground through Holly bushes (ignore a gateway down on the right). The path soon becomes a fine green lane leading to a farm. Pass through buildings to reach a road.

Cross to a narrow road opposite. Go up this for 1¼ miles. Pass several farms and isolated cottages. Eventually pass a small house down on your right called Fryman’s Farm. Just beyond are several oak trees with poplars beyond. Ignore the stile and gate on your right. Instead turn left off the road through a metal fieldgate to go steeply uphill.

At the top cross a stile in a fence. Continue over the field ahead past a water tank on your right to two broken stiles in the hedge at the far side. Over these, turn right down the edge of the field to a further broken stile and concrete steps down to a road.

Cross the road and go through a metal fieldgate opposite. Go right up the field edge to the top corner (ignore gates in the hedge as you go). At the very top cross a broken stile and follow a path steeply downhill to a stile into a field. Go directly across to a stile by a metal fieldgate into a rising pasture.

Go diagonally right to a small stile and on across the pasture beyond. Cross a concrete drive and keep forward, soon joining a hedge on your right to a high stile in a corner. Cross and continue between trees and fences to come to a farm track.

Cross this and a footbridge and stile beyond, and continue across the field ahead. At the far side go through a metal fieldgate. Here there is a Y-fork of paths which may not be marked on the ground. The left path is waymarked but not the right. Take the righthand path.

Bear diagonally right across and down this large field to a metal kissing gate in the far opposite bottom corner at the corner of a wood. Through the kissing gate cross two stiles into a large field.

Turn right to face uphill with a fence and wood on your right. Walk up the field gradually moving away from the fence on your right. At the very top go through a wooden fieldgate into an enclosed path through a wood.

At the far side cross a stream into a field and go straight up to a metal fieldgate onto a drive. Turn right for some way to eventually reach a metal fieldgate. Emerge onto a road. Turn right along the road to a junction.

Go straight across to a footpath. In 150 metres at a junction turn left to eventually emerge onto a road. Turn right on the road and follow it all the way down to the start of the section in Peasmarsh.