Robust Rambles

Section 8

Staplecross to Johns Cross

Walk Details

Walk Instructions

GREATSTONE TO GILLINGHAM ROBUST RAMBLE

Section 8  Out

Staplecross to John’s Cross

Map: OS Explorer 124 Hastings & Bexhill

Distance/Time: 4 miles/2 hours

Start: The Cross Inn, Staplecross: parking possibilities in the village including the nearby village hall

Comment: It is possible that the inn at John’s Cross is now closed. There are few facilities there so carry refreshment with you.

With the Cross Inn behind, cross the road to the war memorial. Go on down the rough lane beside it. Before the end of the lane, go right up a side lane by a detached garage with a hedge on your left.

Reach and cross a broken stile by a wooden fieldgate and continue down a grassy track. Cross a stile at the bottom onto a muddy track going down into woods.

Keep steadily on for ¼ mile ignoring a footpath off left. On nearing the far side of the woods, at a Y-fork, bear left, slightly uphill (there is currently a waymark here). Keep on for ¼ mile.

Within earshot of a busy road, cross a forestry track and continue through trees to steps up to the road. Turn left up the road using the verge because vehicles hurtle down here.

Continue for ¼ mile then turn right off the road through a metal kissing gate by a metal fieldgate. Go up the forestry track to the top of the rise. Here turn right off the track onto a path into the woods.

Continue through the woods to steps and a footbridge then up and steadily on to eventually meet a forestry track. Cross and continue forward on the footpath.

Reach a cleared area and drop down steps to a forest track. Cross and go over a footbridge, then right at the far side. Soon turn left uphill again, through the woods.

At the top of a rise meet a muddy track. Turn left along it. At the top of the hill reach a Y-fork. Bear right on a wide but feinter track. Follow this for ½ mile to a T-junction with a bridleway. Turn left.

The bridleway soon changes to concrete. Keep on along the edge of the wood with views across the Rother valley. Eventually reach a T-junction in front of a field. Turn left up a gravel vehicle drive.

Shortly reach a gateway. Here turn right on a muddy bridleway along the edge of the woods. At the end of the woods reach a metal fieldgate. Go through into a field corner.

Ignore a bridleway off left, instead go straight down the side of the field to a metal fieldgate by a bungalow. Go through and turn right on a farm road.

At a T-junction, turn left uphill on a farm road. In some distance reach a stone house on the edge of woods. Turn left in front of the house on a wide earthen track.

Follow this until it swings right behind cottages, keep straight ahead on a grassy path. Pass the cottages and keep on down to the bottom corner of a field and a stile by a metal fieldgate.

Cross and bear slightly right steeply uphill to the highest point. At the far side of the hill cross a stile and head on towards houses. Cross a stile by a metal fieldgate onto a road. Turn right a few paces, then left over a stile by a rusty fieldgate into a field.

Bear left across the centre of the field, keeping to the highest ground to reach the far opposite corner by trees (a hedge comes running up the valley on the left). Hidden in the corner is a stile. Cross into next field.

Bear slightly right across it to the far end. Do not drop down to the lowest corner. In the far end hedge is a stile cross into mud by a pond and continue straight up the field ahead to a stile at the far end.

Cross and bear diagonally left across the field under power lines in the middle between two poles. Go through a gap in the straggly hedge at the far side.

Keep on in the same direction now with a roof and chimneys to aim for. At the far side, find a wrought iron kissing gate, right in the corner. Go through to a busy road. Turn left along a short distance to the site of the John’s Cross Inn and the end of the section.

GREATSTONE TO GILLINGHAM ROBUST RAMBLE

Section 8  Return

John’s Cross to Staplecross

Map: OS Explorer 124 Hastings & Bexhill

Distance/Time: 5 miles/3 hours

Start: From the main road in John’s Cross, return to the point where the outward route emerged.

Comment: Once again allow plenty of time for this walk as there may be problems with finding paths. The waymarking is poor, there are many stiles, possibly no reinstatement of paths across growing crops and mud. There is a small amount of roadwalking which always needs special care, the final short stretch has no verge and a Hi-viz waistcoat is strongly recommended. However there are excellent views, with hills, valleys and woods giving a constant variety of walking experience.

Leave the old John’s Cross inn and walk back up the main road along the outward route. Do not go back to the wrought iron kissing gate, but turn right before it down the side of old buildings. It is very overgrown. Soon reach a broken stile by a fieldgate and cross into a field corner (if this is impossible, go back to the kissing gate, go down by the hedge on your right to a metal fieldgate and cross into the field corner from there).

Walk down the field close to the hedge on your left. Keep right on down all the way to the far end passing a pond in trees on your right. Reach a metal fieldgate in the bottom corner and go into an orchard. Go forward on a farm track which is easy to follow all the way down to pass through farm buildings and out to a road at Poppinghole Farm.

Turn right for ¼ mile steeply uphill past houses and on. By a parking bay, turn right through a gap in a wooden fence and go down into woods.

Keep forward on an easy-to-follow path over a footbridge and up to join and go forward on a wide grassy forest track. Keep on this for 200 metres. Stay on the track ignoring an unmarked path off right over a stream. Eventually the track drops down into a dip and then goes up into an S-bend.

Halfway through the S-bend turn right down a feint path into woods(currently there is a waymark post here). The path is easy to follow for half a mile to a muddy end (a spring is hereabouts) emerging onto a main road. Turn left(please use the pavement).

Soon reach a Y-fork and turn left up the B2089 past a splendid oast. Continue for ¼ mile using the grassy verge. Pass a road junction and continue to the entrance to the Forestry Commission car park at Footland Wood.

Turn right into here.

Do not enter the car park but go past a green metal barrier onto a wide forestry track. Stay on this for ½ mile ignoring all side tracks. At the bottom of a long slope pass a pond on your left and continue now uphill.

The track eventually reaches a T-junction with a path at the far end of the wood. Turn left on this for a short distance. At a corner, step over a wire fence to a stile. Cross into a field and go down the edge with a hedge on your right.

In the bottom corner, cross a stile and footbridge and go up to a second stile, into a rising field. Bear slightly left up and across to the top corner at the end of a treeline.

In the corner are two stiles. Turn right into the top of a vineyard and head down towards farm buildings. Stay to the left of the buildings as the path joins the entrance drive and climbs steeply up to reach a main road.

Cross with great care and go through a metal kissing gate by a metal fieldgate and go ahead along the edge of a pasture. The next mile of path needs careful attention. Where the hedge on your left bulges out, turn right across the open field to the end of a neck of woods.

Do not follow the wood edge, but bear slightly diagonally left down the centre of this enormous field towards a lone tree at the very bottom. Pass the tree and go straight on steeply up the field to trees at the top.

The trees conceal a pond. There is a fingerpost here. Turn left along the side of the pond to a second fingerpost. Turn left again, this time down and across the huge field to the most distant bottom corner.

Leave the field over a wide farm bridge into the field beyond. Continue along the edge with a fence and woods on your left. On reaching a metal kissing gate in the fence, go through and down into woods.

Reach a metal fieldgate and go on uphill with a stream on your right, ignore a footpath off right and climb steeply up to a ruined building at the top. Here turn right towards a wooden fieldgate. Just before it, turn left up a grassy track and continue steadily uphill.

Eventually pass old buildings on your left and reach a stile onto a main road. Turn left for 100 metres. Turn right up a side road (Ellenworthe Lane).

Where road reaches a dip and bend, turn left off it over a ditch to a rusty fieldgate. Enter the field beyond and go up with a hedge on your left. At the top cross a stile and continue up the next field towards a farm with a fence on your right. Ignore a stile on your right and go up to a stile in the fence at the very top.

Turn left through farm buildings and bear right to join the farm entrance drive. Turn left on this for ¼ mile to reach a road. Turn right up the road for ¼ mile to a junction with a main road.

Turn right here to return to Staplecross. There are no verges to start with and the road is busy. These are the moments to don a high viz waistcoat. Take every care for 200 metres to reach the Cross Inn and the start of the section.