WALKS ABOUT HASTINGS

Brede circular

In the sixteen months that JANE SARLIUS produced the magazine Hastings Handbook, her walks in and around Hastings became collectable items. Here she returns with another walk guaranteed to hot up our readers. Photo by STAPH

This is a lovely, slightly hilly five-mile walk. Allow about three hours to enjoy views and variety along the way, following routes on 1:25,000 OS Explorer Map sheet 124, your recommended companion.

1. From the A28 at Brede, on same side and just north of Stubb Lane (on your right), take a footpath on the right that’s rather overgrown with brambles but waymarked with a yellow sign. Follow the path to a field and continue north, ahead along the right edge of field, slightly up-slope. Go through kissing gate leading into next field and follow its right edge. This kissing gate is the point to which you return on the way back.

2. There’s an ESCC waymarker on field post under telegraph wires. Pass pond on right, over a broken stile. Head diagonally to far right corner and over another stile, follow the path along the edge of backs of gardens. Cross a grassy path and through another gate. Continue. Go through next galvanised gate and cross field ahead. Veer right, under telegraph wires, towards small fishing pond. At the pond, turn right and walk along hedge of trees. There’s a gap in the trees just past the pond on the left – go through.

3. Enter next field and follow path diagonally over gentle hill. Head for galvanised gate in a barbed wire fence ahead, then continue through gap in trees beyond. Veer left. Walk just left of brow of hill, towards an immaculate large garden other side of fence. With the garden and fence edge now your right, follow fence uphill along a narrow field. At the top, go through gate with broken waymarker and onto road.

4. Cross the road and turn right for a few steps, then left up a tarmac driveway marked’ High Field’ and ‘Hollybank’. There’s also a hidden stone footpath marker on the ground. The driveway skirts the edge of Spring Wood. With big black gate in sight, turn left through gate marked ‘path diversion’. Follow grassy path between two fences. At the end, take right fork along back hedges of gardens with view down into the valley. Next to fence o right, after about 80m, there’s a waymarker under telegraph wires.

5. Ignore marked path that follows direction of telegraph wires, take other path downhill along field. Although the path looks straight on map, there’s a right turn out of this field at an opening before you reach Birch Wood at the bottom. Go through the gateway on right and over precarious stile immediately after where the field and view open up. Follow path that cuts off left corner of field, staying right of trees. Over stile ahead and follow path on the left edge of field, down into the valley.

6. At bottom of slope, cross stile and follow path through meadow towards a wooden bridge. Stay on this side of Tillingham River and turn left. Follow river – under trees ahead is a rather overgrown, rickety wooden footbridge, marked footpath. Cross and pass out into field. Keep following the river. Another wooden footbridge ahead – over a ditch a hedgerow, still in same direction. At log cabin on left, pass through gate and along tarmac path. Turn eight onto the lane at the end, pass the farm buildings on right, oast house in near-distance on left. Note footpath sign on right, waist-high.

7. Cross country lane, turn right for a few steps then left over stile. Follow fenced path, a stream now to your left and fence with houses beyond a field on right. Continue, over a stile, along path, still between river and fence. Pass through small gate and continue – bit overgrown with stinging nettles! At end of path stile takes you into woods. Trodden path goes left, over an old concrete wall. Path stays near left edge of wood – there’s a footpath marker after a couple of minutes. Cross stile and exit woods into field.

8. Turn left along bottom field edge, stream on left. Footpath veers left, between two small wooded area. It’s marked and there’s a stile and wooden footbridge over stream. The following fields are long and narrow and enclosed by trees. When you see a large, new house ahead, keep in same direction – path goes just below house. End of field, go through gate and onto track which takes you to the busy A28. Cross road and over stile opposite.

9. Straight on, alongside fence to your right. There are two gates ahead – take wooden gate on left. Cross field – there’s a track through the middle. Footpath forks towards end of field – take the left. Ahead is a gap in the trees and bridge over ditch that’s not easily visible. Follow path alongside telegraph wires. At left edge of field, under trees, cross the broken stile. The path disappears into the distance up the rolling slope of a field. On top of hill, under pylons, enter woods. Follow rutted track to road.

10. Cross road. Don’t take Goatham Lane opposite, take the tarmac track that passes to the left of a barn-shaped house and oasthouses. Continue downhill along driveway. On the left is a footpath into the woods – go straight ahead. When you come out of trees, go over a stile and watch out for a low electric fence! Along trodden path across field, pass through opening beside gate and ahead again. Another electric fence to cross on far side of field, then through gate.

11. Turn right immediately down in to a ditch – there’s a waymarker on the other side of the trees. Follow signpost across field – you’ll se another sign diagonally right, below farm buildings. Turn right up a short slope, through the marked gate between farm buildings. At waymarker before gate, turn left along grassy path. Through galvanised gate. Continue. At next gate is a waymarker. Continue uphill over left edge of field. Continue as far as you can go. In left corner is a market at small gate. Go through, continue to next gate by some farm buildings, and through again. Pass garages on left and out through gate onto road. Cross road and turn left for a few steps and over stile on right. Cross the field towards far left corner. Through kissing gate and retrace your steps ahead through field back towards Brede.

Also in: Green Times