Spring Bank Holiday Monday

26th May 2014

    I parked in Kilndown for a Spring Bank Holiday walk. On through the church-yard to Summerhill, Dog Roses and Elderflower proclaimed June. And at Rogers Rough, yellow Iris spilled over the ditches. Cuckoo spit dribbled from succulent stems on the high verges. My memories of the village are ingrained and when I visit, I am transported. I would walk to my maternal grandmother at Bedgebury Cross from Kilndown when five years old and remember the lane so well. Grandmother's house is still there, but extended now (and done well). Showers of rain went with me as I went from the Cross through the fields to the Great Lake where Grebes dived and ducks communed. Up at Three Chimneys Farm, the oast houses are now dwellings, but there is still a working farm, and the old house there still has three chimneys. Then into Bedgebury Forest to make my way to Forge Farm down the bridleway and along the disused railway to Hartley. The railway, which ran from Paddock Wood to Hawkhurst, closed in 1961. I remember travelling on the old 'Pull & Push' from Goudhurst Station to Hartley for 5d. and walking back to Kilndown Primary School as a treat before the line closed. There have been plans proposed to reopen the track bed for use by cyclists and walkers. But of course, wishing won't make it happen.
    I came out from the trees at Hartley and made my way to the War Memorial at Cranbrook for breakfast. Although the road was a little busy, it was a pleasant rest on the bench by the memorial and the rain had stopped. From there, I went into Angley Wood on the High Weald Landscape Trail for Goudhurst. The wood was peaceful for a bank holiday and I met just one runner to greet; a lady working hard to climb the hill through the conifers. After crossing the Hartley-Goudhurst road, I followed the footpath onto the Glassenbury estate, which wends its way to Smugley Farm, then through pens of Pheasant chicks and ducklings. Pheasants and Mallards are driven to the guns all through the woods and fields there. St. Mary's Church on the hill at Goudhurst came into view just before Smugleys and gave something to aim for, which was a cheese pasty and cup of coffee at Weekes the bakers in the village and I sat on the pavement and watched the passers-by. Downhill to Crowbourne, past my paternal grandmother's old place, then through Finchcocks Park and uphill, back to Kilndown and tea by the Quarry. An idyllic spot, with pond, overhanging trees and reeds and lilies just opening and orchids on the bank.
     But for these moments, life would be such a disappointment.