Hawkhurst Moor

20 July 2014

    Muggy and overcast, the morning was very dull and after the thunderstorms of last week, one was expected this morning. I bought a new Leki walking pole, and as it is made of carbon fibre, the lightening won't seek me out! I parked at Bedgebury Cross at 7am, and walked first to the Great Lake. Grey Wagtails with yellow breast startled me at the overflow. Are these the same pair as last year? Vapour was lifting from the lake and the far shore was vague and indistinct. Swallows flew low over the lawns at Three Chimneys and the horses there watched me with interest as I passed by.
   Walking into the trees was a relief, as the heat was intensifying, and the journey through Bedgebury Forest was interrupted only by Buzzards calling. Out into wheat fields at Tanyard farm, young pheasants were everywhere, scattering in all directions as I walked along the track, but mainly running ahead of me and only taking flight when I got a little close. There were hundreds; put down for the winter shoot, but here and there, a feathered corpse, picked apart by a hungry Buzzard; an offering not to be rejected.
    At a gap in the hedge by a field of maize, a sign warned: Beware suckling calves. I stood on the stile and thought, ah... I checked to see if there were any cows likely to upset by my presence. They all looked peaceful enough, and with the recent stories of walkers being trampled to death by irate cows protecting their young in my mind, I stepped into the pasture. As I made a wide birth around the herd, a couple of calves walked towards me. I tried to look nonchalant and although some cows showed interest, I made it to the stile at the other end of the pasture safely. Phew!
    At the Hawkhurst road, I nipped across and through the Marlborough House School grounds through woodland, past Hensill House to Hawkhurst Moor. The Moor has the quintessential English village green. The triangular green is surrounded by cottages and the bells of St. Lawrence's Church rang out as I breakfasted, sitting on a bench under trees to shelter from the Sun.
    The journey back was an uneventful walk via Basden Wood and Mopesden Wood and into Bedgebury Forest for the Cross. Another break was by the Great Lake and I watched Grebes with their babies diving and peeping. And, in the meadow to the Cross, Adonis Blue butterflies (although the female is quite brown) courted about me.
    Next Sunday, the walk will be repeated with Dee; Things always happen with Dee!