Section 4: Nutley to Forest Row
 

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Directions

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Important Note: navigation in Ashdown Forest can be very tricky. Around half of this walk, including the challenging section from the bottom of Kidds Hill to Forest Row,  is on the Vanguard Way. The Detailed Directions devised by the Vanguard Way association are strongly recommended.

 

1. Nutley is thought to have Saxon origins. It played an important role in the history of Ashdown Forest. In the 1500’s the village hosted the Forest Courts, where disaffected commoners would bring their complaints against the King’s officers. It was later a centre for smugglers and in 1721 Gabriel Tomkins of the infamous Mayfield Gang was captured and arrested here.

2. Starting at bus stop on the southern carriageway of the A22, head S then turn first L onto School Lane. Turn immediately L onto FP through houses, then through field to reach Crowborough Road. Turn L then immediately R to pick up ancient holloway. This would have been the route taken by commoners who lived in Nutley to drive their animals onto the Forest.

3. Pass through Londonderry farm, downhill to reach stream at entrance to Forest.

4. Ashdown Forest was a hunting ground for William the Conqueror, but the commoners had been grazing their animals and taking wood for centuries before that. The open landscape reflects millennia of such activities, and it is the stubbornness of the commoners who insisted on their ancient rights, which have resulted in this landscape, with its nightjars, dartford warblers, snakes and lizards.

5. Meet track heading R uphill. As you climb, stop and turn round to see the view across the valley. Climb to top of hill and a junction with four other tracks.

6. Optional Detour – Nutley Windmill: turn R uphill for 200m to reach windmill (open every last Sunday from March-September inclusive from 2.30-5.30pm). Return by same route.

7. Continue across track in same direction you came from, now heading downhill. Reach open land at far end of woods and descend. Do not follow path into wooded ghyll but keep edge of woodland on L and reach Barker’s Crossing, where there is a small muddy pond.

8. Optional Detour - From here you can detour R to follow stream which feeds pond to inspect some leaky dams, around 100m upstream. These were created during the summer of 2022 by local volunteers in a bid to limit erosion and create wildlife habitats.

9. From Barker’s Crossing head uphill, keeping the wooded ghyll to L, gently climbing until you descend for a few metres and reach a bridge. On your L is a spot known as the Garden of Eden with a beautiful small waterfall and a few trees for shade. It’s a lovely spot to stop, and when the water flow is good you can drink from the stream.

10. Continue uphill, noticing the boards placed across the small stream on your R to manage the flow and limit erosion. Reach top of the hill and take R hand gate, crossing B2026. You have now joined the Vanguard Way (VW, see note at top re: navigation).

11. Optional Detour: Ice Cream Van: before reaching the gate turn R and track parallel to the B2026, passing Bushy Willows car park on your L to reach Kings Standing Car Park after 10 minutes, where there is usually an ice cream van at weekends.

12. Optional Detour: Old Lodge is an RSPB managed reserve, the entrance for which is 100m N along the B2026. It is a beautiful enclave and, in the words of Tony Whittaker, President of Sussex Wildlife Trust, “exudes a magic that is undiminished”. There is a circular walk around the reserve, which is commonly grazed by Exmoor ponies and Belted Galloway cattle and is known for its redstarts and woodlarks.

13. After crossing B2026, immediately turn L to continue on VW. You will follow this route for most of the rest of the walk, but unfortunately the VW is very badly signed when it crosses Ashdown Forest. Walk parallel with road for about a kilometre. You will come to a T junction. Turn L and spot Gills Lap clump ahead.

14. Aim for the R hand side of clump and you will come to B2026. Cross road and, keeping the clump to your L, bear gently R past bench.

15. Optional Detour – Winnie the Pooh. Gills Lap is thought to be the setting for the Winnie the Pooh books. For lovers of AA Milne’s classic books, near here are the infamous Heffalump Trap, the Enchanted Place, and Roo’s Sandpit. Rather than turning L, walk along the ridge. On the R you will soon come to a clump of Pines – the Enchanted Place. Looking NW from there you will see a tree with a wide canopy protruding from the heathland. This is the Heffalump Trap. Carrying on along the ridge, on the R is a small quarry area which is the inspiration for Roo’s Sandpit. A little further on you come to a fenced area where you will find the AA Milne Memorial, with a beautiful view N.

16. Continue for 200m then turn L down small path past pine tree (the Heffalump Trap in AA Milne’s books). Cross track and continue downhill forking L when you reach woods. Follow track round to L then turn R into woods. Descend through woods to Chuck Hatch Lane. Turn L and shortly reach ford. This is Newbridge, the location of one of the first blast furnaces in the Weald, and a centre of iron-making in the 1500s. The furnace was leased to Thomas Boleyn in 1525, around the time his daughter began her courtship with Henry VIII.

17. Turn R and follow road up hill to reach path on L after 300m.

18. Optional Detour - the Hatch Inn, built in around 1430, has magnificent views from its garden back up to the Forest, and can provide a welcome drink. Follow road 400m uphill. After your drink, follow Colemans Hatch road W to rejoin the VW.

19. Walk past bench on L. Follow path up to meet vehicle track then fork R going slightly uphill and ignoring paths to L towards gap through trees ahead where you can see clear sky. After a few hundred metres the landscape opens out to your L, with woods on R.

20. Reach cricket ground and go round R of buildings then cross track to go to L of red building (bowling club). Follow path to Colemans Hatch Road. Cross road and turn L heading slightly uphill for 100m parallel with road before turning R downhill. 

21. At bottom of hill cross stream on footbridge and reach golf course. Follow VW downhill and around to L to cross golf course. Reach bridge over small stream. Cross road here, keep the woodland to R and golf course to L.

22. Continue in same direction across the course to pick up a sign for a FP signing VW. Keep R at all times, on the edge of wood on a small path with houses on R.

23. Pick up blue signs for VW and walk down a section of sealed road before meeting a gravel road where you turn L at the three-way sign post, keeping houses to your R.

24. Once past the houses follow a small path with broken paving stones uphill. Go past a house called Warren Heights, the golf course still to your L. Hug the fence on your R until you get to a road.

25. Turn R down Chapel Lane and 200m before the main road take FP through the back of the houses to reach Hartfield Road. Turn L. The centre of Forest Row is now 500m ahead of you along this road.  

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