Sussex Scrapbook
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Nature walks throughout the year
Friday 26th December 2008
Horse-eye Level
Hailsham - Herstmonceux church - Rickney - Hailsham
9.5 miles
We took the quagmire of
a footpath East from Hailsham church out onto the Horse-eye Level, which is part
of the Pevensey Levels. A marsh may not seem the sanest of places to go on such
a freezing cold Boxing Day, but that at least gave us the peace, quiet and
solitude that we sought.
As usual, the sign posts in East Sussex were nowhere near as helpful or as
plentiful as the ones in West Sussex or the rest of the civilised world. If you
have trouble using a map and compass or if you don't know this area well, then
you could be letting yourself in for a whole heap of trouble. The marsh is
criss-crossed with water-filled ditches, sewers and brooks as well as inundated
areas and boggy marsh. Take a wrong turn in the dark or bad weather and you
could be up to your waist or just hopelessly lost and cut off by water.
Thankfully today we managed to navigate our way perfectly despite having to walk
from Rickney after the sun set.
It was cloudless, bright and sunny from sunrise to sunset, but bitterly cold all
day. The bike ride home just about finished us off but luckily we had some
ginger wine left over from Christmas Day, which helpfully burned its way to our
frozen marrows.
We parked close to the church in Hailsham
This leafy path became a muddy track, evolved from a sticky quagmire into swamp
before finally blooming into a flooded marshland.
The area is full of beauty spots and devoid of people
Looking towards Alfriston on the South Downs from Herstmonceux church.
A view unencumbered by buildings, roads or pylons.
All Saints, Herstmonceux. Next to the
Castle and close to the
Science
Centre.
Church, Castle (hidden) and Science Centre
