Sunday 29th
April 2007
Lindfield - Horsted Keynes
11 miles
We woke up pretty tired after our long walk in the sun yesterday, but we were
not going to waste the day sitting indoors. Instead we headed for nearby
Lindfield near Haywards Heath. This village is incredibly beautiful with many of
the houses dating back to the 14th century. Many of the other houses were built
in the 1930's and are very stylish.
We walked from there to Horsted Keynes (pronounced "canes") with the sound of
the bluebell railway steam trains in the distance all the time. It was another
really hot day and we had to keep finding shade to stop in and cool down.
Someone else who was doing the exact same thing was a grass snake, who we
spotted just at the side of the footpath. We were able to stand quietly and
watch it from less than 6 feet away for a few minutes. As we started to move
away to leave it in peace, it suddenly leapt into the undergrowth and was gone.
Grass snakes are nearly twice the size of adders, but are totally harmless.
Bluebells were out in force today and every piece of wooded land we came to had
a carpet of them underneath. The smell was intoxicating as was the wild garlic
which seems to be having a very good year.
The day was partially ruined by some stupid, badly trained dogs that came out of
someone's garden and attacked us. Gill got badly bitten. Luckily, after some
first aid she was able to continue walking, but she was badly shaken. When you
consider the amount of "wild" life that we see every weekend, it is ridiculous
to think that the most dangerous animal we should come across is described as
"man's best friend"!?
Gill leaving Lindfield on route for Horsted Keynes.
The beautiful grass snake that made our day.
Gill is our expert on snakes and she tells me that the
scales are spread apart in the section facing the camera because the snake has
recently eaten. We were fascinated by its round eyes that seemed to be watching
us, and by its very long, tapered tail.
Wild garlic. We had some with our lunch and it was
delicious!
Result of dog attack. Which ruined our day! (Click
HERE
to see the foot a week later)