Tuesday, July 22, 2008

 

22nd July Nutley and Ashdown Forest

I love Ashdown Forest. For a few months, as a toddler, I actually lived there and ever since I have looked on that landscape as if it belonged to me.
And I love the sunshine, which we have enjoyed greatly today.
It was good to get out; we both needed it.
We walked and talked.
Bill was able to acknowledge that the low level depression that has been part of his life for many a long year has seemed much worse of late.
The state of mind has made it so difficult for him to feel enthusiasm for anything and explains why we have not been able to arrange a holiday of any sort yet.
Who knows why Bill, or anybody else, suffers from depression? He has had a lot to deal with - my health issues of the last couple of years and the car accident, which was perhaps the last straw.
I think we will wait a while to see how the rest of the summer goes and then, maybe, he should seek medical advice.
He is not so bad that nothing gets done - but sometimes it feels that way.
There is a medical name for the condition - disthymia.

We decided to start our time out with a walk in the village of Nutley, where we have never stopped before. We visited the church and then an antiques shop, which is quite delightful.
We talked with the lady on duty today about our lives and then wondered if Dorking does close by the end of the year whether a move to Nutley would be possible. They have no spaces at the moment - but we could go on a waiting list.

The church is not old, built in 1843. It is dedicated to St James the Less. There were 2 apostles named James and one had the Less added to his name to distinguish between the two.





The most charming aspect of the church were the hassocks/kneelers. Each one had been done as a tapestry and each one was different. We went from one to the other calling out with pleasure.
Pictures ranged from the village tug of war to the nativity.

This one was my favourite - a typical Ashdown Forest landscape with a clump of stunted straggly pines.


Stained glass windows produce lovely effects in the sunlight.
We had aimed to walk from the village to the airman's grave - but chose the wrong track. It was a pleasant enough walk - but with no destination. The airman's grave, which we have visited before, will be there for another time.
We walked back to the village and then drove up onto the Ashdown Forest ridge, parking in the Friends Car park - referring to the Friends of Ashdown Forest.
It was here we found a bench to have our picnic.


The views and the colours were just stunning.
Bill enjoyed watching the many flights into and out of Gatwick airport - some way distant to the north.







This circle of stunted straggly pines is known as Friends Clump; high on the ridge it was visible almost everywhere we went.
We could see this grand mansion from our picnic seat - it is known as Old Lodge, but seems to be much bigger than a lodge would normally be.
Sadly the carefully thought out walk which we had printed from a web site lay languishing at home and our guess work caused us to miss the path to the windmill and so a bit of detour had to be made to work back to it.
The windmill is owned by The Sussex Trust for Windmills and is only open to the public on one day a month. The Trust seem to be doing a lot of renovation just now and the sweeps and sails were largely missing.





From the windmill we walked down into the valley. My skirt had been rolled up and put in my bag so that legs could get a rare outing to enjoy the warmth of the sun.



Bill with Friends Clump up on the hilltop.
It doesn't look it from there but when we took the path back up we found it to be a steep climb and it made me puff a bit.
I am sure I haven't worked heart and lungs so hard since before the operation.


From Friends Clump we could look southwards to the Downs. It had become quite hazy.
Sheep roam freely on Ashdown Forest - and motorists must expect sheep to cross the road suddenly with no thought of safety.
We planned to go for a cup of tea at a tea rooms in Duddleswell. This was one option on the route for the walk. The other one showed that even the BBC (who issued the route) can get words wrong. It was suggested that a pub in Nutley could provide one with sumptious food; now did they mean "scrumptious" or "sumptuous"?
The tea shop was closed when we got there - closed on Tuesdays we were told.
We had run out of drink and we did need some refreshment, so turned back to the village of Fairwarp.
We sat outside The Foresters Arms with ginger beer and lime. Bill had a "sumptious" ice cream too. It was made at a farm at Ringmer and was superb quality - yes, I had a little taste of the blackberry flavour that he chose. But it was so full of milkiness that I knew I should have very little.

Just look at those hanging baskets. I could capture the image, but you'll just have to imagine the rich heady perfumes.
Tomorrow we are going to Ardingly for the antiques fair. It is some years since we have been and feel we should go and see what is going on - there is always more to learn; and maybe things to buy.
So, having walked a bit today, with more walking at Ardingly tomorrow, I reckon it is time for bed.
We want to be at the fair tomorrow by 8 o'clock.
Goodnight.

22nd July Nutley and Ashdown Forest
posted by Grandma P on Tuesday, July 22, 2008