Chailey Common and Townings Farm Shop

The run

A terrific thunderstorm in the evening and through the night with lots of heavy rain, so I was not sure what to expect in the morning. There were still showers and so I packed the usual stuff, plus a book, plus Wellington boots as I thought it would still be very muddy on my planned route. I was determined to do the walk/run I had researched for last week that got rained off. I had found a nice walk on Chailey Nature Reserve, and had further prepared by trying an app that my husband is keen on: OutDoors GB. It does need a bit more preparation and you have to purchase the OS maps for the area you want which are quite expensive (East Sussex 1:25k cost £16!). You plot the route ahead of time and then when you are out on your walk/run you can see where you are from the blue dot and where you are supposed to be from the red line.

Outdoors Great Britain app

This was a big help and meant I didn’t get as lost as usual! The walk instructions were quite good, though I did go wrong quite near the beginning. Because of this I did get to St Georges early on instead of towards the end of the walk, but I turned around and retraced my steps until my blue dot was back on my red line!

As I had suspected the walk was very wet and muddy and I was glad I had put my wellies on and walked rather than run. Some parts were deep puddles or more like walking through streams.

At the top of the hill I stopped to admire the view and drink some of my coffee and eat my pumpkin protein bar.

Pumpkin protein bar

From there the route plunged down into woodland with streams and bridges.

I didn’t see many people during this part of the walk except when I came to the Philip Ridley Memorial Pond where a man was poking around the pond with a stick. He didn’t talk, in fact he looked away like he really didn’t want to pass the time of day or explain what he was doing. It was a bit creepy actually and I hurried away up the hill to St George’s.

I was rather intrigued about St George’s – it looks like a little community in its own right. Apparently it used to be a residential school, built in 1932, then used as army accommodation during the war. Now it is used as residences. There is also a windmill on site which you can just see in the photo below:

There is a windmill in here somewhere!

I tried to get a photograph of the windmill but it was quite difficult. I crossed the road and saw my car in the car park – the temptation to cut the walk short was strong but I continued on, around to the memorial stone and met a very sparky group of older people walking dogs – they were very friendly and cheerful and seemed to be having a great time! I was intrigued by the memorial stone which reads:

“You who walk these commons remember with gratitude Gareth Christian and Charles Constant whose loving imagination and unsparing labour led to the establishment of the Chailey Common nature reserve.

Their ashes are scattered on the land they loved 1971″

Memorial Stone Chailey Nature Reserve

From there it was just a matter of circling around the Heath back to the start.

The farm

Townings Farm Shop

I had decided to visit one of my favourite farm shops: Townings which I knew was open on a Monday. I bought some apples (dear daughter is making apple crumble tomorrow in food tech), a pheasant – it’s on the approved food list of my clean-eating plan and I’ve never had one before so I decided to go for it! Also bought some ham (rather expensive but I’d rather buy quality) and I couldn’t resist Auntie Val’s English Breakfast Marmalade – I have an Auntie Val! And my husband is rather partial to marmalade.

Today’s haul

The lunch

Lunch was a healthy salad eaten in the car and a few chapters of Anne Frank which I am reading at the moment.

Lunch on the go