Isfield and Holly Gap Farm Shop

The run

From Plumpton I drove to Isfield and parked in the car park of The Laughing Fish pub before following another of the pub strolls routes. This pub is right next door to the Lavender Line – a steam railway of about a mile long. It might be worth taking visitors or kids here, with the railway, river walk, farm shop and pub all in close proximity.

The Lavender Line, Isfield

Again, very clear instructions taking me out of the village and alongside the River Ouse (which is the same river I ran along in Lewes a couple if weeks ago). I was concerned that this would be quite muddy, as that run was a few weeks ago, especially as the book said it was prone to flooding, however it wasn’t too bad as it has been quite dry lately. Bit of a grey day and a reasonably unremarkable walk beside the river and through fields.

River Ouse

There were a few warning notices about livestock and keeping dogs on leads, but it wasn’t until I walked into a field of cows and calves that I froze. I have said it before on this blog: I do not like cows! Especially when they have calves with them – I have read far too many stories in The Guardian about people being killed or injured by cows!

I was even too scared to stop and take a photo of them to show you how terrifying they were. Standing there, looking at me, slowly chewing…

Here is a picture of a scary dinosaur instead

I decided to keep to the river bank as that would be my escape route in the extremely unlikely event they would charge me, but as I got closer I realised I would have to get very close to them indeed to get by that way, and so diverted right across to the opposite side of the field, where my escape route was an extremely thick hedge with barbed wire in the middle – cow proof, I thought. Edged around the field, walking, not running all the time feeling their eyes upon me. ‘I’m sorry I eat you’ I thought ‘don’t kill me’. Now with my back to them I can see my escape route in the far corner of the field, a gap leading into another field. However this was blocked by a flock of sheep. I am not scared of sheep though (not bigger than me) so headed towards the gap, daring not to look round or speed up. As I approached, the flock of sheep moved as one into the other field and allowed me safe passage through.

From there I passed under a disused railway line and continued following the river as far as the Anchor Inn, which would make a good halfway point if walking with children or less fit persons. You can also hire boats there to take on the river in the summer months, I believe.

Railway bridge

Just before the bridge to the pub (it is on the other side of The Ouse) I doubled back along a high hedge (please not back to the cows, I thought) and crossed a couple of footbridges over waterways, before heading across a field and rejoining the road into the village.

I passed Boathouse Farm on the way in and looked in at some sheep and lambs in the barn. I made the connection between Boathouse Farm and Boathouse Organics (a failed trip on a previous outing), had a look at the Lavender Line before heading back to the car for coffee and New Zealand bird seed cake (made by my daughter). find the recipe here.

New Zealand Bird Seed Cake – not for the birds!

The farm

Holly Gap Farm Shop

Just along the road from The Laughing Fish and in the village is this farm shop (no trouble finding it this week!) I was greeted by a very friendly lady and a butcher who welcomed me to the shop, gave me a brief explanation of their business – primarily a butchers, but with an expanding product range. The meat counter looked good – not massive but with chicken, sausages, bacon, mince, steak, chops etc. They also had a small selection of seasonal vegetables (not the freshest), some freshly baked brown and white bread, preserves, a cheese counter (again a good but not exciting selection), a freezer with homemade pies – I was tempted by those, but as my freezer is out of action at the moment, I couldn’t really indulge. Preserves, salad dressings, marinades, juices, Montezumos and Divine chocolate and a selection of cards. I bought one of the cards and the lady explained that she is a local woman who works in the shop in the afternoons. I also bought bread, beetroot and apple juice and some salad dressing.

“A Good Read’ by Janet Orpwood

The lunch

After parking in their car park all morning, it only seemed fair to patronise the pub at lunchtime. Bit shabby inside (could do with jooshing up a bit) but a good menu and craft beers on offer (not that I could have one of those, being the designated driver of the day!). Soft drinks: Owlets fruit juices and Fentimans. They also seem to have a lot of events planned including a Lebanese food night and the ‘Tommy Trot’ beer race, in which participants walk through the village on Easter Monday trying not to spill their half pint of beer! There is also an egg hunt for children – maybe I should check it out?

Nothing immediately grabbed me on the menu, although there was a good choice of daily specials including curry, fish, a vegetarian option and pies. However in the end I decided to try the Holly Gap farm burger as I hadn’t bought any of their meat. It tasted like a proper homemade burger, with very hot onions and chips, slightly greasy. Be warned the burger doesn’t come with anything extra unless you order it! I had onions, you could have gherkins, salad, cheese, bacon etc but it all costs a bit extra. Basic burger costs ￡8.50 extras 25-75p each.

Holly Gap Farm burger

The overheard conversation: the disappointing weather, where to let the greyhound sleep, crumble, the price of a pint in Hove…