Another glorious week of weather saw my wife and I itching to get outside on another long trek along the Tunbridge Wells Circular Trail. This time our finger of damacles fell onto Birchenden Wood, and more specifically Harrison's Rocks, so that's where we headed. And wow was it a great trek.
Trekking across farmland marked with rather worrying signs telling us to "Beware of the Bull", we headed out of the village of Langton Green on the edge of Tunbridge Wells, towards Groombridge. We rambled across the bridge over the steam railway line with its old carriages in storage underneath, pausing a while to spot the ancient London Underground carriages.
We passed through lots of stiles and gates, along lots of narrow lanes with high hedgerows bristling with butterflies and moths. We stopped at lakes, ponds and streams with huge dragonflies and tiny damoiselles flitting around. We stopped for a few precious minutes to watch a Grey Wagtail flying in and out of an abandoned doorway bringing back food for her noisy chicks. But mostly we kept walking and talking about how beautiful the Wealden countryside is.
And then the landscape changed. I can't quite explain it, but upon entering Birchenden Wood it felt like we'd stepped Down Under. The sights, the smells, the feeling was pure Australia. Very strange. Perhaps it's the antipodean-looking wash block at the campsite that has been erected in memory of the famous climber, Julie Tullis, or the over-large donations box along the dusty track that cars must negotiate for parking, or even the diversity of the trees here, but something was different. Time to sit and unpack our picnic.
Checking the information board, we decided to walk the perimiter of the forest first and then descend into the rocks from above, which I heartily recommend as it takes in some great views of the rocks from a distance, which must be even more spectacular in Autumn/Winter time.
We could hear the sounds of voices from afar but didn't expect quite the level of activity we saw when we finally arrived at the rock face. It was covered in climbers. Unbeknownst to us, there are an astonishing 339 climbs at Harrison's Rocks which draw climbers from all over the country, and most of them were there today by the look of it.
We explored the sandstone crags, marvelling at how delicate it all seemed, there were huge boulders dangling above the walkways just resting against other rocks. In places you could see where rainwater had worn away streams in the surface of the rock over many many years. Time was getting on, we let the climbers struggle on with their ropes and bits and began the long five miles home. A fabulous walk that you really must attempt this Summer. It still amazes me how this area can still keep giving after all these years, you just keep looking and you find new and wonderful things to do all the time.
Take a look at a gallery of images from our walk to Harrison's Rocks here or by clicking any of the images above.
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