Anke: Royal Tunbridge Wells

Milestone

This was an intriguing find, mainly because I have passed this spot hundreds of times and never once spotted this great stone was here. Looking like a standing stone placed by an ancient civilisation this is actually an old milestone pointing towards London on the old route the horse and carriages used to take. Carved from local sandstone and dating back to the early 1800's, it originally indicated the 36 miles along the turnpike roads to London but unfortunately is now weathered to an illegible but nonetheless intriguing pattern of markings.

Click image for larger view.

The building the old stone sits next to, now called the Master Transcriptions Studio, was the site of Bennett's Wagon Office, a stage coach stop where the horses could be rested and watered in the course of their journey from The Wells to London, Hastings and Rye. From here the horses would gallop the 36 miles to the Nag's Head Inn in Southwark along Major York's Road.

Major York's Road, is exactly what it's name suggests, being built by Major Martin Yorke, who retired to Tunbridge Wells rich from his service in the East India Company, to connect his house at the top, now the Spa Hotel, to The Pantiles at the bottom. It became one of the busiest roads into town carrying the visitors to and from London, the toll gate for this route was in Rusthall.

The most intriguing tale of all about this unremarkable stone is the ghostly figure of a young girl dressed in a plain Georgian costume that is occasionally seen sitting atop it, is she waiting for a carriage to go to London or perhaps someone to return to The Wells on one? Keep your eye on it next time you're passing after dark.

Harrison's Rock Festival

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.

Rock of Ages

A mile and a bit from the centre of town, which is a nice summer's strolling distance, is the fabulous ancient sandstone outcrops of the High Rocks. And it just so happens that today was a nice summer's day and the wife and I fancied a stroll.

Taking the route out of town via The Pantiles to pick up some refreshments, we headed out along the banks of the Spa Valley steam railway. For anyone that hasn't walked this way before it is truly a hidden gem of a walk, as you join up with the Tunbridge Wells Circular Walk and follow the River Grom on its way towards Groombridge.

Entering Friezland Wood you are greeted by the most wonderful smell of bluebells which gives way to the surprisingly wonderful aroma of wild garlic after reaching the river banks. After just a couple of hundred yards the huge ancient rocks begin to peer out from the dense trees, first just a few small ones on the ground covered in tactile mosses and lichens but then the big boys start looming from the canopy.

Stone Age man was said to have walked the very ground that we walked today, amongst these rocks, and you can probably still find some markings amongst the I woz ere's from the 1980's and the One Hath Rested Here's of the 1880's.
Even Iron Age man thought the rocks were great, as there has been evidence of an Iron Age fort found amongst the rocks.

But the most recent history of the rocks began in the 1670's when they first became a tourist attraction, and although they still are, they were sold to a private owner in 1987 so now the only way in is through a small victorian turnstile via a £2 donation.

As you climb the stairs through the undergrowth you are greeted by something like a scene from an Indiana Jones set as stone steps are carved into the natural rocks taking you skyward towards the wooden bridges that span the tops. Of course not everyone climbs to the top via the steps as the rocks are listed as one of the top 100 places to climb in the UK, they were even used as practice for an early Everest expedition. The views from the rocks can be breathtaking as you can see nothing but trees and gently undulating hills for miles and miles and miles across the Kent and Sussex countryside.

Alas some parts of the tourist resort's heyday are missing today. James the Second would have wandered around the rhododendron maze, bowled on the bowling green and gambled in the gaming rooms nestled amongst the rocks, but you can still enjoy some of the ancient traditions, such as the famous Bell Rock which it has been said that if you strike it the chime can be heard in the centre of Tunbridge Wells.

Go on, give it a go, take a walk there this weekend, but keep it a secret between us. I'll be listening out for the chimes.

To see a gallery of photographs of our High Rocks walk, then click here.

Rock of Ages

Some of the sharper eyed of you may have noticed the prehistoric forms arising from the Earth on the Common over the past couple of weeks. No, dinosaurs suddenly haven't escaped and begun roaming the streets, instead the very busy workers have cleared away the overgrown shrubbery and brambles to reveal some of the magnificent ancient rock outcrops our area is famous for. You can now stand below Gibraltar Cottage and look up towards Mount Ephraim and get a great view of the rocks or stand with the junction of London Road and step back in time with a view that many a Victorian postcard presented. In fact, I'll let you into a little secret, there are plans afoot to have a spectacular panoramic viewpoint installed up there to gaze out over our beautiful town. It should be fabulous.

Before that though, I implore you all to walk the Commons over the next couple of weeks just to witness the change in colours of the leaves, every walk will be wonderfully different.

A Load of Old Bull

Another beautiful sunny day in The Wells. Another chance to get out and explore it. Today my wife and I decided to take a walk down to Toad Rock seeing as though its been a couple of years since we last saw it.

Getting within 100 yards of The Toad our attention was grabbed by a Footpath sign pointing into the thick trees and as always were too intrigued to ignore it. We had to pick our jaws off the ground when we emerged from the undergrowth, we were looking out over the edge of a small cliff out onto the woods below.

We had wandered onto Bull's Hollow, a disused sandstone quarry named after Robert Bull, a quarryman who worked and built a cottage there in the early nineteenth century. The quarry was excavated for use in the construction of local buildings, including it is thought the Spa Hotel.

We leapt about over the rocks, marvelling at the different colours that could be seen as the soft rock has weathered away over the years. Sensing that the cliff edge was a bit too close for comfort we thought it was time to see what the great stones looked like from below so took a path towards the Bull family cottage which lies at the bottom. We made our way down to the base of the quarry and was amazed to find trees mysteriously growing out of the porous rock, splitting the soft face with their powerful roots, some which had been long since chopped down had become petrified, becoming part of the rock.

This area has been assigned Special Scientific Interest Status and is very popular with climbers, given away by the metal rings bolted into the top of the cliffs and rope marks worn into the soft edges.
We are becoming increasingly amazed at how this town just keeps on giving, finding something new every time we look, what will we discover next?