Wealdway: Stone Cross to Camp Hill
From Stone Cross, the Wealdway is narrow and enclosed for a short distance. It then follows one of the finest sections of the walk, along a sloping, grassy hillside. Over the next 0.5 miles (800m), the view ahead into Sussex steadily widens, with the heights of Ashdown Forest now clearly visible across the valley.
For the second time, the route descends into a valley carved by the River Medway, bearing slightly right to pass under a railway line. For 0.5 miles (800m), the Wealdway and the Sussex Border Path coincide, marked by two solid wayposts. Over the stream on the Kent–Sussex boundary, a bridge, designed and built by local ramblers, stands in memory of one of their colleagues. The Medway, crossed near Hale Court Farm is, in these higher reaches, little more than a modest stream.
For the next mile (1.6km), to the road at Summerford Farm, the Wealdway is never far away from the river.
Beyond the farm, the way is clear and obvious at first, along a metalled way. After the end, in another 100yd (91m), watch carefully for a narrow, unmarked path which drops left down some steps.
Shortly, cross the old railway, now the Forest Way; a 10-mile (16km) route linking East Grinstead with Groombridge. The tall shingled spire of Hartfield Church is a prominent landmark and the lychgate into the churchyard has been fashioned beneath a half-timbered house dating from 1520. Continue
through fields to the B2110 near Withyham, where you will find the Dorset Arms and a weekday school bus to Tunbridge Wells. The church, on high ground beside the Wealdway, replaced an older building, destroyed by lightning in 1663. It contains various monuments to the Sackville family, many of whom are buried in a vault beneath the church.
The Wealdway bypasses the village to follow the access drive to Fisher’s Gate for over a mile (1.6km). Then begins a long climb through Five Hundred Acre Wood on Ashdown Forest. After 2 miles (3.2km), the Wealdway reaches its highest point, at Greenwood Gate Clump. At 715ft (218m) above sea
level, this is also the highest point in Ashdown Forest.
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