August 17, 2026 by ammcculloch49

These parched lands

As I write there is a hint of rain in the forecast. The Met Office has the ‘odds’ at 30%, yet the sun is once again blazing on this delightful Monday morning. I say delightful but of course many of us feel a bit torn about the whole thing. I love being able to nip down to Camber Sands or Hastings whenever I can, in the knowledge the weather will be great, but unlike the smarmy opinion writers in the Telegraph or Times, you can’t help but be extremely worried about the unpredictability of British weather in the age of global warming. Flooding is quite likely to follow drought and the effects of it all won’t just be felt on food prices and farmers’ livelihoods (as if that wasn’t enough) but on our houses, gardens, trees, wildlife. You know all this.

Sunflowers, Knockholt
Parched fields looking into the Holmesdale Vale from the North Downs escarpment near Brasted
An escarpment farmhouse high in the North Downs
Busy skies above Cudham in mid-August 2026

As for Kent walks, I like the usual late August ‘tiredness’ in the countryside, the quiet, the drowsy beer-thirsty wasps and the sense of being on the cusp of change (swallows gathering their forces to head to Africa etc). But this year the aridity, the colours, the mood has hugely exaggerated that normal late August vibe. On yesterday’s cycle from Downe to Knockholt and back via Green St Green and Cudham the sombre browns, dustiness and silence were at times wonderful, at others dispiriting. I supposed it depended whether I was going downhill or not.

I’ve taken to my bike with friends and family for North Downs rides of late, creating our own breeze is rather refreshing, and put actual walking a bit on the backburner (I quite often walk alone but lately I’ve preferred company – which isn’t always available). A ride from Sevenoaks to Penshurst via Tonbridge was particularly pleasurable. But yesterday, on the escarpment, the humidity felt suffocating in the unusually cloudy conditions. After a pint of Harvey’s at that excellent boozer the Three Horseshoes in Knockholt the remainder of the ride back to Downe passed in a blur of sweat and haziness. Should have drunk more water, deffo.

Nightjars in the Ashdown Forest

A memorable outing this weekend was to the Eastbourne air display. When the tide is in the stony beaches they are excellent for a swim, with the added frisson of aerobatics by Spitfires and so on. There are some good cafes amid the glorious Victorian white stucco in the side streets too. For a free event that attracts thousands, it really does work well because there is lots of space in the town and plenty of beachfront. And just a short walk to the west is spectacular Beachy Head and beyond that, the Seven Sisters, which in the late afternoon light are utterly magical. After a delightful pint at the Tiger Inn in East Dean, just up from Birling Gap, we set off for home via the Ashdown Forest.

At Gill’s Lap (Galleon’s Lap in Winnie the Poo), one of the highest points of the heath, we parked up and took a stroll among the heather and pine clumps, visiting the Heffalump trap, Kanga’s sandy pit and the Enchanted Wood (yes, they are real places – and just to the east is Eeyore’s Gloomy Place I kid you not). In the twilight the surrounding landscape and huge views turned pink and purple; it really did feel enchanted. As we headed back to the car we were suddenly surrounded by elegant, long-winged birds of a kind I had never seen before. I knew right away they were nightjars. There were four or five of these nocturnal creatures, gliding and side-slipping so beautifully in the dusk but totally invisible after they landed in the heather. My son managed to get video footage (see below).

June 28, 2026 by ammcculloch49

A summer of Kent walks lies before us

Lazy days, slow walks, plenty of water (and pub stops), the quiet humming of bees and scuttle of lizards … it’s a great time for a Kent walk near London now the intense heat has been turned down.

For the first time in years I have failed to take a Kent walk of a weekend. The energy-sapping heat of the past week has left me enfeebled and lazy, though as I write I’m preparing to play tennis – something that feels a bit daunting just now. Sleep has been elusive, especially when the early hours are given over to thunder and lightning. The World Cup has been quite useful when looking for a way of drifting off – not really a comment on the football, which has been above par, but an expression of admiration for its ability to trigger sleep and keep your mind off just how sweaty you are.

On the other hand a trip into London on Friday night to meet old friends proved joyous despite the tropical heat. The atmosphere was infectious, the absence of jackets and jeans liberating, and the tube train from Charing Cross up to Warren St nothing like as overheated as feared.

Recent walks have included a longer take on the Down walk, taking in Darwin’s orchid meadows on the slopes east of Christmas Tree Farm; a lovely foray to Bough Beech in search of spotted flycatchers (birder Dave heavily implicated in that one); a trip to Knepp in West Sussex; and the aforementioned brush with the Long Distance Walking Association masochists in Oldbury. Each walk was magnificent, though do watch out for ticks now we’re all wearing shorts. My friend Steve found one on his lower leg after Downe. They are encouraged by deer apparently, with herds being particularly frequently spotted in the Downe, Cudham, Knockholt areas.

Knepp, West Sussex
Cirrus at Fackenden Down, June, 2019
Meadow near Hever, June
View from near Ide Hill looking over the Weald of Kent

The month has also seen me venture on a long weekend jaunt in Lisbon – one of my favourite cities anywhere. Such a bright, breezy, colourful, diverse, cultural and optimistic place, with great views, buildings, transport, museums etc. And beaches too, beyond Belem, which you can get to on the train easily enough.

Sorry not to keep the newsletters up. I had more than 1,500 subscribers, which was brilliant, but once the provider started exponentially increasing its fees I just sort of thought “sod this”.

With the heat you hardly need advising that shady walks are best, so once again I commend Hosey Hill, Cudham, Oldbury, One Tree Hill and Petts Wood as particularly woody walks (see links above) but to be fair you won’t encounter scorpions, mirages or get lost in the sand dunes as you gasp “water” on any of these walks.

May 12, 2024 by ammcculloch49

Suddenly summer

The unexpected arrival of a summer that seemed so distant on the bank holiday and the even more unexpected appearance of the aurora borealis in the skies of south-east England (has this ever happened to such an extent before?), were the backdrop to full-on weekend of walking for yours truly. Family wanted a walk in the Seven Sisters country park, East Sussex. My offer of the Hever walk, great in May, was turned down. So we headed down the merry old B2026, A26 and A27 turning off towards Afriston soon after Lewes. We improvised a walk starting in the downs above the Cuckmere valley at High and Over, then steeply down to the river to the country park visitors centre. From here, we decided to walk through Westdean (beautiful!) and Friston Forest then back to the Cuckmere via New Bridge and steeply up High and Over (though an inquisitive herd of goats). About seven miles.

Pictured: view of Cuckmere river from High and Over; the Cuckmere river nears the sea; looking towards Friston Forest from High and Over

Cliffs were the next item on the agenda so we drove to Birling Gap where the happy ice-cream ensonced throng was beginning to thin and walked a mile or so along the tops of the Seven Sisters and back. This was followed by a great dinner at the gorgeous Tiger Inn in East Dean and another walk from the Seaford Head car park down to the Coastguard Cottages (think Atonement and a million photos of the cottages, the beach and the cliffs). During this walk a fox crossed our path with a rabbit in its mouth. Another rabbit bounded past in the opposite direction. By now it was pushing 9pm and crowds were arriving at the car park hoping to see another great aurora.

Thinking ahead we drove back to SE London via the Ashdown Forest, parked up in darkness at the Piglets car park and made our way to the AA Milne memorial with its great north-facing view. By now it was about 10pm. Lots of others had the same idea … good humoured groups of people lingered with their phone lights pointing at the ground round every corner. Of course there was no aurora borealis, underlining what a one-off Friday night had been. But we saw a decent starscape, a few satellites, and that was it. I was hoping for an owl and the song of a nightingale, but alas …

Sunday saw a more familiar path taken: the High Elms/Farnborough walk (pictured above). Sun-dappled paths, fantastic fresh foliage, an air of bonhomie from fellow walkers – what a difference a spell of sunshine can make. This route lacks great views but it’s far from ordinary because of its associations with Darwins and Lubbocks, and star-studded arboreal content – from sequoias to holm oak, beech to corsican pine. I fiddled with the Merlin app a few times to try to identify warblers and other migrant birds calling from thickets. But it didn’t work. I guess they were all common whitethroats and blackcaps anyway. One highlight was was the clearing in the woods a mile north of the Beeche cafe. It was full of bugle and cowslip; dark blue and yellow splashes. This season’s bluebells are already largely a memory. Here’s a very good blog about High Elms and other places covered on KWNL by Bill Welch.