3 men on a walk 2016: Nutley to Sheffield Forest Loop

Sheffield Forest / Chelwood / Nutley loop

We had to postpone our planned coastal path walk because rain was scheduled from lunchtime so Ivan quickly ran out a copy of a Fancy Free walk we had done three years ago which took in the western edge of the Ashdown Forest. And right on queue it started to rain at noon!

We parked up at Furner's Green and walked North East along the edge of Sheffield Forest to Chelwood before we turned South East to loop across the Ashdown Forest to Nutley Windmill before looping back westward towards Nutley Village for our lunch stop at "The Nutley Arms". But after 7 miles of hard slog across the forest and with tongues hanging out we arrived at the hostelry only to find it shut! After beating Ivan's feet with sticks for his inept walk preparation we had no choice but to set off for the remaining 3 miles back to the car, hoping that hunger and thirst didn't strike us down before we reached it!

By this time the rain had decided it was here for the rest of the day and we got wetter and wetter as time passed by. Fortunately we had parked just a mile or so from Sheffield Park Station on the heritage "Bluebell Line" so we popped down there to their Cafe and took late refreshment before driving home.

Whether it was the overcast weather or just the time of year but we saw very little wildlife on this walk. However, the Bluebells are now showing in places although they have yet to reach the wonderful full carpet of blue that will be on us in a couple of weeks time and the Primroses are a beautiful sight.