Conveniently located off the A27, in the shadow of the South Downs, in walking distance from Berwick Church famous for it’s Bloomsbury painting’s, historic Alfriston and the South Downs Way, we’ll find the Cricketer’s Arms, and we’ll find it every time again.

A traditional flint stone cottage pub nestling below the South Downs, in the Bloomsbury countryside and with many popular walks. Beautiful cottage gardens, homemade food using local produce and award winning Harveys’ ales served direct from the cask.

We love this place, and so does everyone we take to the Cricketer’s Arms. The phone booth is there so you can let your loved-ones know how much you’re enjoying yourselves.

John Pile first took over Middle Farm in October 1960, and he and his family have run the business here ever since. The land at Middle Farm was notoriously difficult to farm, due to its very heavy clay soil. So Mr Pile and his wife Vivienne knew that immense hard work, determination and imagination would be needed to make the business viable. 

However the business still struggled, until John and Vivienne had a revolutionary idea. They had eggs, milk, apples from the orchard, and Vivienne baked wonderful bread, cakes and jam – so why not set up a shop right here on the farm, selling produce made at Middle Farm and by other local producers? 

And so Middle Farm Shop opened, one of the first farm shops in the country. At first the shop operated from the farm kitchen, but it soon became so popular and well-known that more space was needed. So some of the beautiful Victorian farm buildings were converted, and the shop moved to its present premises.  

In more recent years, Mr Pile set up the cider business, collecting cider from small farms all over the west country to sell at Middle Farm. In the 1990s, part of the farm was opened up to the public and schools – another innovation which has since been followed by many other farms.

A restaurant was also opened, to showcase dishes cooked from local ingredients, and a Gift Shop was set up in the former cart lodge. A plant shop was added, and more recently Mr Pile has developed a new business selling animal feed and housing. John Pile is still at Middle Farm almost every day. Since 2002 he has held the tenancy jointly with his daughter Helen. Helen and her husband Rod have continued the family tradition of celebrating British food and farming with passion and innovation.

Old Apple Tree we wassail thee...

Helen and Rod have expanded the cider shop into the world-famous showcase for traditional cider and perry that is today, and they have also set up the fabulous Middle Farm Apple Festival, the annual Wassail, and many other events. The Wassail evening takes place every January. A Wassail is a winter celebration, traditionally held on Old Twelfth Night, to ensure that the orchard is fruitful in the coming months. At Middle Farm the Wassail is accompanied by music and dancing, mummers and Morris men, hot food, mulled cider and local ale.

The last 50 years have seen many highs and lows, but we have survived and even thrived, in spite of all the difficulties that farming has faced during that time. However, none of this would have been possible without their wonderful, dedicated and passionate staff and customers, who have made Middle Farm such a success over the last 50 years. Let us hope that it will continue for many long years to come.

Nestling at the foot of Firle Beacon on the South Downs in Sussex, Middle Farm is a 625 acre working family farm. There is something for every member of the family to enjoy. 

Six generations of farming have given the Piles a unique insight into British food production. The highest standards of animal welfare and environmental care show in their milk and meat products. They demand those same high standards from everyone whose produce they stock. They aim to promote the excellence of British farming by presenting to their customers the finest food and drink from the British countryside, maintaining the best of all that is traditional, whilst welcoming innovation wherever they find it.

Daily events

• 10.45am

Guinea Pig Feeding

• 11.30pm

Pig Feeding

• 2pm

Pat-a-Pet (weekends/school holidays only)

• 3.30pm

Milking time – Watch the cows being milked

There is no charge for entry to Middle Farm, apart from the Open Farm where tickets are £4.00 per head. There is no charge for children under 3. Season tickets also available at a cost £35 per person or child.

There is ample free parking, and the car park and farm shop buildings are all within easy walking distance of each other, with good access facilities for the elderly and disabled.

Coach parties, groups, birthday parties and school parties are welcome, but please book in advance to ensure that there is room for you.

Middle Farm cares passionately about the quality of produce in their farm shop and for the last forty years have selected only the finest meat, cheese, dressings, pickles & preserves, ice-cream, seasonal fruit and vegetables from like-minded small-scale producers. They source locally where possible, and offer a comprehensive range of organic produce.

Their traditional butcher specialises in additive-free meat and poultry, including their own home-produced beef, pork and lamb. They also make 20 different varieties of sausages. A wide range of cured bacon and hams and a selection of cooked meats is available. Try some venison, pheasant, or wild boar, and other game, available fresh in season. A butcher is always available to make sure that you get exactly the cut you require. Please place your order with the butcher, by phone or when you visit.

In their bakery they make a fantastic range of cakes, scones, fruit and savoury pies and complete meals for you to cook at home. They have fresh bread daily. They also produce a small range of frozen gluten–free cakes & meals.

Middle Farm stock 50 different British cheeses, including traditional varieties such as Quickes Farmhouse Cheddar, Cropwell Bishop Stilton and the more unusual Sussex Slipcote, Flower Marie.

With a log fire in winter, and sun-filled courtyard in summer, their Plough Monday restaurant serves delicious home-made, country recipes freshly cooked every day in the farm kitchens. Enjoy a reviving morning coffee, a lovely light lunch (there is always a vegetarian option) or a sumptuous Sussex cream tea with their famous scones. They provide smaller portions and healthy lunch boxes for smaller people.

Come and meet the friendly chickens, ducks, spotted pigs and donkeys. Don’t miss the playful rabbits and guinea pigs. There are timed events throughout the day, including the prize-winning pedigree Jersey cows being milked each afternoon.

Angora / Toggenburg goats

Middle Farm has an outdoor playground and a hay play barn, a nature trail around the farm and a picnic area. They can also cater for educational visits.

The National Collection of Cider & Perry is a unique celebration of our national fruit. Visitors can taste, compare and buy from a range of over 100 different draught ciders and perries (including our own Pookhill Cider). As well as a huge range of meads, country wines and fruit liqueurs, the Collection holds a carefully selected range of draught and bottled ales. They also stock English cider brandies, apple gin, apple vodka and apple eaux-de-vie. Fresh apple juice is pressed daily, and an apple-pressing service is offered throughout the late summer and autumn.

Middle Farm is situated on the main A27 Lewes to Eastbourne road, between the villages of Firle and Selmeston. The nearest stations are Glynde (2 miles) or Lewes (5 miles).

You can visit the Open Farm from 10am until 5pm with last admission at 4.30pm.

Middle Farm is open from 9.30 am to 5.30 pm every day except Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day.

Middle Farm regrets that they cannot welcome dogs (except assistance dogs) onto the Open Farm area.

Click here to visit Middle Farm’s beautiful website

Highwoods, Bexhill

We’re still trying to discover the perfect woods to walk our Labrador Boris, so we visited Highwoods in Bexhill, on the map above just about the spot marked as “Gotham”.

Welcome to The Highwoods

Britain’s remaining natural woodlands are disappearing at an alarming rate. They are an asset which, if lost, cannot be replaced.Bexhill has one of the few surviving examples of traditional coppiced woodlands left in East Sussex in the 87 acres (35 Hectares) of the Highwoods. The Highwoods Preservation Society arranges periodic coppicing work.

The Ashdown Brickwork, next to the woods (the white spot on the map) are under threat to be turned into a landfill site. BALI (Bexhill Against Landfill / Incineration) are objecting to the plans.

Since the early 1980′s Highwoods Preservation Society volunteers and others have, under a management agreement with the Rother District Council, safeguarded this local beauty spot and wildlife habitat for the benefit of the public–and the birds, animals  and plants.

Under the agreed management programme footpaths have been widened, drained and waymarked. A horse ride has been cleared and signposted so this long-established public use of the woods can continue without risk to walkers or damage to the area as wildlife habitat. More recently a disabled path has been added.

Overgrown ponds have been cleared and returned to use as a valuable part of the ecology of the woodlands. A dry heath has been cleared of bracken andencroaching silver birch. Regular surveys are taken of wildlife seen in the woods. As a result of careful and planned woodland management their number and variety is rising.

For the benefit of Highwoods Preservation Society members and many other interested organisations, regular conducted walks around the woods are now organised. Local schools also use the Woods as part of their environmental education.

A saw pit in the Highwoods. The woods are designated Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and the ‘Sessile Oak Coppice’ is said to be the finest in southern Britain.

Regular public walks are given by the warden, and on these walks he is able to point out the wildlife of the woods at that time of the year.

Our boy Boris enjoying a swim in a pool that once was used as a swimming pool by school boys from Bexhill.

If you ask Boris, he certainly wants to come back to these woods.

Hope Cottage Farm Shop and Tearoom

Yesterday we visited Hope Cottage Farm Shop, on Hooe Road (B2095) to Ninfield, East Sussex.

Slow Dog Crossing

The sign outside the Farm Shop says, “Slow Dog Crossing”. We saw the slow dog, but it wasn’t about to cross anything, anytime…

Slow Dog, actually crossing

After 10 minutes the Slow Dog decided he had to do his thing, and he started to cross the parking lot. Very slowly…

Hope Cottage Tea Room

In the comfort of the cosy tearoom we sampled the scrumptious homemade cakes and pastries. The also serve a mouth-watering High Tea at 8.50 per person.

It’s peculiar, and not very clever, businesswise, but in many English Tearooms, like the one on Eastbourne Pier, they don’t serve espresso coffee. However, to my surprise they serve an excellent espresso in Hope Cottage Farm Shop.

Fresh Fruit and Vegetables

Hope Cottage Farm Shop has a wide choice of fresh fruit and vegetables. They also stock horse and pet feeds, locally made cards, crafts and jewelry.

Hope Cottage Farm Shop will be hosting an annual Michaelmas Fayre on Sunday 11th September 2011 and are now looking for exhibitors.

http://www.hopecottagefarmshop.co.uk/

A couple of miles north of St. Leonards-on-Sea I’ve found Battle Great Wood, I nice place to walk our dog Boris.

Boris loves woods. He enjoys the smells of other dogs, and the smells of other dogs, and the smells of other dogs, and most of all the smells of other dogs.

You will find Battle Great Wood’s parking place and entrance on Marley Lane, east of Battle, East Sussex TN21 – England, UK.

In the 10th and 11th centuries great swathes of land across East Sussex were covered in a great mass of woodland. Most of this woodland has now gone, but the Battle Great Wood can still be enjoyed.

The wood is managed by the Forestry Commission and covers nearly two hundred acres of mostly coniferous woods. Battle Great Wood is a fantastic place to walk, ride and spot the wide range of plant life and wild life.

And Boris likes sticks. Boris has found an ancient stick in a pond, and there’s something strange about the stick — it won’t float!

Where is the flipping stick?

Battle Great Wood consists mainly of oak, birch, beech and coniferous woodland, with areas of heathland, ponds, streams and sweet chestnut coppice. There is a wealth of wildlife, with Badgers and Deer, birds such as Nightjar, Tree Pipit and Crossbills, and many common woodland butterflies, dragonflies and damselflies.

The well kept pathways offer easy walking without stiles, although there are some hilly sections. And after heavy rainfall the trail might be quite muddy.

Bodiam Castle, north view, with the gatehouse and the Barbicon

Imagine that a modern-day warrior like General Petraeus would fight his battles in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Central Asia, the Arabian Peninsula, and Iraq, and come home as a billionaire, to build a castle from scratch in New Hampshire with the money he looted. We would be a bit surprised. Mind you, you’re allowed to loot, you’re even supposed to loot when you’re representing your country in a war situation, but the government wants all of it.

Bodiam Castle, view of the south-west tower and postern tower

Things were different in the times of Sir Edward Dalyngrigge, a former knight of Edward III. Edward Dalyngrigge was a younger son, so deprived of his father’s estates, but he manaaged to make his own fortunes. He was a highly successful soldier and when he returned from the wars in France, laden with plunder, he found the need to advertise his local status with a castle. Dalyngrigge was one of many Englishmen who travelled to France to seek their fortune as members of Free Companies – groups of mercenaries who fought for the highest bidder.

Bodiam Castle, from the south-west

In 1377, after a short break, the fighting between England and France resumed. During the war, England and France struggled for control of the English Channel, with raids on both coasts. In the face of renewed hostilities, Parliament voted that money should be spent on defending and fortifying England’s south coast, and defences were erected in East Sussex and Kent in anticipation of a French invasion. In 1385, a fleet of 1,200 ships – variously cogs, barges, and galleys – gathered at Sluys, the Netherlands; the population of southern England was in a state of panic. In autumn that year, in the scheme of the fortifications, Edward Dalygrigge was granted a licence to fortify his manor house. Richard II recognized the threat (and probably Sir Edward’s desire for personal aggrandisement) and granted Dalyngrigge a license to crenellate the walls and make Bodiam look like a “proper” castle even though, in real terms, it was little more than a fortified manor house.

Bodiam Castle, north wall from the inside

Dalyngrigge’s licence from Richard II permitted him to refortify his existing manor house, but instead he chose a fresh site to build a castle on. Dalyngrigge acquired the estate and manor of Bodiam through his marriage to the heiress Elizabeth Wardeux. This manor house was not where the present Castle stands, but to the North of Bodiam Church in the adjacent valley of the Kent Ditch.

Bodiam Castle, south-west tower

Construction was completed in one phase, and most of the castle is in the same architectural style. So Bodiam Castle was built quickly, inside four years, probably because of the threat from the French. Stone castles were usually time-consuming and expensive to build, often costing thousands of pounds. Dalyngrigge was Captain of the port of Brest in France from 1386 to 1387, and as a result was probably absent for the first years of the castle’s construction. It replaced the old manor house as Dalyngrigge’s main residence and the administrative centre of the manor.

Bodiam Castle - Floor plan

It is not recorded when Bodiam Castle was completed, but Thackray suggests that it was before 1392; Dalyngrigge did not have long to spend in the completed castle, as he was dead by 1395.

Bodiam Castle, from the kitchen looking to the Great Hall

In fact, Bodiam Castle was never attacked by the French. In November 1483 it was besieged by Yorkist troops during the War of the Roses, but the owner, the Lancastrian Sir Thomas Lewknor, surrendered without any significant resistance.

Bodiam Castle -- The Kitchen

The castle kitchens were adjoining the Great Hall and two massive fireplaces, complete with brick ovens, spits, griddles and a horde of servants would have supplied the mountains of food required by the castle’s inhabitants. A spring-fed well in the base of an adjoining tower provided cool, clean, fresh water and the castle dovecote would have provided an excellent source of cheap fresh meat.

One of the two massive fireplaces in the main kitchen

As many as one hundred people would have lived and worked inside Bodiam. There are the remains of twenty eight fireplaces in the walls and thirty three garderobes (medieval toilets) drained unpleasantly into the moat.

Bodiam Castle - Collection of Rain Water

The buttery had a cellar and was used to store ale and wine, while the pantry held the supplies for the kitchen. To prevent heat from the cooking fires becoming unbearable, the kitchen was as tall as the curtain walls to provide a large space to absorb the heat. In the south-west tower was a well, from which water would have been drawn for the household.

Bodiam Castle - From the south-west tower looking at the nort and north-east towers

Leading off from the Great Hall would have been the lord’s private chamber and sleeping quarters. The Chapel would have been in the same area, as well as his lady’s suite of rooms. The castle walls were effectively a three storey building that surrounded the central courtyard providing Dalyngrigge and his entourage with unprecedented space and comfort.

East of the main gatehouse was a two-storey building with a basement. The basement was probably used for storage while the above two floors provided accommodation. The purpose of the buildings along the west end of the north range is uncertain. The sparse arrangement, with little provision for lighting, has led to suggestions that it was used as stables, however there are no drains which are usually associated with stables. The tower in the north-west corner of the castle had a garderobe and fireplace on each of the three above-ground floors, and there was a basement underneath.

North gate of Bodiam Castle, with the remains of the Barbican

From the west side of the moat, a wooden bridge (defended by a drawbridge) spanned the moat to a central octagonal shaped stone island. This bridge then turned ninety degrees to the north face of the castle, through a defended Barbican, (sadly little of this remains) then up to the front door and its own defended Gatehouse. Attackers then faced machicolations, three pairs of heavy doors, three portcullises and further ‘murder holes’ in the vaulted passageway.

Carp in the moat os Bodiam Castle

Lord George Nathaniel Curzon purchased the Castle in 1916 and undertook the research and restoration of Bodiam Castle that visitors enjoy today. Lord Curzon had decided that “so rare a treasure should neither be lost to our country nor desecrated by irreverent hands”. Curzon began a programme of investigation at Bodiam in 1919, and with architect William Weir restored parts of the castle. The moat, on average about 5 ft (1.5 m) deep but 7 ft (2.1 m) deep in the south-east corner, was drained and 3 ft (0.9 m) of mud and silt removed; during excavations the original footings of the bridges to the castle were discovered. Nearby hedges and fences were removed to provide an unobscured view of the castle. There were excavations in the interior, and a well was discovered in the basement of the south-west tower. Vegetation was cleared, stonework repaired, and the original floor level re-established throughout the castle. A cottage was built to provide a museum to display the finds from the excavations and a home for a caretaker. The Castle was bequeathed to the National Trust by Lord Curzon who died in 1925. 

The National Trust continued the restoration work, and added new roofs to the towers and gatehouse. Excavations were resumed in 1970, and the moat was once again drained. Bodiam Castle was used in Monty Python and the Holy Grail in an establishing shot identifying it as “Swamp Castle” in the “Tale of Sir Lancelot” sequence.

Sources:

- Wikipedia

- History UK

Roy Cook and his wife Irma, from Germany, inherited 10 acres of land in Sedlescombe in 1974, and they decided to earn a small income from organic vegetable farming, as self-suffience was all the rage then . However, they soon latched on to the vine revival spreading across Southern England and realised their land had all the right conditions for viticulture.

The Sedlescombe Vineyard has won numerous awards for their wines whicch are all from hand picked fruit, grown and made under organic standards. In 1979 Roy and Irma started with 2,000 vines across one and a half acres. Now they own three vineyards spread over 12 acres and rent another two, totalling 11 acres.

Sedlescombe Organic Vinyards at Bodiam Castle

My Favorite White: the 30 Years Old Vine (Vieille Vigne). An elegant, light wine reminiscent of ripe bramley apples and limes, with exotic grassy flavours.

Sedlecombe Organic Vineyards produce an average of between 20,000 and 25,000 bottles a year, based on a method they unearthed in a German Gothic textbook written by Dr Julius Nessler in 1885. He advocated a radical departure from conventional wine-making wisdom. Roy and Irma kept their knowledge a secret for many years, but now their wines have won many awards, they’re happy to share it.

Roy and Irma are offering hobby winemakers a piece of their pioneering vineyard at Cripps Corner, Robertsbridge, by becoming a member of the Rentavine wine club at England’s oldest organic vineyard. Hobbyists can participate in growing organic grapes, making English wine and enjoy broadening their knowledge of this fascinating and pleasurable subject. All the fun without the risk.

Roy & Irma Cook, in association with vineyard manager Inga Keck, are since 2010 applying the principles of Biodynamic agriculture as laid down by Rudolf Steiner in 1924, on all 22 acres of their organic vineyards.

First Release (Biodynamic & Organic)
Bronze Medal – UK Vineyard’s Association ‘Wine of the Year’ competition 2011. First Biodynamic English wine, crafted from hand-picked Bacchus, Solaris and Rivaner grapes. Concentrated fresh aroma, with tropical, zesty flavours of gooseberry, grapefruit and lemon grass. Drink now, within 5 years – or auction in 50 years!

On becoming Bio-dynamic, Sedlescombe Organic Vineyard will apply to join the prestigious world-wide groupings of Bio-dynamic Vineyards as a member of “Return to Terroir”. This group, founded by Nicolas Joly, seeks to re-assert the individuality and difference of wines produced in different regions and in different localities and to set itself apart from the faceless blandness and conformity of the products of international wine conglomerates.

“Our vineyards, organic for 30 years, are now teeming with wild-life”, says Roy. “Insects are attracted to the flowering green manure cover crops grown to improve soil fertility, and in turn they attract birds with resident pheasants enjoying the cover these crops provide”. Since the biodynamic conversion the organic vineyards are also in tune with the earth’s rhythms. The aptly named ‘First Release’ is a dry white whose label features the moon – a nod to the incorporation of lunar and cosmic rhythms in their ‘new age’ farming methods.

This self-built house in the vineyard was built by Constructive Individuals in three weeks time, using Walter Segal’s system of post and beam construction.

In 1986 Roy and Irma Cook built the bungalow to replace the old caravan on the land they inherited in 1974, but these plans were turned down by Rother District Council, and the “vineyard couple” faced eviction.

They had to show within two years that their business was viable. Well, we now know that it is!

The Queen's Head, Sedlescombe

Sedlescombe is a village and civil parish in the Rother District of East Sussex, England.The village is located seven miles (11 km) north of St. Leonards-on-Sea, on the A21 to London.

The parish lies within the High Weald Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The River Brede and its tributary the River Line flow through it; and Powdermill Reservoir is nearby, however difficult to access if you’re not fly-fishing. It has a population of approximately 1,500.

The geese house, behind the Queen's Head Inn

The village traces its roots back to Roman times. The oldest house in the village (Asselton House) was formerly called Asselton Bath and is reputed to be on the site of a Roman bathhouse. The surrounding area is rich in Roman remains, including the headquarters of the Roman navy in Britain just four miles (6 km) away at current day Beauport Park in St Leonards-on-Sea. This was the location where the Romans exported their local iron products from.

Three geese, the watchdogs of the Queen's Head Inn

Sedlescombe grew up around the village green close to the river that had brought the earliest pre-Roman settlers here in search of the iron ore. The iron industry was expanded by the Romans who also built the road through the village still known as “The Street”. Many centuries later, at the end of the 15th century, the introduction of the blast furnace allowed cast iron items, including cannons and cannon balls, to be made in local forges and furnaces. By the 18th century, Sedlescombe was making gunpowder and was said to have produced “the best gunpowder in Europe”. Both iron and gunpowder production relied on good charcoal which was made locally in Petley Wood until the end of the 20th century. The only signs of the iron industry nowadays are waste slag that can be found in the fields, small ponds oozing soft black mud and the listing of a few archaeological sites on a map.

Schoolkids on their way home. In the background: the Pumphouse on the Green

Fifty years ago the village boasted two pubs, a butcher, a bakery, a newsagent, a blacksmith, a garage, two eateries and two general stores. Only the village store remains, and then, to the joy of all of us, there is still the inn, the Queens Head.

"Metropolitan Drinking Fountain -- Horse & Cattle Trough's Association"

The Queens Head, as it stands today, is an ancient pub that was built in the 14th century. Its location however, on the side of a Roman road, suggests that the pub might have a much longer history. It was also used by the notorious Hawkhurst Gang, and the Smuggler’s Tunnel can still be seen from the cellar.

Elizabeth I was once stayed at the Queens Head and in celebration, the villagers planted an oak tree on The Green that is still there today.

This is the way English Heritage describes the Queen’s Head Inn: “C15 timber-framed building, refaced with red brick on ground floor and tile-hung above with a slight bellcast between and trace of a bressummer beneath this. The south end and the centre portion project slightly with gables over. Tiled roof. Casement windows with small square panes. Brick chimney breast with shoulders on south wall. Two storeys. Five windows. Panelling inside.”

Jean and Boris, after a walk near Powdermill Reservoir

Sedlescombe is a pleasant place to live. Despite losing so many shops, arguably residents have never been so well provided.

The Post Office

The shop/post office/off-licence supplies most dayto-day needs. It sells and delivers newspapers, sells confectionery, cigarettes, groceries, greetings cards, bread and hot pies, stationery, household goods, videos, reading glasses, chemist sundries and lottery tickets. Dry cleaning, laundry, shoe repairs and photo developing can be left at the shop. Photocopying and send/receive fax facilities are available. Banking facilities are available and a cashpoint is expected to be available during shop hours soon. Milk is delivered throughout the village. There is a daily post collection including Sundays and post deliveries on Monday to Saturday.

'with apple trees and honey bees and snow-white turtle doves"

The future of the Primary School seems to be secure with rising numbers of children coming from Sedlescombe and surrounding areas but shortage of space is a problem. If, however, numbers on the school roll were to fall below a certain level, funding would be withdrawn possibly resulting in reduction of staff. Secondary school pupils still attend Claverham and, increasingly, Robertsbridge. The price of houses locally and the natural urge to move away from home usually means that older teenagers do not stay in the Village for long. Sedlescombe’s population is increasingly elderly and very elderly and the shortage of warden care or care homes is a concern.

The Bar of the Queen's Head InnFire Place in the Queens' Head InnThe Lounge of the Queen's Head InnPretty Fine Dining in the Queen's Head Inn

Sources:

- The Queen’s Head Inn

- Rother Voluntary Action

Map of Summerfield, St. Leonards-on-Sea

 Summerfields was a boys’ preparatory school in St Leonards-on-Sea, East Sussex. It occupied the buildings previously known as Bohemia House.

Photo: Bohemia Walled Garden Association

Bohemia House was built about 1818, and occupied the site of the former Bohemia Farm, which has given its name to Bohemia Road, and the whole area known as Bohemia. The first owner was G. N. Collingwood, a son-in-law of Admiral Collingwood, and Princess Sophia of Gloucester stayed there during the summer of 1830. In 1903 the house was leased by Dr C. H. Williams, headmaster of Summer Fields School, Oxford, and the name was changed accordingly. The school was known as “Summers mi” and during World War II was relocated to Summer Fields in Oxford.

Former Summerfields alumni include Prince Ranier of Monaco.

The school closed in 1966 and the site was bought by Hastings Borough Council. The house was demolished in 1972. Part of the site was used for the new police station and fire brigade headquarters, and the name is now perpetuated by an hotel.

Summerfields Woods occupies a central position within the Borough, being close to the seafront and town centre. A semi-natural woodland, it is well used by local residents from the numerous access points around the wood. A stream runs through the majority of the wood with two ornamental ponds at the southern end.

Stretching from Holmesdale Gardens in the south to the cricket pitch at Horntye in the north, the woods represent an important habitat for badgers and migrating birds as well as a major woodland amenity in the middle of town. The majority of the woods are owned by Hastings Borough Council.

There is an extensive path network running through the site, some of which have been improved during the late 1980′s. Unfortunately there would appear to have been little upkeep of the paths and the majority have become neglected.

The main path into the site from Holmesdale Gardens in the south is the start of the Right of Way of Briscoe’s Walk. This forms part of the Hastings Greenway Project which has, attracted Single Regeneration Bid monies to upgrade this path as part of a more extensive walkway, and improve the access to the woods .

The main woodland itself is not subject to any overall management plan and appears in a general state of neglect. The southern part of the wood is dominated by mature and regenerating sycamore with an understorey of holly and occasional ash and elder, with a ground flora of bramble, enchanters nightshade and ivy. Where the woodland opens out, there are very dense thickets of bramble. Ferns, red campion, wood avens, cuckoo pint, dog-violet and hemp agrimony are noted on the woodland floor. Cherry laurel and rhododendron are both found in the lower part of the wood.

Two ponds form a predominant landscape feature of the lower part of the wood. It is thought the ponds, as well as other features within the woods, were constructed during the Victorian era. The ponds are in a very poor and neglected condition, under a dense canopy of overhanging trees, and possess poor marginal vegetation.

Both water features suffer from silting, rubbish dumping and general neglect. The upper pond has an island feature which is now dominated by bramble and supports semi-mature birch trees. There. is limited marginal vegetation although clumps of Himalayan balsam, hogweed, flag iris, pendulous sedge and various ferns are growing at the waters edge. The entire surface of the top pond is covered in lemmna species

Some selective management is evident in an area east of the Sports Centre where native trees have been encouraged through selective thinning. This area was probably the most severely damaged after the storms of 1987. The ground flora here is a carpet of bluebells and bramble has been consistently cut back..

The stream which feeds the ponds runs down the central part of the woods where the bank sides are steep and densely vegetated with ferns, regenerating ash, holly and sycamore, bramble and rhododendron. The canopy is a mix of beech, sycamore, birch and rowan. A further small pond is located further north, in the middle of the woods, which provides the source of the stream from local land drains converging into one area.

A Victorian grotto is situated in one of the banks which has a flourishing population of liverworts around the dripping water from the surrounding bank.

The northern part of the wood supports a greater diversity of tree species with holm oak, willows, ash, oak, sweet chestnut, birch and beech although the woodland floor is still dominated by a matrix of ivy, nettle and bramble clumps.

The development of the cricket pitch area to include an all weather hockey pitch has affected the very top part of the woods which are owned by the Trustees of the cricket club.

One of the most notable aspects of Summerfields Woods is they play host to one of the largest populations of badgers in the middle of town, with setts located throughout the woods and in adjacent areas

It is clear the woods represent a major wildlife and natural amenity asset in the town. They form an important habitat for migratory birds and nesting indigenous birds, as well as playing host to a large and thriving badger population. The fact there is de-facto access to the woods and there is an extensive, if somewhat neglected, path network encourages local residents to use the site as a walking area and through route to other areas of the town.

The woods represent an important habitat for migrant birds such as meadow pipit, redstart, whinchat, stonechat, wheatear and siskin as well as a breeding and feeding site for a host of more common birds such as greenfinch, chaffinch, jay, various tits and woodpeckers.

Whilst the existing path network is extensive throughout the woods it is difficult to stray from the paths due to the density of vegetation and the bramble/nettle clumps in particular.

There does not appear to be any formal management plan for the upkeep of the woods and their features. This is certainly an issue which requires urgent redress to bring the woods into a maintained, safe and cared for standard. As the woods have became the focus of much attention through the development of the hockey pitch, it will be essential to facilitate a management regime to encourage safe access for visitors and members of the local community, and to enhance the woods as a wildlife haven in the town.

In the middle of Summerfields Wood you will find this wall.

And behind the wall is a garden. It’s the home of the Bohemia Walled Garden Association. The Victorian walled garden was built after construction of Bohemia House. The Bohemia Walled Garden Association is restoring a neglected Victorian garden and to encourage residents in the Hastings / St.Leonards area to become actively involved in growing some of their own food. The group is currently creating a network of paths and a layout of plots, demonstration areas and areas for future social & cultural events. Anyone wishing to join this community project is welcome to visit. The walled garden is open to the general public every Sunday morning from 10 until 12. To become a member (free), simply complete the on-line application form using their website: www.bohemiawga.weebly.com . As well as supporting horticultural activities, the BWGA aims to raise awareness of local history and the need for other structures on the former Brisco Estate to be maintained. The Bohemia Walled Garden Association takes its name from the Bohemia Farmhouse that once welcomed visitors for bohemian-style cream teas; this was later transformed into the estate of Wastel Brisco and then into the Summerfields Estate, currently owned by the Hastings Borough Council.

Click here to visit the website of Bohemia Walled Garden Assosciation

The Convent Chapel, seen from the Oval Playing Fields

Open space, one of the attractions of St. Leonards-on-Sea. In the south-east of St. Leonards you will find the Oval Playing Fields, between Bohemia Road, Falaise Road, St. Margaret’s Road and Magdalen Road. This area is also called The Convent.

This Convent is the first Roman Catholic female institution in Great Britain since the Reformation — the life’s work of Cornelia Connelly (born in Philadelphia on 15 January 1809, died in St. Leonards on 18 April 1879), who is internationally renowned, and reportedly on course for sainthood.

Today this is a private international school.

There is an ancient underground corridor from the convent (right) to the school, to keep the girls dry when it was raining.

Large private gardens and other greenspaces can make a useful contribution to the townscape of an area — and should be protected from development which would prejudice the open nature of such areas.
Although Hastings and St Leonards have an abundance of empty property — there are over 3000 privately owned empty homes in Hastings and St’Leonards, and of these, approximately 1600 have been empty for 6 months or more — there are plans to build 7-story appartment buildings on the site. A bloody shame.    

Basket ball field

Many thousands of visitors come to Hastings every year.  Those leaving the Museum and Art Gallery in John’s Place, Lower Bohemia, get an admirable sense of the town in the view across the upper Convent grounds to the streetscape that is upper Magdalen Road including the front of St Thomas’s church.  To build blocks of flats and houses here (many with sawtooth roofs) would contravene the HLP and policy DG8.

Skate boarding

The Convent is to go from being essentially uninhabited (except in high summer) to a crowded estate with major traffic intersections on Magdalen Road.  In the plain sense of the term this is a change of use.
Similarly the Council offers assurances to residents about encroaching institutional nuisance, as around HLP par 7.89.
Equally, the Borough Council wishes to safeguard the amenities of immediate neighbours and will not therefore permit such a use where it is considered that it would cause undue noise and disturbance.

Fancy Fair

The planned development means two new turnings for motor traffic in a short stretch of Magdalen Road (which has just had a new turning added in the same stretch and on the same side, at Star of the Sea School).
The increased traffic will compete with the emergency service vehicles on their designated route, and the already considerable school-run traffic twice a day.  Additionally there will be light pollution, air pollution and noise pollution.  The street nuisance (such as litter) will be considerable.  Despite the hundreds of parking spaces, parking overspill is a certainty and will infest the local streets.  The loss of wildlife will be marked.   

Dear Hastings and St. Leonards Council

Don’t concrete the convent. It deserves better than this overdevelopment.  Nearly 500 bedrooms means hundreds of people and hundreds of parking spaces, for no good reason.  The whole site is in a Conservation Area, so why is the site being developed anyway?  Blocks of ugly flats have nothing to do with the history and character of this area.  The Council is in breach of its own Local Plan.

Renewing the old buildings is fine, but the density of the new scheme on the Convent grounds is unacceptable.  Cramming 7-storey blocks of flats onto the site does not harmonise with Victorian housing.  There are already enough long-term empty properties in town to house all these proposed new residents and more. 

For years the planners and developers have poured concrete all over the Borough, and been allowed to.  Hastings and St. Leonards get abused as a result, its Victorian charm steadily relentlessly eroded.  Refer to your Policy C1c) on preserving space.  (The present local candidates for the House of Commons have acknowledged problems in the planning process, whatever the tension between private ownership and public benefit.)

All of the convent is in a Conservation Area:  save the spaces before saving the ‘Pugin’ chapel.  The proposal is somebody’s nice little earner that would scar the town.  Don’t approve it.

Read the Hastings Planning and Heritage Watchdog