Kevins Rambles July group walk

Friston Forest is a forest, located between Seaford and Eastbourne in East Sussex. It is part of the South Downs National Park area. The forest is managed by Forestry England and covers an area of 2.79 square kilometres, or 278.73 ha.

History
Friston Forest was planted in the 1930–40s by the Forestry Commission. The most common species of tree planted was beech, because of the chalk and limestone soil.

Friston Forest in East Sussex has a history of being planted in the 1930s and 1940s by the Forestry Commission. It was established to increase woodland cover in Britain and reduce reliance on imported timber. The forest is largely beech woodland, making it one of the largest in the country, and also includes other species like pine, sycamore, and various conifers.
Here’s a more detailed look at its history:
Early 20th Century:
The Eastbourne Waterworks Company initially purchased the land, which was then downland.
1926:
The Forestry Commission began planting the forest, primarily to protect Eastbourne’s water supply.
1930s-1940s:
The main planting efforts took place during these decades.
Purpose:
The Forestry Commission aimed to increase woodland areas in Britain and reduce timber imports.
Species:
Beech was the dominant species, due to the chalk and limestone soil, but other trees like pine, sycamore, and conifers were also planted.
Size:
Friston Forest is an 850-hectare (2,100-acre) forest, making it one of the largest recently established woodlands in Southeast England.
Current Use:
Today, Friston Forest is a popular destination for walking, cycling, horse riding, and orienteering.

The Litlington White Horse is a chalk hill figure depicting a horse, situated on Hindover Hill (locally known as High-and-Over) in the South Downs. It overlooks the River Cuckmere to the west of the village of Litlington and north of East Blatchington in East Sussex, England.

The current horse was cut in 1924 by John T Ade, Eric Hobbis, and Stephen Bovis in a single night, and stands at 93 ft (28 m) long and 65 ft (20 m) high. An earlier horse figure was cut slightly northwest of the current one in 1838. Since 1991, the horse has been owned by the National Trust, who, along with local volunteers, regularly clean and maintain it.

Until the late 20th century, the Litlington White Horse was referred to by various names, reflecting its location and nearby landmarks. These names included the “White Horse on Hindover Hill”, the “Alfriston White Horse”, the “Sussex White Horse”, the “Charleston White Horse”, the “Exceat White Horse” and the “Jevington White Horse”. Today, the name “Litlington White Horse” has become the most widely used and recognised.

The Litlington White Horse is one of two hill figures in East Sussex, the other being the Long Man of Wilmington, situated 3 miles northeast of the White Horse. It is also one of only eleven horse hill figures in England located outside of Wiltshire.

Original Litlington White Horse
The original Litlington White Horse was part of a broader trend in the 19th and early 20th centuries, during which several communities in southern England created or restored chalk figures as enduring symbols of local identity, pride, and heritage.

There is ahuge amount of additional information about the white horse on Wikipedia.

#history #walking #nature #trees #freshair #walkinggroup #fristonforest #eastsussex #beechtrees #forest #friendships #whitehorse #chalkhorse #litlington #cuckmere #cuckmereinn

Hello friends and welcome back to another episode of Kevin’s Rambles with the main man himself, Kevin Hall. So, let’s go and see what he’s up to today. Good morning. It’s Kevin’s Rambles Day. What month is it? July. July. Thank you. There’s 28 to 30 people here. We’ve done about six head counts and they’re all different. Anyway, look, let me just show you. I’m not going to tell you the names. Look, look, look, look, look, look. There we are. Look all this lot. Look, look, Mr. Norris all the way from that there. London, Croatia. Croatia. Mr. English is hiding. Mr. Croser still thinks we all still thinks we all got a strange accent down here. I’ve got a very strange accent down here and I don’t understand the word after you what you’re saying. Yeah, pardon. Yeah, exactly, Kevin. I understand. So, we’re being led today by Lynn Kim. Kim Kim. Well done. Good start. Good start. I’ll cut that. It’ll be an outtake for later on. Kim Kim or Lynn says we’re starting over that way. Has everybody used the toilet? Have you not all at the same time? There’s only one in there. There is. Yeah. Anyway, should we get Should we go? Are we ready? Have lunch. Not a huge bit before we get to the road. After you. Lovely. Kim is just checking. Oh, sorry. We’re crossing the road on a corner. Can you all please be very careful? Yeah. Okay. We’ll try. Maybe one of us goes each side. Yeah. Yeah. This is This is Angela’s favorite thing to We’ll do all this and then we’ll find out. You just got to open the gate. Stitch. Where was that horse we saw the on driving in? Oh, it’s up. We’re coming up towards it. Are we? You could see it just just up there on the brail of the hill. It’s a chalk. Well, I’m assuming it’s chalk horse. That is beautiful countryside. Look at this. Isn’t it gorgeous? Is it lovely? Yeah. It is warm. There he goes. Look, he’s a happy boy. Uh-oh. Uh-oh. Mom, it’s too steep. Oh, no, it’s not. Has he gone? Where’s Kai? Is he in the water? Here he comes. Oh, yeah. Thanks. Brilliant. K. Oh, gun again. Yep. [Laughter] That looks quite clayy sort of soil. It’ll come out really muddy. Yeah. Oh, look. Yeah. How you doing? The knowledge bit. Yeah. Beautiful, isn’t it? Is this just stunning? [Music] Oh, well, we’ve worked our way out through the the slow bushes, which Steve and Laura would love, and there’s loads of them all the way along the side here. And Rob and I was looking at a building, which is just over there. We think that’s some sort of clubhouse for the canoists. But just along here we got the bridge to see out to see. And we got the part of the group in front of us here. The rest are coming up the rear somewhere. But I don’t know which way we got to go now. Whether we got to go across the road or along the bridge. There’s a pub there, Rob. Talk of my language. Is it the cup? Cook me in. Cook me her in. I can just about make that out of my eyesight. But you’re a younger fell than me. Yeah. What do you mean? Yeah. Yeah. You know, 15 years, Kevin, it makes all the difference. Are you? Yes. My pole’s bigger than yours. Stop extending your pole all the time, sir. He just likes to show off. I think he does. Yeah. Biggest one I’ve seen today. I know. Well, we had a about a 20-minute break. A lovely establishment back there. Barns have been converted, I think. Now we’re walking along this forest path. Unfortunately, a group is extremely strung out. If I can turn this around and show you. Right up the front there is one group. Then we got another group and then another group. Then me and then then back there this lovely old building here partly timber framed flint flint built lovely little cottage that we’re now climbing up this hill. So here we go up this hill. This is a bit of a climb. Oh well I was wrong. We weren’t going up that little track to our left. We’re actually going up around this way. Oh, we’re up a little little church by the looks of it. What does it say? All Saints Church. Here we go. The old parsonage. What a lovely old name. Look at this. I I think this is Is this the east end? I’m not sure if this is the east end of the church or not to be honest. As you can see, it’s flint built with infill in a lot of it. Sort of rubbly stuff, but that’s pointed. This is just going to be a little quick stop. Here we are back with a Oh, what’s this? Jane Buy McCrae Brown, 1948 to 2003 artist. And I can’t read that at the bottom. So, she was an artist. I need to have a word with Andrew, Mr. Norris about that. Hopefully there’s a foot path back down. Yes, there is a little foot path down around here. Look. Here we go. So, let’s go and have a look inside the church. So, this would be the the south side. That would be the east that way. Here we go. Let’s have a look in there. We go into the church into the porch. Hello. Here we are. Hello. Wow. Look at this. Oswald Burley painter. Rather lovely church. Beautiful stained glass window. Lovely. Absolutely charming. Not interestingly Andrew Andrew didn’t know the artist in question. So, he’s going to investigate a bit more. Well, Kim told us Elijah’s now. She said, “When you get to those not those those finger posts pointing to the South Downs or South Downs Way, that’s where we stop.” And we branch off. And we didn’t. She looked at the map and said, “We got to go straight on.” But we’re nearing the top. I think he says in hope. Most of the groups up there. We got half a dozen or so behind us. There’s the view that back down the the incline. Or if Mr. Norris had his way, it be a slight undulation. So Kim’s brought us up to this lovely beachwoods. Absolutely stunning. And the group are stopping. Oh, we’re carrying on. Oh, we’re carrying on. Yeah. Yeah. Right, Paul. Here we come. Up through the woods. Here they come. Trying to work out who’s right at the back. Uh, couldn’t join your trip there, Steve? Did you? Police can even go back into history. It’s been deleted. Here they come. Snaking our way through the woods or the group is they are up through there. Absolutely stunning woods. This is beautiful. Lovely, lovely beach woods. Look at it all going through there. Absolutely stunning. Well, we’ve still been walking through this parts of these lovely beach woods. Hopefully, we’re not going to be too far from the car park. What are you doing, mate? I said we’ll come there. Yeah. Cat there. Yeah. Squirrels or something. Foraging. Hope it don’t rain over. That’s the That’s the tail end, the group at the back. We’re just about to go into a a more densely packed woodland. And if I pan round, let me go from this side. Look at the light through there where the trees have been thinned out. And as I pan round, look at the way the light changes. It’s amazing. Well, I’m walking along with Paul and we think, we don’t know, we think that the brighter area down in front of us, let me just point that way. It could be the car park. Was it you said, “Hallelujah.” Hallelujah. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. found religion. Yeah. And it lives in a car park. Gosh, there’s noisy walkers behind us. Yeah. Just dropping down. This looks like the last bit of this particular trail. And I think this is the car park from whence we started. Let’s hope so. Paul, go for that. Yeah. Although I don’t recognize any of this bit. No, I don’t. Kevin was just saying I don’t recognize this bit, but I don’t either. Could be a car park. It might not be the exactly. Let’s hope so. Yeah. Well, the group’s all stopped in front of us. Not not Well, not the whole group. I remember. Well, we’re back at the car park and I found my phone. Well, see, Cynthia did. It wasn’t at the cafe. It was in my car. Thank goodness. Anyway, where’s Kim? Kim, thank you so much. Yeah, it was brilliant. What a brilliant walk. really really good. Excellent. Yeah. Andrew and Kim are planning next year’s July walk already. Oh, lovely. Thanks also to uh Robbie of the North who suggested it as well. There are no hills, are there, Robbie? No, no hills or undulations. But there is a church and a pub. Undulations. A church and a pub. There’s a cafe. There’s a pub. A lovely church for you, Kevin with big clappers in inside. Hey, there’s nothing I can say about that, mate. Ding dong. Uh, yeah, it’s gorgeous along. Okay, cool. So, July’s walk is being planned already for next 20 26. Anyway, everybody, thank you so much. 28 of us, 29, whatever it was, I think 28. Thank you so much for coming out and joining in again. One day you’ll get fed up with me and you won’t be coming out. Do you want to put that in writing? Have a word. Have a word with Cynthia. She can type it up and I might sign it. Yeah. Yeah. I’m really appreciate it. As I’ve said before, feel very honored that you all come out every month. Apart from Andrew. Yeah. And Rob. Not possible, mate. No. And of course Paul and Kim over there. Um, but they, you know, they do travel down for us, which is great. Um, Steve and I, Steve, Steve and I travel up to the Cotswwell, don’t we, Steve? Yeah. On our own. Nobody comes with us. Anyway, thank you very much, everybody. I really appreciate it. And safe journeys home to everybody to the pub. [Applause] [Music] Well, I hope you enjoyed seeing Kevin on his latest adventure. Absolutely. And don’t forget, if you have enjoyed it, give him a thumbs up cuz it helps him out. Drop a comment below and subscribe to his channel and you’ll be able to follow him on his adventures wherever he goes.