Icklesham 10km loop. Sunny skies!

This week's blog is written by Helen :)

7am on a Sunday usually finds me still in bed, but even I could appreciate the freshness of the morning as a small group of us set off on a 10K route from Icklesham Village Hall. The long, late-summer grass soon soaked our shoes, prompting the obligatory chat about the merits of different trail shoe brands!

We’re a social bunch, but the steep climb up Hog Hill past Paul McCartney’s windmill put our conversation on hold while we caught our breath. A pause to admire the view here is also hard to resist, especially on such a beautiful, clear day. It’s almost a 360-degree vista, with Pett Level, Winchelsea, Rye, Camber, and Icklesham all visible. It’s strange to think that much of that land was underwater before the Great Storm of 1287.

We continued on part of the well-trodden 1066 route, running past the Charles Palmer vineyard and nodding to The Watcher, a sculpture by Keith Pettit, as we hopped over one of many stiles. The summer nettles meant a short detour towards Winchelsea’s ruin of St John’s Hospital before dipping back downhill to pass through the ‘New’ Gate, built in the 13th century and then out onto Pett Level to follow the Royal Military Canal.

This was a brutal stretch when we last attempted the route in January, when we were doubled over running against a winter storm with no windbreak between us and the sea. This time, the sun shone down upon the elegant swans, and pipits filled the skies. We turned inland to follow Panel Sewer (which smells much better than it sounds!). It’s a gorgeous stretch of path that passes bird hides overlooking lapwing-filled marshland and, quite bizarrely, a deer farm.

By this point, we were beginning to feel warm and were ready for a break by the time we reached the bridge on Panel Lane. Then, with our legs tingling from nettle stings, we headed up sheep fields and down into a valley leading to Pett Village. Luckily, the Royal Oak was closed, so we weren’t tempted to nip in for a pint.

We left Pett and headed back down into the valley and up again to cross Panel Lane, then down a bridleway leading to a marshy area known in our family as ‘the bog’. Our legs were aching by this point, but another hill awaited us on the approach to Knockbridge Farm. The local cuckoos have stopped singing now, but we were treated to the sight of two gorgeous foals enjoying their first summer! With a few early blackberries to fuel our last push, we headed up to Laurel Lane and back to the hall, clocking in close to 11K—enough to deserve a couple of slices of banana bread and a cup of tea.

With an elevation gain of 176m, it took us just over 1.5 hours to complete the run.

Next month we’ll have an even bigger incentive than banana bread, with a cooked breakfast awaiting us at the hall! Join us for another trail 10K on Saturday 6th September at 8am.

Book at: https://www.grassroutesevents.com/breakfastrun