A Walk with the Wind both in our Sails and beneath our Wings

Note: Please only join this event if you're happy to pay £5 to visit Lowfield Heath Windmill (pay closer to the day of the walk or on the day itself).

Waitlist: This event could become fully booked, but if you'd like to attend and there are no spaces left, please add yourself to the waitlist. Places often become available closer to the day and you are likely to get one.

...And other such aeolian/barometric clichés about success. The two main selling points of this walk are a private tour of Lowfield Heath Windmill, a Grade-II listed post mill of 1737, and a stretch at the end of Gatwick's runway where the planes seem to brush one's scalp as they ascend. Charlwood has over 80 listed buildings, including a church with extensive wall paintings from 1350, and central to which is a ghostly depiction of 'The Three Living and The Three Dead'. Upmarket suburbanisation and the roar of planes gaining or losing height may have erased most feeling of the past, but the views, woods and fields are charming, the low-flying planes exciting and what history remains, fascinating.

The sights:

Capel: 'One long and rather nondescript street along the [old] Worthing Road, a mixture of Weald cottages and the cheerful C19 brick of hamlets like Holmwood' (Ian Nairn: The Buildings of England: Surrey). St John Baptist Church is C13, but rebuilt in 1865. Lots of good Weald farms from the C16 and C17.

Charlwood: 'A Weald village on the Sussex border, near Crawley New Town (and now even nearer to Gatwick...). Plenty of old cottages remain, both tile-hung and timber-framed, but the remoteness and sense of place have gone' (Nairn). St Nicholas Is Norman, with a C13 aisle and windows. Grade I-listed. Wall paintings from c.1350, which include the story of 'The Three Quick (Living) and the Three Dead' in which three proud young kings meet three skeletons as a memento mori. A common Black Death-era trope and now quite faded. Large medieval rood screen.

Lowfield Heath Windmill: The website says: 'The survival of Lowfield Heath Windmill is almost as remarkable as the story of its restoration in the hands of a dedicated and committed group of local people. The Mill was originally built at Lowfield Heath in 1737-8 and now stands on the edge of Charlwood village [it was moved when Gatwick's runways were extended]. It took thirteen years of hard work and great skill to dismantle, repair and re-erect the Mill. It has four floors, with an external staircase leading to the second floor, from where internal ladders rise to two further floors. It also has a small visitor centre within the roundhouse.' The windmill isn't normally open on the day of the walk but I have arranged with the manager for him to open it for us and provide tours in shifts during our lunchtime. 

Gatwick Airport: The second-busiest airport by total passenger traffic in the UK, after Heathrow, and the eighth busiest in Europe. It covers a total area of 674 hectares (1,670 acres). 'Gatwick' was from a farm, long lost, meaning 'goat farm'. The airport opened as an aerodrome in the late 1920s, and it has been in use for commercial flights since 1933, becoming a major airport in 1958. The airport has two terminals, North Terminal and South, and a single-runway which is 3316 metres long. A subsidiary runway is available but, due to its proximity to the main one, can only be used if the main runway is not in use. In February 2025, the government announced plans to move the secondary runway by 12 m north and open it to continuous use. Planes currently take off and land alternately. Although Gatwick is reportedly one of the worst in the UK for watching planes landing and taking off, a footpath we'll follow will allow great views.

The route (please click the link in red to see it at the Ordnance Survey website):

We'll head east from Ockley Station along Coles Lane and cross the A24 in two goes as there is a wide grassy central reservation. We'll then follow The Street to Capel church where we'll proceed along Vicarage Lane. At Temple Lane we'll turn south before turning east and using footpaths to go from Aldhurst Farm to Tanhurst Farm. At the Rusper Road we'll continue east along Duke's Road. At Boothlands Farm, we'll pick up Charlwood Lane, then Russ Hill Lane to go to the windmill for lunch. At Charlwood Church we'll veer round and follow a path south, almost to Ifield. At Ifieldwood we'll follow a path west to The Manor Farm then Langhurst Farm almost to Rusper. Capel Road and then footpaths past Lyne Farm and Pleystowe Farm will take us north back to Capel where we'll walk down Coles Lane back to the station.

Dogs:

I love having dogs on my walks and this walk is suitable for them (unless the weather is really hot), but there will be some stiles, busy roads and fields with sheep and cattle. Any dog off the lead must be under control.

IMPORTANT! Participation Statement:

You MUST complete a Participation Statement, in addition to booking your event space before attending an OutdoorLads event. You only need to complete this Participation Statement once, not for each event you attend. 

(Photo credits: Lowfield Heath Windmill: Photo © Robin Webster (cc-by-sa/2.0); Prestwood Lane: Photo © Robin Webster (cc-by-sa/2.0); Field north-west of Glover's Farm: Photo © Robin Webster (cc-by-sa/2.0); Lowfield Heath windmill: Photo © Dave Spicer (cc-by-sa/2.0); Lowfield Heath Windmill - stone floor: Photo © Chris Allen (cc-by-sa/2.0); Charlwood church, west end: Photo © Robin Webster (cc-by-sa/2.0); Wall Painting, St Nicholas, Charlwood: Photo © Colin Smith (cc-by-sa/2.0); Footpath 321 Charlwood on Russ Hill; Photo © Robin Webster (cc-by-sa/2.0). Emirates at Gatwick: Photo © Marathon (cc-by-sa/2.0). All photos are copyrighted but are here credited to their copyright holders and are licensed for reuse under Creative Commons CC-BY-SA/2.0.)