If you go down to the woods today...

The weather is absolutely glorious here in the South East at the moment - summer has come at last! Though I think it may be rather a shock when we get back to "normal" temperatures for autumn.

Last weekend I went on a drive around the beautiful Ashdown Forest, in East Sussex. Once a royal hunting forest, today a fabulous place to go for a ramble or horse ride. An Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) it stretches for 2500 hectares. From open heathland to wooded copses its a fabulous place to spend a day. Not only are there plenty of walks, but places to visit too, such as the Ashdown Forest Centre or the Llama Park!

The Forest is also home to a well loved children's character, Winnie the Pooh. Created by A.A.Milne in 1926 for his son, Christopher Robin,  Pooh and his friends Tigger, Eeyore and Piglet have been ensconced in children's consciousnesses ever since. I stopped off in the village of Hartfield to visit Pooh Corner, a shop where you can buy anything and everything Pooh related - it was fabulous! You can buy cards, toys, books and even gardening equipment for children with Pooh and his friends on! You can even buy online: www.pooh-country.co.uk

You can buy maps and follow the trail of Pooh around the Forest. From the Enchanted Forest and Galleons Leap to playing Pooh Sticks at Pooh Bridge. A magical exploration of the world of Winnie the Pooh for children, big and small alike.

There are some lovely villages within and surrounding the Forest that are great to stop off at to grab an ice cream, do some shopping, or merely sit and have a drink in a cafe or traditional old pub - Forest Row, Maresfield and Crowborough to name a few. There are also the gardens of The National Trust owned Sheffield Park to explore plus a ride on the first preserved standard gauge passenger railway in the world, the Bluebell Railway.

Forest Row, East Sussex

Sheffield Park

So if you are visiting the South East of England this week, make the most of the glorious weather - go for a stroll in Ashdown Forest and then maybe head down to the beaches at Brighton, Camber, Broadstairs or Hastings to cool your feet. Whatever you choose to do - enjoy!

Are you a Nutter?

Autumn is once more upon us. Doesn't time fly! I can't believe the summer is already over, and here in the South East the trees are already beginning to change colour to their autumnal hues of golds, reds and browns. There are some fantastic woodland walks that I can take you on if you are visiting the area - just email me for details; but in this blog I want to talk about a crop that at this time is harvested in the South East - the cob nut.

Cob nuts are cultivated wild hazelnuts, also known as filberts. Cob nuts have been in England since the 16th Century and the county of Kent has always been famous for its own variety - the Kentish Cob Nut, since around the 1830s. They are in season between August and October and are always marketed fresh. You can eat cob nuts when green or when more mature at the end of September when they are the more familiar golden colour, and much sweeter.

Kent once had over 7,000 acres of cob nut orchards, or "platts" as they were once known. Today there are around 250 acres. The nuts have to be picked by hand and those who do so are known as "nutters". In the 16th Century it is even known that children played an early version of conkers with cob nuts called "cobblenut".

Allegedly cob nuts were popular with mariners as they kept fresh for months and are also very high in protein. If you do buy some, keep them in a cool dry place and turn them every day to ensure they don't get damp or mouldy.

If you are visiting the South East this autumn, then the best place to go nutting is around the Greensand Ridge area of Kent - between Sevenoaks, Maidstone and Tonbridge. Places such as Allens Farm near Plaxtol, sell them at the farm gate, or you can find them in local greengrocers.

Other varieties of cob nuts include the Gunslebert, Merville de Bollwiller (or Hall's Giant), Butler, Ennis and Cosford. For more information about cob nuts and the local suppliers, take a look at www.cobnuts.co.uk or www.kentishcobnutsassociation.co.uk

You can not only try cob nuts on their own, or kept preserved in honey, but there are other recipes you can use cob nuts in - including a very seasonal Damson and Cob nut Mincemeat. I like the very simple recipe of chocolate cob nuts - roasted in the oven then rolled in melted chocolate, and sprinkled with cocoa powder as they cool. Yum! Roll on winter I say - as the nights draw in, good excuses for wrapping up warm and autumnal walks around the local area where you can pick up the nuts, apples, pears, plums, damsons and blackberries to create lots of warming and filling pies, puddings and tarts.