How to find us?

Stuart & Debbie Tice
Buttons House
Buttons
Wadhurst
East Sussex
TN5 6NW
England

Tel: 0044 (0)1892 783301
E-mail: debbie.tice@btconnect.com

Activities

Within a fifteen minute drive from the barn are Bewl Water, Scotney Castle, Finchcocks Musical Museum, Batemans (home of Rudyard Kipling), Owl House and Lamberhurst Vineyard. There are plant sales and craft fares at nearby Pashley Manor – a beautiful privately owned house with award winning gardens. The National Pinetum at Bedgebury, which has miles of cycle paths, bird and mushroom identification tours and each summer hosts a series of evening concerts, Groombridge Place - which is wonderful for families, with enormous tree swings, enchanted forest and giant chess set, the National Monument of High Rocks - a stone age camp with acres of breathtaking sandstone rocks interlinked with eleven bridges, providing a scenic walk in tranquil woodland and Sarah Raven’s Cookery and Garden School at Perch Hill are all within a 20 minute drive. Arena pursuits at Bewl Water provides a range of bookable activities including quad biking, clay pigeon shooting, paint-balling, orienteering and team building events.

Within half an hour’s drive are Battle Abbey, Bodiam Castle, the coast at Hastings, the Roman Baths and Pantiles at Royal Tunbridge Wells and Sissinghurst Castle, where writer Vita Sackville-West created her beautiful garden. Leeds Castle, Anne of Cleves House at Lewes, Winston Churchill’s home at Chartwell and the glorious Hever Castle are all about 40 minutes drive away as is the coast at Rye and Brighton.

Within an hour by train you can be in London and there is a good regular service from Wadhurst Station. Day trips to France - Calais or Paris - are easy by Eurostar from Ashford or by sea from Dover & Folkstone. Excellent shopping at Dieppe by ferry from nearby Newhaven.

There are weekly local farmers produce and fish markets, village fetes, and famous firework society events in Battle, Lewes and surrounding villages in November. In the summer there are open air concerts and festivals at Batemans, Bedgebury and Battle Abbey. Some village pubs have live music on a weekend evening – and all have roaring log fires in winter. The nearby village of Mayfield has medieval buildings and a 16th century coaching Inn with a reputation for good food.

For families there is the Bluebell Railway, the Spa Valley Railway, Drusillas Wildlife Park and lots of regular events and activities at Bewl Water (including charity Dragon Boat racing on Bewl Water in September). Along the South coast, from Rye across to Brighton, there is surfing, good beaches and a wide range of watersports. The coast at Hastings offers sea fishing, arcades on the piers as well as the quaint shops of the lanes to explore. You can also take a tour of smugglers caves and go to Underwater World. Brighton, Eastbourne and Rye also offer huge variety of things to see and do.

Golf is available a ten minute drive away at Dale Hill – a course designed by Ian Woosnam.

Cycling – superb cycling on purpose made off road tracks around Bewl Water, at Bedgebury Pinetum and along the Cuckoo Trail. Be prepared for an uphill climb on the lane out of Buttons!

Walking is a ‘must’, with lovely rolling countryside, miles of walks without seeing a road or another soul, and small tucked away ancient pubs. There is well signed ‘busier’ walking nearby on the South Downs.

Fishing – beautifully maintained and well stocked lake with seven swims and carp up to around 30 lbs is just a fifteen minute walk (three minute drive) from the barn and you can buy a day ticket at rougly £10 per day or the lake can be exclusively booked at a reasonable price. There are multiple large and match lakes nearby including those at Wylands, Frant, Five Ashes, and Bodium. Local river fishing is available and there is bookable trout fishing at Bewl Water.

Shopping

Wadhurst village is a five minute drive away or a pleasant half an hour’s walk along the lanes - uphill on the way there! It has a range of useful independently run shops including a traditional greengrocers, a butchers and a chemist with dispensing pharmacy. The two banks are NatWest and Lloyds – both with external cash-points, and there is an off license, post office, bakers, fishing supplies shop, newsagents, ironmongers, beauty salon, hairdressers. electrical goods, gift shop, florist and a very good organic wholefood shop with a small café at the rear. Just outside the village is a small supermarket that sells a 'little of everything' including freshly baked bread and which opens every day including Sunday mornings. There is a petrol station on the road to Wadhurst Station which is open long hours. There are three pubs in the village all serving lunchtime and evening menus. Most shops close on Wednesday afternoons, Saturday afternoons and on Sundays and it is usual in all of the local villages for shops to close daily between 12 and 2 pm. The beautiful ‘Wadhurst Castle’ may be hired for weddings and other events. Parking in Wadhurst, and in most of the local villages, is free but can be quite limited at weekends and busy times of day. A gym/leisure centre is also located in Wadhurst, at Uplands Community College.

Royal Tunbridge Wells is a large bustling market town with many unique and high quality shops along the old high street, dozens of restaurants and cafes as well as all of the usual large high street stores you would expect. There are M&S and Sainsburys supermarkets in Tunbridge Wells, Safeways and Waitrose in Crowborough and a large Tesco's just off the A21 at Pembury.

Battle High Street is small and quaint with lots of interesting shops, restaurants and frequent farmers markets overlooked by the stunning Battle Abbey where you can visit the site of the Battle of Hastings in 1066.

Places to Eat

There are a number of superb quality local restaurants with prices ranging from £30 to £60 per head plus wine. The area is spoilt with so many lovely country pubs serving real ale and good varied menus at around £10 - £20 a head. Most have gardens and views and all have roaring log fires in the winter. Tunbridge Wells has lots of restaurants, wine bars, bistros, pizza express and coffee shops.

Recommended for finer dining are the White Horse at Hurst Green, The Griffin at Fletching and The Pilgrims in Battle. Others with excellent reputations are The Rose & Crown at Mayfield, The Mark Cross Inn, The Cherry Tree at Ticehurst, The Rose & Crown in Burwash, The Middle House in Mayfield, The Sonar Gaon in Wadhurst, The Old Vine at Cousley Wood and The Swan Inn at Lamberhurst.

The Globe & Rainbow at Kilndown, the Elephant’s Head at Hook Green, La Dolce Vita at Lamberhurst and The Blackboys Inn, in Blackboys, are a little further afield. Phone numbers for all of these and driving maps for most are in the Barn welcome pack.