Owl’s Hatch
Sleeps 12-18
West Sussex
Wild or mild days out
Refresh in the tap room at Missing Link Brewery or taste the wine at Kingscote. Shoot clay with Sussex Sporting, Go Ape at Bedgebury Pinetum, and walk the 10-mile Forest Way. Meet the moo-cows at Plaw Hatch Farm, enjoy outdoor play at Blackberry Farm Park, and see the mildlife on a Knepp Safari.
Country kids
Feeling adventurous? Get down to Blackland Farm Outdoor Activity Centre for the canoeing, abseiling and zip wires. Ride the 11-mile Bluebell Railway through the longest tunnel on a UK heritage line, right here in the village. Or find great local museums at East Grinstead and Horsham.
Get some sea air in your lungs at Brighton and pop in to The Sea Life Centre to come face to fin with over 5000 curious creatures. Stick around for the pebbly beach and find others on the south coast at Rottingdean, Saltdean, Seaford, Pevensey and Birling Gap. Or explore Wilderness Woods, with walks, mud kitchen, cafe and events.
Fan of live action? Watch them tread the boards at Chequer Mead Theatre and the Brighton Dome. Catch more culture at The Attenborough Centre for the Creative Arts and great exhibitions at Hastings Contemporary. Or make it a movie night at East Grinstead Cinema.
Watch the cows being milked at Plaw Hatch Farm. Meet the fauna at the British Wildlife Centre and enjoy half-hourly keeper talks. Head to Blackberry Farm Park for outdoor play mixed with animal feeding and handling. Visit Drusilla’s, the best zoo in the south-east. Or ride, play and meet yet more animals at Knockhatch Adventure Park.
For the grown ups
Keep the fitness up at East Grinstead Sports Centre over a workout, table tennis, squash and racketball. Or swim at Haywards Heath Triangle. Scale the walls at Volume 1 Climbing Centre or ride the 750-metre multi-level kart circuit at Teamsport in Crawley or the outdoor circuit at Brighton Karting.
Refresh in the tap room at Missing Link Brewery and take home NEPAs, Pale Ales and IPAs. Try beer made with Sussex spring water at The Gun Brewery and stick around for the outdoor cinema. Stay sober to find your way out of Tulley’s Escape Rooms. And chill your beans on a country ramble with Tremaines Riding School.
Shoot clay with Sussex Sporting, Go Ape at Bedgebury Pinetum, and bring your clubs for the heather, humps, hollows, pools and streams of Royal Ashdown Forest Golf Course. Stay in the forest to ride bikes from Forest Row. Or walk the 10-mile Forest Way or some of the very long Vanguard Way.
Looking for a day out with a difference? How about a Knepp Safari, a guided adventure through 3500 acres of beautiful habitat that’s heaving with mildlife? Or maybe a private gong bath with Gordon Coxon? Or just a wine tasting and tour of the vineyard at Kingscote or birds of prey experience at Huxley’s?
