Farnham Heath and the Rural Life Centre

The destination was Farnham Heath RSPB Reserve, Tilford, but when we arrived we found that the Rural Life Centre is right next door, so we started with a coffee in their café, promising to visit the centre after our walk. Tilford is relatively new to the RSPB and there is a huge project in process. The idea is to restore the heath, which had been taken over by a commercial pine forest. Many hectares of conifers have been cleared, and the ground is deliberately churned up to bring the heather seeds to the surface for germinating, and heathland wildlife such as woodlarks, tree pipits, nightjars and sand lizards are returning. 

By the entrance we found that there are three walks, marked by differently coloured arrows. We followed the green route, taking us all round the reserve. As it was our first visit we stayed on the designated path, but noted that there were other paths across the heath, which would be fun to explore. The path climbs up the rise giving views across the downs in the distance - lovely. We also kept our binoculars handy for spotting. It wasn’t until we came off the hill again and into a stand of mixed trees that we heard and glimpsed some little birds in the tree tops. We could see long-tailed, blue and great tits; a tree creeper and a wren, but there were others that we couldn’t get a good enough view of to identify them. We hoped it may have been the tree pipits or woodlarks that seen in the area. As we walked back to the beginning/end of our circular walk we passed some interpretation boards telling us that this area was where the nightjars would come to. We need to come back one evening at dusk to see them fly.

As promised, we returned to the Rural Life Centre and paid our entrance fee this time, so we could discover what they had on offer. We found a collection of old ploughs at the beginning that had been made especially for the Canadian market. They were called Prairie Busters – how appropriate. After this we looked at several old buildings from the local area that had been reconstructed on the site. One interesting building, the Granary perched on stone mushrooms to keep out vermin, was faced with ‘mathematical tiles’ that imitated bricks. They were used so the owner could avoid the brick tax that was being imposed at that period. Part of the old smithy area has a shed constructed using old timbers from Farnham Market Hall that still have the old handmade nails in them. The forge and the wood yard are in working order as was the wood turning equipment in one of the buildings where we saw a man working away. The Old Kiln Light Railway had been running, but we were too late to catch a ride on it.

At the furthest end of the site we found a display of beautiful vintage cars. These were all Armstrong Siddleys brought on display by the owners club. They were all highly polished and looking their best as the visitors inspected them. Many had been driven there for the weekend, and their drivers were staying or camping nearby. The backdrop for their display was the Cricket Pavilion and the Victorian School room, complete with old bicycles.

So, when we had seen everything, we stopped by the ‘by Royal appointment’ café again for a cup of tea and a biscuit before heading back home again in our distinctly more modern vehicle.

 Farnham RSPB reserve 

 Rural Life Centre