Bedgebury, the Electric Forest
With the weather being kind, we cut short our working week taking Thursday and Friday as holiday so we could get some Vietnam cycling training in. The plan was to cycle the 34 miles to a B & B near Bedgebury Forest near Tunbridge Wells. A couple of weeks ago, BBC South East Today featured a special art installation called the 'Electric Forest' at Bedgebury Pinetum. The forest also boasted one of the country's best mountainbike circuit.
It was quite a challenge to pack one single backpack bag, light enough to contain enough clothing (including wet weather), minimum toiletries (toothbrush and paste), a bike lock, spare tubes and my Gorillapod for a camera. There was no way I could fit my SLR to take the planned night-time shots of the Electric Forest photos so resorted to my compact Panasonic. With a very fast tailwind, we left at 9am and headed via Lewes for our first mishap, a puncture. By lunch we were about 10-15 miles to go stopping at the Wheel Inn at Burwash Weald. Google Maps let me down slightly or rather the lack in confidence at cycling on a public bridleway near Flimwell. Without the shortcut we had to resort to the main road route and another 6 miles uphill.
Bull Farm Oast Bed and Breakfast
Andy, the owner welcomed us with a delicious coffee and offered to drive us to our chosen gastropub for the evening, The Great House, Gills Green. Perhaps some of the best food I've had in ages. The room was perfect for our needs with a shower better than our own. Breakfast was delicious with fruit salad, a good choice of cereals, just-made bread baked by the Prue and Andy, local sourced jams and eggs and a delicious full English if you wanted it. We fell in love with the pet pooch too who had was able to beg with a kind of pray/clap motion.
Bedgebury Single Track
The 12 km track was perfect and at least the weather held its promise allowing only a drizzle at worst. Took some video using my handlebar grip until the vibrations broke it. Luckily, the Panasonic was built for dropping, drowning and surviving muddy roads.
The Electric Forest
By the early evening the drizzle turned a bit heavier but it still didn't ruin the walk-around-light-show-in-a-forest experience. Some of the trees had simple coloured flood lights whereas walking past smaller bushes had sensors lighting up like Christmas trees. The first really interactive installation was the collection of four tall pine trees with different coloured panels. We walked under a large gazebo where four microphones were wired up to the lights. Each mic when used would activate the light all very Close Encounters of the Third Kind.
The highlight for me was the drumkit wired up to a number of trees and bushes each reacting with their individual sound and light display.
Any Norfolk/Suffolk people can see the Electric Forest at Thetford.
It was quite a challenge to pack one single backpack bag, light enough to contain enough clothing (including wet weather), minimum toiletries (toothbrush and paste), a bike lock, spare tubes and my Gorillapod for a camera. There was no way I could fit my SLR to take the planned night-time shots of the Electric Forest photos so resorted to my compact Panasonic. With a very fast tailwind, we left at 9am and headed via Lewes for our first mishap, a puncture. By lunch we were about 10-15 miles to go stopping at the Wheel Inn at Burwash Weald. Google Maps let me down slightly or rather the lack in confidence at cycling on a public bridleway near Flimwell. Without the shortcut we had to resort to the main road route and another 6 miles uphill.
Bull Farm Oast Bed and Breakfast
Andy, the owner welcomed us with a delicious coffee and offered to drive us to our chosen gastropub for the evening, The Great House, Gills Green. Perhaps some of the best food I've had in ages. The room was perfect for our needs with a shower better than our own. Breakfast was delicious with fruit salad, a good choice of cereals, just-made bread baked by the Prue and Andy, local sourced jams and eggs and a delicious full English if you wanted it. We fell in love with the pet pooch too who had was able to beg with a kind of pray/clap motion.
Bedgebury Single Track
The 12 km track was perfect and at least the weather held its promise allowing only a drizzle at worst. Took some video using my handlebar grip until the vibrations broke it. Luckily, the Panasonic was built for dropping, drowning and surviving muddy roads.
The Electric Forest
By the early evening the drizzle turned a bit heavier but it still didn't ruin the walk-around-light-show-in-a-forest experience. Some of the trees had simple coloured flood lights whereas walking past smaller bushes had sensors lighting up like Christmas trees. The first really interactive installation was the collection of four tall pine trees with different coloured panels. We walked under a large gazebo where four microphones were wired up to the lights. Each mic when used would activate the light all very Close Encounters of the Third Kind.
The highlight for me was the drumkit wired up to a number of trees and bushes each reacting with their individual sound and light display.
Any Norfolk/Suffolk people can see the Electric Forest at Thetford.
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