UK's highest, longest treetop walkway opens in Kent

Exclusive: a preview of the UK's longest and highest treetop walkway

Tall, wobbly and a bit scary - no, not me, but an intriguing new attraction on the border of Kent and Sussex.

In the expansive grounds of Groombridge Place, a medieval manor house outside Tunbridge Wells, you can get a squirrel’s eye view of south-east England as you clamber along the UK’s longest and highest treetop walkway.

“There’s an oak here, a pine, a huge chestnut beyond with a fabulous view,” gestures Paul Cameron, who designed the walkway for Groombridge Place’s owner, Justin Bodle.

“The journey takes you through the tree canopy so you can meet the birds and see the deer underneath,” he says.

“It’s a nature walk, a walk in the woods, but right up in the tree canopy so you’re with the squirrels.”

Squirrels, in my experience, are more attuned to life at altitude than are humans, so they could cope more elegantly with the net-and-rope walkway. The sorts of netting that is normally attached to goalposts climbs skyward in a comforting V shape, with a sturdy rope at the bottom to give you a little more traction.

Even so, I found myself swaying fairly wildly as I climbed. Anyone expecting some kind of gentle boardwalk with handholds and convenient steps is soon disabused. From the sturdy wooden platform at the start, you hoist yourself towards some of the highest trees in the estate. And through them - squeezing between the boughs before launching yourself on the next episode. Like a good book, you don't know how it ends until you get there - though a ladder halfway along provides a useful escape for extreme wobblers.

Along the way, you cover a distance of 350m, and reach a height of 18m above the forest floor. Pausing to take in the impressive views is strongly recommended, in order to gasp for air as well as gain a new perspective on the lilting countryside.

The flight path for aircraft approaching Gatwick from the east goes directly overhead, while a constant rumble of traffic reminds you that the 21st century is close by. Yet the walkway provides a generous helping of the Great Outdoors, as well as some excellent cardio-vascular exercise.

After you have come to terms with your inner Tarzan, or Jane, Groombridge Place has plenty more of interest: a south-facing vineyard testifies to the relatively benign climate in the Garden of England, while the grounds are also home to livestock such as fallow deer and a zeedonk, whose hooped legs provide evidence of a liaison between a zebra and a donkey.

The present manor house dates from the late 17th century, and has featured in films such as The Draughtsman’s Contract and the Joe Wright interpretation of Pride and Prejudice. It also made a literary appearance in Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s The Valley of Fear (renamed “Birlstone Manor”). The creator of Sherlock Holmes was a regular visitor: Conan Doyle used to head across the county border from Crowborough in East Sussex, where he lived and died, to take part in seances.

A one-room exhibition explains more about his connections with Groombridge. It is said Conan Doyle was particularly fond of the “Drunken Garden”, whose name refers to the curious topiary, which appears to be leaning in an ungainly fashion - rather like the visitor’s progress through the Tree-top Walkway.

Travel essentials

Getting there

Groombridge Place is just off the A264, a short way west of Tunbridge Wells. The nearest station is Ashurst, though Tunbridge Wells has more frequent trains.

Seeing there

Groombridge Place opens 10am-5.30pm daily, admission £14.95 for adults; children aged three to 12 and senior citizens get a £2 reduction. A family ticket for two adults and two children is £49.95.

The Tree-top Walkway opens on Monday 14 August. It costs an additional £5 per person. “The experience is safe for everyone but we suggest children under eight are accompanied by an adult at all times,” say the organisers.