Norman's Pond - Local places, hidden gem review

We first heard about Norman's pond from a friend and were then reminded of it at Maresfield Village Fete where they were promoting it's existence.  Last weekend we finally made it along for a walk and it's a great hidden gem!  Had I not been told about it I'd never have known it was there.  It's near the recycling centre by the Maresfield Bypass hidden away amongst the trees.

We had a lovely time exploring, the path is wheelchair & buggy accessible so it wasn't too muddy and the path extended much further than I expected, around the pond and beyond, there's still more for us to explore next time.  We found plenty of benches around, including picnic benches near the entrance.  It'll be a lovely place to visit in the summer too, I wish we'd found it sooner.

The twins loved kicking up all the leaves and throwing them in the air, collecting chestnuts and acorns and hunting for toadstools and mushrooms (we don't pick any as I'm not confident identifying safe ones but they love pointing them out and finding big ones).

It's such a handy place to visit as it's just 5 minutes from us and free.  There's no parking on the road as there are houses further down so they don't want any obstructions but I found a clearing by the gate which I assume is for parking cars (since confirmed by the above map).  It was so quiet, I'm not sure how many people even know about it but we'll be heading back again soon.  I didn't want to head too far in as I was solo with the twins and didn't want to be carrying both back if they got tired/grumpy!  We'll have to take Nik to check out our new countryside walk next time.