by Tricia Jamieson

Getting lost resulted in a memorable encounter for three ramblers.

After taking a wrong turning, the trio came across Sir Paul McCartney riding his horse Moonstone through woods in East Sussex.

"He stopped and chatted to us for about five minutes and gave two of us carrots to feed his horse," said Ken Girkin, of the Footpaths Ramblers, which has members in Appledore and Shadoxhurst.

"I told him we had got lost and he said that was unfortunate, but then I pointed out if we had not taken a wrong turning, we would not have met him.

"He was so interesting, just a normal horse rider and a very pleasant person.

"I saw him the following Sunday on the television and said to my wife, I've met him!"

The trio were further afield than normal, when they came across a broken waymarker where two paths converged and ending up taking the wrong route recently.

Mr Girkin added:"Once back on the right path, we saw a man on a horse coming towards us along the bridlepath and stopped to let him pass.

"He thanked us in a slight Liverpudlian accent, and my colleague Carol Burgess said, 'you're Paul'.

"He was quite happy to stop and told us about his horse Moonstone, an appaloosa.

"Then he reached into his anorak pocket and got out some carrots which he gave to Carol and my other colleague Pam Stafford to feed to Moonstone.

"He didn't give me any carrots but the horse kept nuzzling my jacket!"

The ramblers regret not having a camera with them, but Mr Girkin said: "Even if I had had one, I would have felt awkward taking a picture."