Extra Walk 141 – Haywards Heath to Lindfield
Length: 16 km (9.9 miles). Toughness: 3/10
Or complete a Circular Walk back to Haywards Heath: 19 km (11.8 miles), 4/10
10:05 Brighton train from London Bridge (East Croydon 10:19), arriving Haywards Heath at 10:48. If you are travelling out on this service from London Bridge and will also be returning on a Thameslink train, you can get a very cheap Super Off-Peak return to Haywards Heath.
Thameslink trains are not running through central London this weekend, but tickets should be accepted on the Underground if you need to connect between (say) St Pancras and London Bridge.
From Haywards Heath there are Thameslink trains back to London Bridge at 23 & 56 minutes past the hour, and (more expensive) Southern trains to Victoria at 14 & 44 minutes past.
If you decide to skip the last 3 km after tea in Lindfield you'll need to catch a bus (£1.80): there are frequent services into Haywards Heath until about 6pm. Metrobus services 270 & 272 go down the High Street at 1555, 1600, 1700, 1755 & 1810. In addition, Sussex Bus 29 runs half-hourly to Sainsbury's (near the station) and you can take it in either direction: at xx18 & xx48 down the High Street (last bus 1748) or xx04 & xx34 up the hill (to 1804).
This ill-fated walk has had several major revisions and suffered a major blow when its only feasible lunch pub closed in 2014, ostensibly for refurbishment but often the prelude to demolition. Slightly to my surprise the Sloop Inn did in fact reopen last month, so we'll give this walk a try while it's still up and running.
To reduce the reliance on buses to the walk's original start in Lindfield, there's now a route to/from Haywards Heath station. There's quite a lot of this large commuter town to get through but the route takes advantage of a long narrow nature reserve. The rest of the walk is through undulating countryside typical of the Sussex Weald. The area's main tourist attraction is the Bluebell Railway and if you're lucky you'll see a steam train chugging past at one of the places where you cross the line. Its name also implies that you'll get to see some Hyacinthoides non-scripta along the way, though well past their best.
You'll need to print the directions from the Walk 141 page. Clicking the word 'Main' on the Walk Options heading line will cut out the directions for the two alternative walks bundled in with this one. T=swc.141
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n=6 on this walk: 5 on the train and the walk author, who drove to Lindfield and who we met in the lunch pub. The weather was w=cloudy_with_rain_for_a_time_after_3pm, spits and spots at times otherwise and occasional bright patches. Warm enough to make wearing waterproofs a bit irksome.
The revised route for this walk which starts in Hayward's Heath is no great hardship. It does take a while to clear the town but for the most part the route is through a perfectly rural nature reserve. Four of us were happy to walk back the same way at the end of the walk. Otherwise this was a walk of gentle fields and woods, which could be very muddy in winter but were fine at this time of year. Nice woodland flowers (yellow pimpernel, wood speedwell, wild garlic) though several good bluebell woods were of course all over. In one field there were very young foals and we saw a pen of cute duck chicks on one farm.
The newly re-opened Sloop was welcoming for lunch and served nice food. We briefly sat outside, before spits and spots of rain forced us inside. It was pleasantly busy so let's hope it stays open.
The three front markers saw a Bluebell Railway steam train past: the three of us at the back saw wisps of smoke through the trees. Lindfield was a very cute town and had a nice tea room. All in all a creditable day out.
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