Backup Only

This Week's Walks - Archive

Please see the Saturday Walker's Club This Week's Walks page.

This is an archive of walks done by the Saturday Walker's Club. You should only need to use this page if the SWC website is down.

Saturday 13 August 2016

Saturday Second Walk – Ashdown Forest

Extra Walk 110 – Ashurst to Forest Row (or East Grinstead)
Length: 17¾ km (11.0 miles) to Forest Row. Toughness: 5/10

10:08 Uckfield train from London Bridge (East Croydon 10:23), arriving Ashurst at 10:58.

If you decide to finish at Forest Row you'll need to take Metrobus 270 or 291 from outside the Brambletye Hotel to East Grinstead. These alternate to provide a half-hourly service (at just after 25 & 55 minutes past the hour) to around 7pm, with later ones at 19:49, 21:14 & 22:44. These are carefully timed to just miss the trains (at 07 & 37 minutes past) so if it's a nice afternoon you could give them a miss and do the 5½ km extension up the old railway track, making an Extended Walk of 23¼ km (7/10).

Either way, buy a day return to Ashurst (Kent). In practice this has always been accepted for return from East Grinstead as both lines are operated by Southern, but ask the station staff politely before attempting to negotiate the ticket barriers.

This walk in the Upper Medway valley and across the northern part of Ashdown Forest was revised last year to take in an appealing new lunch pub just outside Hartfield, so let's hope the Gallipot Inn gives a warm welcome to the Saturday Walkers' Club on its first posting. The new afternoon section (via Gallipot Street and Upper Hartfield) is not as strenuous as before but there's still a fair amount of climbing before you can enjoy the fine views from the heather-covered ridge at the top of Ashdown Forest. After descending through woodland to Forest Row you can decide whether to catch the bus to East Grinstead or do the extension. There are plenty of refreshment places in both places if you're not in a hurry to get back.

You'll need to print the directions from the Extra Walk 110 page.
T=swc.110

5 comments:

Marc Ricketts said...

On some of these walks. You can download onto pdf on your Mobile phone. And you go into Files to do so.

Walker said...

n=16 on this walk, on a w=cloudy day, but with some early sunshine. A very pleasant and varied ramble, with a bit of hill, then flat river meadows and fields, then pleasantly hilly country around various villages named Hartfield, then a climb up and over Ashdown Forest. Good heather in the latter place, a whole mountainside of Himalayan balsam on the meadow section, and much discussion in our little group about what did or did not constitute a small heath butterfly. We had an illicit game of Pooh Sticks at a non-authorised bridge.

Lunch in the Gallipot Inn was very pleasant and efficiently served, apart from the meal that they forgot about, and the garden had a nice view. The fake bus stop opposite the pub, at which buses do actually stop, was very amusing. After bemoaning in advance the lack of a cafe at the Ashdown Forest Centre, three of us were delighted to stumble upon a "pop-up cafe" there. Most if not all finished the walk in Forest Row: if any walked on to East Grinstead we would be happy to hear about it.

Anonymous said...

Yes some did indeed walk onto Forest Row. I'm not sure how many as we were in 2 groups.

Mark R said...

Five of us in the advance party stopped briefly for an ice cream in Forest Row then proceeded to East Grinstead for tea at CJ's in the High Street (the upstairs terrace overlooking St. Swithun's churchyard is recommended)

Stephen Middleton said...

Really enjoyed my first Saturday Walkers Walk from Ashurst - helping slow down Sean and Peter - only just arrived in time for cake at Forest Visitor Centre. Posted some nature pictures on the Facebook Group page. https://www.facebook.com/groups/saturday.walkers.club/permalink/10154468414549529/