Length: 19km (11.8 miles), 5 hours walking, 5 out of 10
"This walk is full of small delights: a nature reserve and lake with Japanese pavilion down by the stream below the impressive gardens and park of Nymans (National Trust) with its part-ruined manor house; a churchyard in Slaugham (pronounced 'Slaffam') with a 600-year-old yew tree some 10 metres in circumference; the ruins of Slaugham Manor; then a walk down to the River Ouse."
You should use the online directions in order to get the route to a tunnel under the A23 (motorway)
Trains: Get the 1005 Thameslink Brighton train from London Bridge (East Croydon 1019) arriving 1046. Return trains are xx25 xx55.
Lunch: Early in Handcross at the Red Lion, after 3.5 miles, 5.6km. After 7.6km there is the Heritage in Slaugham, an altogether more upmarket place.
After 7.5 miles, 12km (3 hours) you get to Staplefield and The Victory Inn (tel 01444 400 463) all day at weekends for a late lunch or early tea. On the other side of Staplefield Green, some 300 metres north of the Victory Inn, The Jolly Tanners (tel 01444 400 335), a family run village pub with a pleasant beer garden. This gives you only 3 miles left to get to the station.
Tea: The Half Moon, an excellent community pub.
T=1.16
3 comments:
17 off the (very packed) train at Balcombe, one car driver and one on a train half an hour behind makes n=19 on this walk, plus one well-behaved dog. The weather was the usual w=hot-sun. Was there ever any other type? Will there ever be?
We got separated out right from the off, myself being one of the guilty parties (in my defence, I was keeping up with a friend), so I have no idea what happened to more than half of the group. This is therefore a partial and prejudiced account: other accounts may be available.
Perhaps the lack of a single obvious lunch stop did not help. When we did the meet and greet, the charms of the National Trust tea room at Nymans were urged: perhaps some went there. I understand three visited the gardens. Four of us ate at the Red Lion, and three joined us there for drinks. Another drifted in and drifted out. One luncher reversed the morning route back to Balcombe to “save himself for Scotland”.
The rest of our little gaggle continued to Slaugham, where the la-di-da gastro pub (“Heritage”?) is now in the hands of the receiver. Ha! May all gastro pubs perish thus! In the churchyard we discovered an enigmatic thermos flask cup with a sliver of coffee in (see separate message): evidence of SWC picnickers?
The rest of the afternoon was very pleasant and often idyllic. Despite the drought, there were nice displays of buttercups in some fields, though if we had had rain they would have been better. Some butterflies were seen and identified. There were iridescent blue Beautiful Demoiselles at one point (a kind of damselfly).
We had tea/drinks at the Victory Inn and discussed national identity and what our grandparents experienced in the war. Cricket went on in the background. We later discovered one walker visited the other pub.
Approaching Balcombe we were stopping for rests in the shade. The last bit into the village seemed quite long. Passing an articulated lorry full of bottled water (the village water supply had failed), we got to the Half Moon, where luckily the cider and Twiglet supply had not. Lots of young people occupied all the tables in the sun: we sat gratefully in the shade.
We got the 18.16 train, walking right to the front to avoid the Brighton crowd (who thankfully are too lazy to do the same). On the platform the Merlin app identified eight different birdsongs: a melodious end to a fine day out.
Did anyone on this walk leave a metal thermos flask cup on the arm of the bench in Slaugham churchyard? It had a sliver of coffee in it and looked like the kind of thing an SWC-er might use, so I picked it up. Message below if it is yours.
#1 filling in details. For those thinking that the pub stop in Handcross is too early, I recommend an alternative food stop the JO.CO cafe. This walker visited it along with the other pub later in the walk at Staplefield (Jolly Tavern) later in the walk. Sadly it’s a bit far away to view the cricket on the common though bar staff mentioned drinks were available in a paper cup. Finally if walkers wish to, a bus service runs from Staplefield and stops at Haywards Heath for rail services back. This walk being a Saturday the last bus 16:13 is catchable as a shorter walk option.
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