Balcombe to East Grinstead
Train: Take the 10.03AM from London Blackfriars (10.29 East Croydon) to Balcombe arriving 10.56. Trains back from East Grinstead run at xx.12 and xx.42. Off peak single tickets are recommended as Balcombe and East Grinstead are on different lines. If you have a travel card up to zone 6, buy tickets from there to Balcombe and back from East Grinstead.
Length: 17.2km (10.7) miles
Toughness: 6 out of 10
This pretty walk gentle undulates and passes by many points of interest, including Wakehurst Place and Priest House Museum. It also passes through several sections of wood which should hopefully have some color at this time of year. More information on the walk and the walk instructions and GPS file can be found here.
Lunch: The suggested lunchtime stop, 8.4 km into the walk, is the Cat Inn (tel 01342 810 369 ) in West Hoathly. This is a popular place, please book a table in advance.
Tea: The suggested tea stop is The Old Dunnings Mill pub (tel 01342 821 080 ), about 2km before the end of the walk. Allow 30 minutes from here to reach the station.
For more details T=1.34
4 comments:
Anyone else on the train to Balcombe, now terminating at Three Bridges?
#N=2, #W=sunny_at_first,_cold_and_cloudy_later. In addition to train problems in South London the designated train only got as far as Three Bridges. One intrepid walker set off from there through the extensive housing estates to walk to Wakehurst Place. Having driven to Balcombe I decided to start walking towards Wakehurst Place and have a coffee there to wait for the others to catch up. I passed the JOCO cafe (which replaces the Balcombe Tea Rooms) which was doing a roaring trade with about 30 cyclists having breakfasts and coffees. After a coffee at Wakehurst, it was a bit cold waiting so I began to retrace my steps back towards Balcombe soon meeting the intrepid walker from Three Bridges. We decided to have lunch at Wakehurst, did a short tour of the gardens where strangely one rhododendron was in flower 6 months early, and then walk back to Balcombe station.
2 of us finally arrived at Balcombe, 30 minutes behind schedule, and proceeded to complete the walk together, looking out for John et al at Wakehurst and again at The Cat but to no avail. It was a lovely walk - just starting to get muddy in places after the long, dry summer - and the rain held off till we were virtually at East Grinstead station 😀
Two plus two N=4
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