Length: 27km (17m) or 21km (13m)
Toughness: 7/10
Transport: Take the 9:35 from London Bridge to Balcombe arriving 10:16. Return trains from Horsham at xx:25 and xx:55 to London Bridge and xx:20 and xx:51 to London Victoria. The two lines diverge at Crawley, so in theory you would need to buy a single from Horsham back to Crawley. In practice, I would buy a day return to Horsham since a) there are barriers, b) Balcombe is just one stop after Crawley and c) it is the more expensive journey, so should cover Crawley to Balcombe.
This is a pretty amble through the High Weald, initially following the Balcombe Circular via Nymans Estate before branching off into new territory. The walk passes through beautiful St Leonard's forest, the source of the river Arun before reaching the old market town of Horsham.
You can shortcut the walk by walking from St Leonard's Forest straight into Horsham, leaving out the loop towards the south.
3 comments:
Thameslink and Southern are warning that stations and trains on the Brighton line will be very busy this weekend because of Brighton Pride: allow extra time to buy your ticket; you might have to queue to get onboard trains, etc.
The extra crowds at the London stations will have a knock-on effect on the other two walks too.
#4 walkers braved the prophesized sardines-in-a-tin transport and emerged at Balcombe station. We quickly walked along familiar routes and then around Furnace Pond circumnavigating the large tents and extensive gear of the resident anglers before arriving at the Wheatsheaf pub were we had lunch in the garden. It recently changed ownership, so the live parrot is gone, but the food quality seems to have improved, at least for 3 of us, who were very happy with their meals while one was not quite that satisfied. Walking on we encountered a new pond in what previously was dense woodland. The new owner of this land dammed the small stream, removed a large number of trees and re-established the pond which allegedly has been there many decades ago to serve a small timber mill. All fine, but are the slightly naff metal models of fish, herons and monkeys necessary ? In St Leonard's forest one decided to do the shortcut to Horsham due to foot problems while the remaining 3 persuaded themselves to explore the gpx-led dense wild side of the forest. There and later at Chesworth Farm one walker produced delicious strawberries and water melons for a quick refreshment. In Horsham we went to the Black Jug for a drink. One then went to the station while 2 decided to stay for dinner in the pleasant courtyard of the pub.
A great day out in great company with wide ranging discussions. A big thanks to one of the walkers who "was volunteered" to check the notoriously sparse walk instructions. The weather was #mostly_sunny_with_two_short_drizzling_showers.
The outbound train was busy but not crowded, some even got a seat. Thanks, Sean.
Apologies if my comment put people off, but I made the mistake of posting a Haywards Heath walk on Pride weekend six years ago. Arriving by bus I met a group of somewhat disgruntled walkers emerging from an overcrowded train and had to endure a fair amount of grumbling.
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