"Balcombe is a great place to walk - the one stop on the Brighton line that feels truly remote and rural. The moment you leave the station you are in a Wealden wonderland of hills, woods, pasture and hidden farms. These walks also feature Ardingly Reservoir, romantically set between steep hills.
This route is suggested for winter because it has a shorter afternoon and includes quite a bit of walking on quiet lanes and dry tracks, so avoiding most of the mud (though not all of it by any means). Ardingly Reservoir is also particularly beautiful in low winter sunlight."
I suggest taking a different route after the Gardeners arms, which was tried last year. Cross the road and hear for the right-hand corner of the open space. Follow the track until an open field going downhill on the left. Cross a footbridge and climb up through the woods, reaching a lane. Turn right to join the summer return route or left for the winter return along the reservoir.
Trains: Get the 1005 Thameslink, Brighton train from London Bridge (East Croydon 1019) to Balcome 1046. Return trains xx25 xx55.
Lunch: The Gardeners Arms (01444 892328), is the lunch option 8.9km (5.5 miles) into the Winter Walk. Booking recommended.
Tea: The Half Moon Inn in Balcombe, an excellent community run pub. The Tea Rooms are closed.
2 comments:
N=22 on this walk (I think we decided), including two late starters and one newbie, who we hope enjoyed his walk… The weather started disappointingly cloudy, but soon brightened up to w=soft-sun.
The quiet lanes near the start were not quite so quiet as usual. Two possible explanations for this. Either it was National Drive Down Narrow Country Lanes Day or “sportsmen” were abroad. The sound of distant gunfire and a convoy of over-sized SUVs near a farm supported the latter hypothesis.
This apart, it was a pleasant morning. Not ludicrously muddy (or perhaps I just had pessimistic expectations) and with a pleasing mix of birdsong (great tits, blue tits, dunnocks, song thrush, one mistle thrush, a woodpecker drumming), suggesting spring is not so far away. The Ouse Valley Viaduct was as magnificent as ever: still a short diversion in place for repair work, but nothing serious.
Two walkers had booked ten places at the pub, and this exactly matched the number of people who wanted to eat. The shepherd’s pie was a bit titchy, but tasty. The mushroom pasta looked a heartier choice. One person, we later discovered, went to the Ardingly Arms by mistake and found it has been revamped and is now serving food, which is good news.
After lunch we did the interesting variation suggested by the walk poster. When offered the choice to swipe right for the summer walk or left for winter, we chose the latter. We took a slightly longer route to maximise our time on the reservoir.
Approaching Balcombe two pioneered an alternative route (one unwittingly) and all of us did a nice short cut across the fields which I would incorporate in the walk directions if it was a right of way. 10 of us had a fairly long sojourn in the Half Moon, sampling beer, wine or tea (the latter priced at £4.55 a pot). A few of us took the back lanes in the dark to get the…? 17.55 ? train.
It wasn't 'distant gunfire' I experienced in the para 16 field, arriving somewhat earlier than the group thanks to an earlier train. Scattered through this large field there were at least a dozen shooters aiming away. There was even one on the footbridge leading out from the field in para 17. Obviously they were not aiming at me but it was an uncomfortable experience.
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