This walk takes you around pleasant hilly countryside to the south of East Grinstead, with fine views and relatively gentle gradients, and the familiar Wealden mix of pasture, woods and ancient houses. East Grinstead itself, though now surrounded by modern suburbia, still has a quaint old town, perched on a hilltop.
Early in the walk you pass Standen, a National Trust-owned house and garden exemplifying the 19th century Arts and Crafts style popularised by William Morris and others. If you want to make a visit to the house, three short walks to Standen are possible - see the walk text. Later the walk takes you pass the remains of Brambletye House, a romantic ruin almost since it was built in the 17th century.
Trains: Get the 0950 East Grinstead train from Victoria, arriving 1050 (Clapham 0956, East Croydon 1009. Return trains are xx06 xx36.
Lunch: It is 8.7km (5.4 miles) from East Grinstead to Forest Row. Obvious lunch choices are the Chequers Inn Hotel (01342 823333) which serves meals, pizzas and ciabattas 12pm-5pm. Next door to it on the left is the Java and Jazz Cafe and Pizzeria (01342 862699) which is open until 10.30pm Monday to Saturday, or 6pm on Sundays. Across the road is the Brambletye Hotel (a pub, essentially). Plus various other options, particularly the Hop Yard Brewery for it's beer, which has separate Thai and pizza concessions.
Closer to the station is Bluebells (01342 458 491) on the corner of Railway Approach, which has a pleasant ambience and good selection of cakes and is open till 5pm.
4 comments:
I understand that there were about 14 on the walk, including one who arrived 30 mins later on the next train. We were walking quite speedy so that was impressive.
Good weather, tons of mud.
Five of us lunched in the Hop Yard Brewery, which did good pizzas, from nearby, and veggie burger. The beer was sadly kraft keg and fizzy and cold, ugggg.
In East Grinstead, some went to the cafe with a book library, don't know what it is called. The cask real alers went to The Engine Room, off the London Road, on the way to the Station for the beautiful cider and smokey porter, in what is a haven.
Lovely walk and recommended.
15 off the train at East Grinstead, plus 1 local, so n=16 in all who set off in overcast-but-mild-becoming-sunny-later conditions. A pleasant stroll through woodland near Standen, with 2 of our group vying for the title of Worst GPS Navigator, became more demanding when the High Weald lived up to its reputation for mud (it's the clay - when wet it assumes the consistency of Vaseline without any of its redeeming qualities) making field gateways, thoughtfully churned into deep mud by cattle, trick to traverse, to say the least. Our group was treated to some loud and fearsome oaths by the male half of an older couple, clutching the walk instructions but rightfully fearful of following our wandering trail, who found the mud more of an obstacle than he expected. Still, we all made it through to Horseshoe Farm, (but not before the writer slipped in a gateway and went base over apex into the mud, necessitating his trousers being washed for the second time this year) where conditions improved. Past the ruins of Brambletye Manor (surely a project for a TV make-over programme?) to Forest Row where walkers lunched variously at the Hop Yard (so-so) The Swan (looked delicious) Cafe Coco (good) and the churchyard (very autumnal.)
After lunch we elected to take the northern route via Cansiron Lane (did anyone take the lower, reservoir, route?) in what we agreed was ideal walking weather and scenery, arriving in East Grinstead in time for tea and very chocolately brownies at The Bookshop before heading for the station.
I couldn't possibly comment.
But those of us who walked past Thornhill House near Ashurst Wood might be interested to know that it is currently on the market.
https://www.knightfrank.co.uk/properties/residential/for-sale/ashurst-wood-east-grinstead-east-sussex-rh19/tnw012193544
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